Burma Newscasts

Friday, May 15, 2009

Detained Opposition Leader Rejects Charges

A Burmese pro-democracy leader on trial for breaking the rules of her house arrest has denied any wrongdoing, while western governments condemn the charges brought against her by the country’s military junta.

BANGKOK (RFA) —Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has rejected claims by Burma’s military regime that she violated the terms of her house arrest when an American man swam across a lake and entered her home, her lawyer said.

Attorney Kyi Win said he met with the Nobel laureate after her first appearance in court May 13 at Insein Prison in Rangoon.

“We are well aware of what is prohibited in relation to the charge she is accused of. She is not allowed to contact embassies, political parties, or the people who are connected to the political parties, and she said she did not break any of these conditions,” Kyi Win said.

When asked if he thought the charges were related to Aung San Suu Kyi’s anticipated release from house arrest, scheduled for May 27, Kyi Win said he did not plan to include the issue in his defense.

“The charge is that she broke the conditions that she was under, and we will concentrate on this [instead]. We will keep the two issues separate,” the attorney said.

But Suu Kyi’s opposition party, the National League for Democracy, issued a statement expressing outrage at what they called a “planned” effort to bring charges against their leader ahead of her scheduled release from house arrest.

Aung San Suu Kyi, 63, whose party won 1990 elections but was denied power by Burma’s military, which has ruled Burma for more than four decades, has been detained for more than 13 of the past 19 years—mostly incommunicado at her lakeside compound.

Swimming incident

John William Yettaw, a 53-year-old American man, was arrested May 6 as he swam back from Suu Kyi’s home after spending two days there.

Kyi Win said Aung San Suu Kyi did not deny seeing Yettaw, but said she had demanded he leave, which he refused to do.

“She said, ‘I demanded that he go,” but he responded that he was too tired to swim back. He said he had a leg cramp. Aung San Suu Kyi said she felt sorry for him and that she couldn’t bear the thought of another person being arrested because of her,” the attorney said.

Yettaw stayed in a downstairs room during the two days and was then asked to leave, whereupon he was taken into custody. Aung San Suu Kyi was taken to Insein Prison on May 13, where she currently remains.

Kyi Win said that Aung San Suu Kyi was present at the first hearing of the trial, but that the two judges assigned to the case only questioned Yettaw through a translator.

The trial will resume on May 18 when Kyi Win will begin his defense of Aung San Suu Kyi and the judges will hear testimony from over 20 witnesses.

Condemnation of charges

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Thursday she was deeply troubled by the Burmese government’s decision to charge Aung San Suu Kyi for what she described as a “baseless crime.”

“It comes just before the six-year anniversary of her house arrest. And it is not in keeping with the rule of law, the ASEAN Charter, or efforts to promote national reconciliation and progress in Burma,” Clinton said.

“We oppose the regime’s efforts to use this incident as a pretext to place further unjustified restrictions on her,” she said.

The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in Burma Tomás Ojea Quintana, expressed “serious concern” over Aung San Suu Kyi’s “unlawful detention.”

“Her house is well guarded by security forces, so the responsibility for preventing such intrusions and alerting the authorities lies with the security forces and not with Aung San Suu Kyi,” Quintana said.

“I call on the government of Burma to release her immediately and, of course, to start releasing the 2,100 political prisoners of conscience in the country.”

The United Nations released a statement by Secretary General Ban Ki-moon saying he was gravely concerned about news that Aung San Suu Kyi had been moved to Insein Prison to face criminal charges.

“The Secretary-General believes that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is an essential partner for dialogue in Myanmar’s [Burma’s] national reconciliation and calls on the Government not to take any further action that could undermine this important process,” the statement said.

The statement went on to say that Aung San Suu Kyi and other political prisoners must be free “to ensure that the political process is credible.”

2010 elections

The junta has announced 2010 general elections under what it calls a "roadmap to democracy," but critics have denounced the vote as a sham designed to solidify military rule.

Authorities announced last year that Aung San Suu Kyi was barred from running for a legislative seat in the upcoming polls.

Original reporting by Ingjin Naing and Tin Aung Khine for RFA’s Burmese service. Burmese service director: Nancy Shwe. Translation by Khin May Zaw. Written for the Web in English by Joshua Lipes. Edited by Sarah Jackson-Han.

Army Authority Uses Villages for Forced Labor in Arakan

Maypon (Narinjara): Burmese army authorities from Western Command based in Ann Town have been forcing villagers to work on construction of a road between Kam Daunt Gri and Shauk Kon Village in Mraypon Township, said one villager.

He said, "We were forced by army officials to collect and gather stones from one small mountain located by Kam Daunt Gri Village. After that, the army officials forced us to transport the stones to the road construction site." All villagers from both villages have been working on the road every day.

The road is a rural road that connects Kam Daunt Gri and Shauk Kon. Authorities are using Kan Htin Fri as a government model developing village in Arakan State.

"The army authority is building up the village of Kam Daunt Gri in accordance with government projects, but local people have been forced by army officials to work at many project sites without pay," he added.

The villages are located near the Arakan coast and most of the villagers work as fishermen.

"We are fishermen and our survival depends on the daily work of fishing. But recently we can not go to the ocean for fishing. So we have lost our daily income," he said.

One major from the Military Operation Planning Bureau in Western Command came to the area and ordered the villagers to transport the stones to the road construction site.

"The official told us that the road is constructed for us, so we should construct the road ourselves. He said we would get "kutho" [merit] by contributing our wages to the road construction," the villager concluded.

Day Laborers Work Overtime on Railway Without Pay

Sittwe (Narinjara): Day laborers have been working overtime on construction of the Ann-Sittwe railway route but have not received compensation for the extra work.

A worker from the construction site said, "We asked for wages from the contractors of the company for overtime, but they denied us the money. We have to work two hours overtime every day but we have not received wages for the overtime."

The Ann-Sittwe railway route is being constructed by companies from Rangoon with local day laborers after the companies got contracts for the work from the military government.

The government authority recently pushed the companies to complete some sections of the railway near Sittwe in a short time, so the companies have forced the day laborers to work overtime.

"We are now working on the construction of the railway route phase between Sittwe and the technical college. The authority wants the route to be completed within the first two weeks of May, so the company used our wage for the two hours extra every day," the worker said.

At the railway construction site there is a work timetable for the day laborers that list the scheduled work day as 7 am to 5 pm every day. However, the workers have been required to work until 7 pm everyday.

"Our wage is only 1500 kyat per day, but we receive only 1400 kyat. 100 kyat is taken by the worker leaders for a worker fund. However, we have not been receiving our wage everyday. Even though we are day laborers, we receive our wages every five days," he said.

According to labor sources the day laborers, most of whom are women, are doing manual tasks at many construction sites, including carrying stone, digging soil, crushing stone, and transporting materials from one site to another.

The high military authority has instructed the companies working on the railway route to finish the work before the rainy season begins this year. Because of this early deadline, the companies have been working laborers overtime to complete the task.

ASEAN member urges governments not to fall for Burma 'fallacy'

(DVB)-The head of the Burma caucus of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations has said that the charges to be faced by Burma oppositon leader are "just ridiculous", and urged fellow ASEAN governments not to fall for the "fallacy" of elections next year.

Speaking at a press conference in Bangkok today, orgainsed by the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Thailand, Kraisak Choonhavan, President of ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Myanmar Caucus, said he was "very upset" by the situation.

On Wednesday, the National League for Democracy leader and her two caretakers were brought to Rangoon's Insein prison to face charges related to the visit to Suu Kyi's compound, where she is kept under house arrest, by US citizen John William Yettaw.

"How can they be guilty of this American man coming to their house?" said Kraisak Choonhavan.

"How they they be charged when she already told him to leave? This is just getting ridiculous I think."

The conference, originally organised to discuss the broader issue of political prisoners in Burma, was of course given added significance following Wednesday's announcement.

Speaking to DVB, the secretary of the Foreign Affairs Department of National League for Democracy (Liberated Areas), Moe Zaw Oo, said that a fair trial was highly unlikely.

"There is no rule of law in our country at all," he said.

"The junta will themselves decide on the judge, and the trial will be held in a makeshift court inside Insein prison. I would say that the judge cannot be called a real judge."

If convicted, Suu Kyi could face up to fives year in prison. She has already spent 13 of the last 19 years under house arrest, and is nearing the end of the sixth year of her current internment.

"It is inconceivable to see a womean remain in a prison where many people have been tortured, and many have even died," said Choonhavan, speaking of Insein prison where hundreds of political prisoners are held.

Reporting by Francis Wade

Motives of 'Suu Kyi Swimmer'

By MARIA SUDEKUM FISHER / AP WRITER
The Irrawaddy News

CAMDENTON, Missouri — The American in Burma custody after swimming across a lake to the home of detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi is eccentric but peace-loving, and had done the same thing last summer in an unsuccessful attempt to meet the Nobel Peace Prize winner, his wife said Thursday.

Betty Yettaw said she's sure her husband, John, is "very dismayed" that his arrest has prompted the Burmese government to level new charges against Suu Kyi less than two weeks before her yearslong detention had been due to end. She said John Yettaw wanted to talk to Suu Kyi as part of his research on forgiveness and resilience.

A handout picture taken on May 13, 2009, provided by Myanma News Agency shows US citizen John William Yettaw (C) meeting Colin P. Furst, second secretary (consul) of the US embassy at a police station in Rangoon. (Photo:Reuters/MNA)

"He's a very peace-loving person, well-meaning, forgiving, mild-mannered. He meant the very best for her," Betty Yettaw said outside her home near Camdenton in south-central Missouri. "I don't think he could have foreseen that it was going to be such a mess, that they were going to make such a huge deal out of it.

"He probably thought he would be in and out, and no one would know because that's what happened before."

She said John Yettaw visited Suu Kyi's home last summer, also by swimming the lake, but that house staff kept him from speaking to her.

"I think that's what motivated him to go back. He thought he could be in and out."

John Yettaw, 53, was arrested last week and charged Thursday with illegally entering a restricted zone, which carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison, and breaking immigration laws, which is punishable by up to one year in jail.

US national John Yettaw has been charged with violating Burma's security and immigration laws after hiding inside Aung San Suu Kyi's house in Rangoon. (Photo: AFP)

"I guess you tend not to think that it will end badly, but I don't know. I worry about his reputation," his adult daughter, Carley Yettaw, said Thursday. "But I would like people to know that he has no ill intention that he was not trying to cause harm."

Suu Kyi's supporters accuse the military government of using the incident to keep her in detention ahead of general elections scheduled for next year.

John Yettaw's ex-wife, Yvonne Yettaw of Palm Springs, California, said he left his 10-year-old daughter and three teenage sons in southern Missouri before visiting her and telling her he had to go to Asia to work on a psychology paper about forgiveness. He has physical custody of the children.

"He's got four children, and he went out of the country and left the children with friends," she said.

Betty Yettaw, however, said John Yettaw is a good father who loves his children and made sure they would be cared for by her and friends while he was gone.

"He's not crazy. He's eccentric," she said.

She said her husband is "not political at all" but interested in how people deal with stress and abuse of all sorts, which is why he wanted to speak to Suu Kyi.

"He has no agenda whatsoever as far as the country goes," she said. "He really just wanted to have some comments from her I believe."

US Embassy spokesman Richard Mei said Yettaw had no legal representation at his arraignment but that the embassy was trying to find him an English-speaking lawyer.

Betty Yettaw said she was getting ready to send $630 to pay for a lawyer. "We do not have a lot of money," she said, adding that the Asia trip Yettaw made last year has not been paid off yet.

Yvonne Yettaw said her ex-husband said nothing about Suu Kyi when he talked to her. He mentioned researching the psychology paper but said little else about his trip.

"I don't know if this was cathartic," she said from Palm Springs. "But he wanted to return to Southeast Asia. He wanted to take some documents and some information because he's doing research on a paper on forgiveness for trauma."

She added, "I was just told that he needed to go." He had been scheduled to return June 24.

John Yettaw has claimed he is a student of the Forest Institute in Springfield, Missouri. Officials at the institute, a school for advanced degrees in psychology with about 250 students, said Yettaw is not enrolled there and did not have a degree from there; they said school rules bar them from disclosing whether he had ever attended.

Betty Yettaw said her husband had been working toward a degree in psychology but had not been enrolled in the Forest Institute recently.

Yvonne Yettaw said she was married to John Yettaw for 12 years and divorced him in 2002. They had six children together; one of them, a son, died in a motorcycle accident in 2007.

Yvonne Yettaw, 53, said John Yettaw lived on veterans disability payments and from work as a general contractor.

He got physical custody of the children when they divorced, she said, but she was going to have the children for a while when school ended for the summer. She asked him to postpone the trip to Asia until then.

"He's got a 14-year-old who's graduating from eighth grade, and a son who missed his prom," Yvonne Yettaw said. "He couldn't wait until I could have them?

"I have harsh feelings toward that man," she said.

The family belongs to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, Yvonne Yettaw said. She said it was unlikely he was there to proselytize for the church or convert the Nobel laureate.

John Yettaw is borderline diabetic and has asthma, but recently lost about 70 pounds, she said.

"He has asthma real bad, that's why I'm surprised he swam so good," she said.

Betty Yettaw said American authorities have told her he is being treated well in jail, and that prison staff have been monitoring his diabetes.

US Lawmakers Decry Junta

By LALIT K JHA
The Irrawaddy News

WASHINGTON — US lawmakers are outraged at the Burmese military junta’s latest move to persecute Aung San Suu Kyi, with calls coming from Capitol Hill for tougher action against the junta and an attempt to galvanize key regional and global players on the issue.

A series of statements from powerful lawmakers—whose voices resonate in the shaping US foreign policy—led political observers to say that it would be very tough for the Obama administration to show any sign of leniency or softening of stance with the Burmese military junta.

The lawmakers, who either issued statements or spoke on the floor of the US Congress, argued that it is now time for decisive action, to restore democracy in Burma and protect the human rights of Burmese nationals.

The Obama administration—which has been looking at the possibilities of engaging the junta and has hinted that it would review the impact of economic sanctions—appeared to be siding with the lawmakers.

“The accusations against her are baseless and without merit,” said senators Dianne Feinstein and Kay Bailey Hutchison in a joint statement. The two senators are co-chair of the Senate Women’s Caucus on Burma.

The trial of Suu Kyi represents yet another desperate attempt on the part of the despotic military junta to silence her voice and stifle the will of the people of Burma who overwhelmingly support Suu Kyi and her call for democracy, human rights, and the rule of law for Burma, said the senators.

“The world must now respond to the junta's latest outrage in a way that demonstrates the inevitability of those values she so clearly demonstrates,” said influential Republican Senator John McCain, on the floor of the Senate. “The thugs who run Burma have tried to stifle her voice, but they will never extinguish her moral courage,” he said.

McCain said the US must continue to press the junta until it is willing to negotiate an irreversible transition to democratic rule. The Burmese people deserve no less, he said.

“This means renewing the sanctions that will expire this year, and it means vigorous enforcement by our Treasury Department of the targeted financial sanctions in place against regime leaders. And it means being perfectly clear that we stand on the side of freedom for the Burmese people, and against those who seek to abridge it,” McCain said.

Howard Berman, chairman of the powerful House Committee on Foreign Affairs, and its ranking member, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, in another statement, demanded the immediate release of Suu Kyi.

“The military junta should immediately release her, allow greater political freedoms in the country, and respect the human rights of all of Burma’s citizens,” the two congresspersons said.

Meanwhile, State Department spokesman Ian Kelly told reporters at his daily press briefing that the Obama administration’s position is that Suu Kyi shouldn't be under house arrest.

“She shouldn't be—and even less so in prison,” Kelly said. “Our bottom line is, she should be released immediately.”

Senator Judd Gregg also spoke. “The only thing criminal about Burmese democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi has been the abusive injustices she and her supporters have suffered under the State Peace and Development Council,” he said. “Her transfer from house arrest to prison to face criminal charges is a serious matter that deserves the strongest condemnation from the world’s democracies—and from regional neighbors, including Thailand and China.”

Clinton to Raise Suu Kyi’s Case Worldwide

By LALIT K JHA
The Irrawaddy News

WASHINGTON — US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says she will raise the imprisonment of Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi with the UN, Burma’s partners within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean)—and even China.

Describing the removal of Suu Kyi from her home to Rangoon’s infamous Insein Prison as unlawful and “a pretext to place further unjustified restrictions on her,” Clinton told a press conference in Washington on Thursday that she would also raise the democracy icon’s plight with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

Clinton was speaking after meeting visiting Malaysian Foreign Minister YB Datuk Anifah bin Haji Aman, who promised to raise the matter with the Asean Secretariat and also seek a solution through the Asean+3 group, which includes China.

Clinton said: “We are reaching out to our Asean partners like Malaysia. I hope to be speaking myself to the [UN] Secretary-General. We think that this does rise to the level of the kind of regional statements of concern that we would ask for.

“We will also raise this with other nations like China and see if we can’t, on a humanitarian basis, seek relief for Aung San Suu Kyi from this latest effort to intimidate and perhaps even incarcerate her.”

The Malaysian Foreign Minister said the arrest of Suu Kyi made it all the more important not to isolate Burma. “We do not want to leave Myanmar in isolation,” he said.

“We will use the good office of the Asean Secretariat to immediately engage in and to finding solutions to this matter, and if it is possible, this—the Asean+3, which includes China—we would also be, if it’s necessary to engage in, to seek their views and assistance in trying to solve the problem.”

Clinton said she was deeply troubled by the decision by the Burmese regime to charge Suu Kyi with a baseless crime. “It comes just before the six-year anniversary of her house arrest, and it is not in keeping with the rule of law, the Asean charter, or efforts to promote national reconciliation and progress in Burma.

“We oppose the regime’s efforts to use this incident as a pretext to place further unjustified restrictions on her, and therefore we call on the Burmese authorities to release her immediately and unconditionally, along with her doctor and the more than 2,100 political prisoners currently being held.”

Ban ‘Concerned’ about Suu Kyi in Prison

By LALIT K JHA
The Irrawaddy News

WASHINGTON—United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Thursday expressed his concern about the news reports that Aung San Suu Kyi has been moved to the Insein Prison to face criminal charges.

However, aside from issuing a statement through his spokesperson’s office, there was no indication as to what specific measures the UN secretary-general was willing to take to resolve this latest issue in the long saga of the Nobel Peace Prize winner’s detention.

“The Secretary-General believes that Aung San Suu Kyi is an essential partner for dialogue in Myanmar’s national reconciliation and calls on the Government not to take any further action that could undermine this important process,” the statement said.

Ban, who has repeatedly said in the past that he has a personal interest in Burma, believes strongly that Suu Kyi and all those who have a contribution to make to the future of their country must be free to be able to do so to ensure that the political process is credible, according to his spokesperson’s office.

Meanwhile, several world leaders, including former US President Jimmy Carter, former South African President Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, condemned the latest move by the Burmese military junta. In a statement, the group of eminent world personalities—calling themselves “The Elders”—urged the military rulers to immediately release Suu Kyi, who is an honorary member of the group.

“This so-called trial is absurd!” charged Tutu. “It is an excuse by the junta to extend her incarceration yet again. Our sister must be released immediately.”

“The regime is clearly seeking reasons not to release her,” said Carter. “We stand by Aung San Suu Kyi, our fellow Elder, and urge the United Nations and Asean to dispatch envoys to Burma to demand her immediate release.”

Only UN can save Suu Kyi: expert

By Simon Lauder for The World Today

ABC -An Australian expert says that the UN secretary-general should personally intervene into the detention of Burmese democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

There has been global condemnation of the military junta's latest move to keep Ms Suu Kyi locked up.

The charges against her, for allegedly breaching the terms of her house arrest, have been roundly dismissed by outside observers as both ridiculous and baseless.

But it could be just the thing to keep Suu Kyi out of the public eye until Burma's election next year.

Professor Monique Skidmore from Canberra University is an expert on Burma and goes there several times a year.

She says the country's military junta has made sure there is no chance of another uprising like the one which was led by monks in 2007.

"There are still monasteries completely depopulated from monks after the 2007 monk-led uprising," she told ABC Radio's The World Today.

She said the worldwide condemnation will probably not have great effect.

"I have a feeling that the only thing that may work to Aung San Suu Kyi's favour at the moment would be if the secretary-general of the UN, Ban Ki-moon, was to pay another visit to Burma," she said.

"I don't think anything short of that would be an effective intervention, although I doubt that we'll see any form of the house arrest order at least coming off in the next year or so."

Mr Ban has expressed 'grave concern' about the fresh charges, spokeswoman Marie Okabe says.

"The secretary-general believes that Aung San Suu Kyi is an essential partner for dialogue in [Burma's] national reconciliation," she said.

'Ridiculous' charges

The 63-year-old was arrested after a visit from John Yettaw, a mysterious American who made wooden flippers and swam across the lake which backs onto her home.

She was charged with breaching her home detention, which was meant to run out next month.

Ms Suu Kyi's attorney, Jared Genser, says the charges are patently ridiculous and the unwanted visitor is a mystery.

"What we know about him from news reports is that he's a devout Mormon, that he is a Vietnam veteran, and that ... he may not be entirely all there from an emotional standpoint," he said.

Ms Suu Kyi has been detained for most of the time since she won the 1990 election, and now Burma is preparing for the first national elections since then.

The 63-year-old is still enormously popular in Burma, and when she is allowed out, pulls a large crowd of supporters.

Mr Genser told Radio National the junta is more scared of Ms Suu Kyi's influence than it is of world condemnation, but Burma is playing a risky game.

"I don't think that they're going to listen to an outcry. The question is whether they have overplayed their hand here," he said.

"If they actually proceed to sentence her to that kind of time in prison, I think that it will be very difficult for allies of the junta, you know, particularly some of its allies in ASEAN - China, India and others - to defend this kind of behaviour."

Worldwide condemnation

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says she is deeply troubled by what she calls the "baseless charge" against the Nobel Peace laureate.

"We call on the Burmese authorities to release her immediately and unconditionally, along with her doctor and the more than 2,100 political prisoners currently being held," he said.

Thailand's Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva is also hoping the United Nations will get involved.

"It's very important that the political process is inclusive, and they have always maintained that they are in the process of doing so," he said. (JEG's: by arresting the opposition by the hour?..)

"For instance, during our last meetings, they talk about the continuation of releases of various people.(JEG's: yes, another amnesty is coming soon, early next year or late this year in preparations for the elections...)

The Australian Government has also repeated its view that Ms Suu Kyi should be immediately released.

But there is little doubt the charges against her are designed to put off her release once again.

'Free Aung San Suu Kyi' pressure grows

SMH -Burma faced intense international pressure today to release pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi after she was imprisoned ahead of a new trial next week for breaching the terms of her house arrest.

The ruling military junta took the Nobel Peace Prize laureate from her home on Thursday to Rangoon's notorious Insein prison, where she was charged over a bizarre incident in which an American man swam to her lakeside residence.

The United States led Western calls for her immediate release while rights groups urged the UN Security Council to intervene to help the 63-year-old, whose trial is due to start at the prison on Monday.

There was no comment from Burma's secretive regime, which has kept Aung San Suu Kyi in detention for most of the last 19 years and now looks set to do so past controversial elections that are due next year.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said she was "deeply troubled" by the "baseless" case laid against Aung San Suu Kyi just days before her latest six-year detention was to have expired.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said he was "gravely concerned" while the UN special envoy on human rights in Burma, Tomas Ojea Quintana, called for Aung San Suu Kyi to be freed, and said her detention broke the country's laws.

Britain, France and other western nations - which like the United States have imposed sanctions on the country formerly known as Burma - condemned the decision and said it did not bode well for the 2010 elections.

A group of eminent statesmen including South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu and former US President Jimmy Carter also demanded her release.

Indonesia became the first of Burma's partners in the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to call for the junta to release Aung San Suu Kyi and drop the "arbitrary" new charges against her.

Burmese authorities are currently holding Aung San Suu Kyi and her two maids, who were also charged, at a house inside the grounds of Insein Prison pending the trial, her lawyers have said.

Stopped by the junta from taking power after leading her National League for Democracy Party from winning a landslide victory in the country's last election in 1990, she now faces a maximum jail term of five years.

The case centred around a mysterious US national, John Yettaw, who was arrested last week after using a pair of homemade flippers to swim across a lake to Aung San Suu Kyi's crumbling house.

Reportedly a Mormon father of seven and Vietnam War veteran, the heavy-set 53-year-old also faces charges of violating the restricted area around her home and breaching immigration conditions.

His motives remain unclear but Irrawaddy magazine, published by Burma exiles in Thailand, dismissed speculation about the coincidental timing of the incident before the expiry of her detention order.

It said he was "simply a weird character who acted alone," while Aung San Suu Kyi's lawyers have described him as a "fool".

Yettaw had also met with Burma exile groups in Thailand and reportedly told them he was working on a faith-based book on heroism, the magazine said.

New York-based Human Rights Watch called on the UN's Ban to press the authorities for her release, accusing the Burmese junta of taking advantage of the US man's "bizarre stunt" to keep Aung San Suu Kyi detained.

Amnesty International demanded that the UN Security Council "urgently intervene" to secure her release.

UN Leads Condemnation of Myanmar’s New Charges Against Suu Kyi

By By Michael Heath and Ed Johnson

(Bloomberg) -- The United Nations led international condemnation of new charges brought by Myanmar’s military junta against pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and demanded her immediate and unconditional release.

The Nobel Peace Prize winner will stand trial next week accused of breaching the conditions of her house arrest order after an American national allegedly swam across a lake last week to visit her. Two of her maids also face trial.

“I call on the government of Myanmar to release Aung San Suu Kyi and her aides unconditionally,” UN human rights envoy Tomas Ojea Quintana said in a statement yesterday. “Since her house is well guarded by security forces, the responsibility for preventing such intrusions” lies with them, he said.

Suu Kyi, 63, has spent 13 years in detention since her National League for Democracy party won 1990 elections in the country previously known as Burma, a result rejected by the military that has ruled since 1962. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Suu Kyi had been charged with a “baseless” crime.

“We oppose the regime’s efforts to use this incident as a pretext to place further restrictions on her, and therefore we call on the Burmese authorities to release her immediately and unconditionally,” Clinton said. She also called for the release of Suu Kyi’s doctor and more than 2,100 political prisoners.

Suu Kyi’s trial will begin May 18, nine days before her detention order is due to expire. She faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison if found guilty, Nyan Win, a spokesman for the NLD, said yesterday from the former capital, Yangon, after the hearing at Insein Prison.

The American national John Yettaw, was charged with breaching a security law, he said.

Security Breach

Yettaw was detained by police last week for entering Suu Kyi’s lakeside home and staying there for two days, according to state-run media. He arrived uninvited and Suu Kyi encouraged him to leave, Jared Genser, her U.S.-based legal counsel, said yesterday before the court hearing.

Myanmar authorities have described Yettaw as a 53-year-old former soldier from Detroit. The state-run New Light of Myanmar newspaper said he arrived in Yangon on a tourist visa on May 2 and swam to Suu Kyi’s compound the following night. He was arrested in the early hours of May 6 while swimming back across the lake.

Authorities confiscated his passport, a black haversack, torch, folding pliers, a camera, two $100 bills and some Myanmar currency, according to the newspaper. They are investigating his motives for entering Suu Kyi’s home, it said.

China, India

Human Rights Watch called on China and India, Myanmar’s closest allies, to pressure the ruling generals to free Suu Kyi. The New York-based group said the charges against her are part of an intensified campaign against pro-democracy activists that has brought increased arrests as the regime seeks to crush the opposition before elections.

The junta plans a ballot in 2010 after passing a constitution last year that it said was backed by 92 percent of voters. The NLD and other groups have denounced the charter, which bars Suu Kyi from holding office.

“China, India, Singapore, Thailand and other Southeast Asian countries should be calling for a genuine and participatory political process in Burma, which means serious public pressure for the release of political opponents,” said Elaine Pearson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch.

“Suu Kyi’s latest arrest shows how their silence simply encourages more contempt for basic freedoms,” she said in a statement.

Clinton, China

Clinton told reporters in Washington yesterday the U.S. wants a statement from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations expressing concern about the treatment of Suu Kyi. Myanmar is a member of the 10-member regional bloc.

The Obama administration will also raise the matter with nations “like China, and see if we can’t, on a humanitarian basis, seek relief for Aung San Suu Kyi from this latest effort to intimidate and perhaps even incarcerate her,” Clinton said.

Suu Kyi has been detained since May 2003 under a law that allows someone deemed a threat to national security to be held without charge, according to Genser, president of the U.S.-based Freedom Now (read below Call to UN... Scribd) group. The junta says it can detain her under the law for six years, or until May 27, he added.

The opposition leader has suffered from dehydration, low blood pressure and a loss of appetite over the past few weeks, Nyan Win said. She underwent gynecological surgery in 2003, needed hospital treatment in 2006 and suffered low blood pressure and was unable to leave her bed in September.

To contact the reporters on this story: Michael Heath in Sydney at mheath1@bloomberg.net; Ed Johnson in Sydney at ejohnson28@bloomberg.net.

Call to UN to exert pressure on Generals to free prisoners

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Thursday, May 14, 2009

Detained drug suspects released after paying millions - Naw Kham

By Hseng Khio Fah

Shanland - The chase launched on “Druglord” Naw Kham by the Burma Army following the shootings at a Chinese cargo ship on the Mekong on 18 February had resulted in the massive arrest of suspects including businessmen, but most of them were released after paying millions, according to reliable sources.

Over 20 people suspected of connection with Naw Kham who has been active in the Golden Triangle area, where Burma’s Shan State, Laos and Thailand meet, were detained by the Burma Army during the operation.

Among these were Ko Thiha, from Wan Hwe Waw Khoke, Kengphawng village tract, and Ko Maung Tint from Quarter #3 of Namkhet, Kengtung township, eastern Shan State.

Maung Tint was a former soldier in the Burma Army’s signal battalion. He has been reportedly dealing in drugs and arms together with Naw Kham with the help of local authorities in Tachilek since his retirement.

Naw Kham

“Almost all of the Naw Kham’s dealers know about of the relationship between the junta authorities and Naw Kham,” said a businessman who was also involved in the drug trade. “The area commanders and local authorities are receiving kickbacks from Naw Kham.”

Maung Tint was reported to have disclosed in detail of Naw Kham’s relationships with the authorities to the police during the interrogations.

Their disclosures had led to the police releasing them after paying Kyat 20 million (US$ 20,000) each, said the source.

To date, even though Naw Kham has been under “hot pursuit” by the Burmese forces since 18 February, he still remains free. In addition, his cross border drug dealings have also recovered.

Naw Kham, a former officer in the late Khun Sa’s Mong Tai Army (MTA), surrendered with his boss to become a militia leader in Tachilek in 1996. Ten years later, he went underground, following a raid that resulted in seizure of a large amount of arms and drugs.

Junta training militias in another name

By Khun Aung Kham

Shanland - Local authorities in Mong Ko village tract, Tachilek Township, Eastern Shan State, opposite Maesai, are ordering villagers to serve either in the fire brigade or in the Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA), but were actually giving militia training to those who choose to join fire brigades, according to sources from border.

“The chairman of our village track said the order came from above. One person per house has to join either the fire brigade or USDA. Now they are giving training in the football field of Mong Ko village tract,” said a 40 year old woman.

The first batch of about 50 villagers has been trained and they are now training the second batch, according to local villagers.

The formation of villagers into fire fighters or USDA members is a new strategy in order to secure more support for their election, said Kya Bolong, Chairman of LaHu Democratic Union (LDU).

“They are persuading people by giving them incentives such as issuing Identity cards at cheap price if they join the USDA. Because most of the villagers have no ID cards, many are interested in joining it,” he added.

There are 56 villages in Mong Ko village tract, and most of villagers are Shan and Lahu. The area of Mong Ko tract stretches from the outskirts of Tachilek Township to the outskirts of Talerh Township, 29 miles farther north.

Similarly, people in Nam Kham Township, Northern Shan State, are undergoing militia trainings after being told to join fine brigades. So far, Junta authorities have completed three batches.

Junta orders planting Physic Nut in northern Burma

KNG - Early this week, the Burmese military junta released a new order to resume regular Physic Nut (Jet Suu in Burmese) plantation activities in Myitkyina, the capital of the country's northern Kachin State, said local sources.

Residents in each quarter in Myitkyina have been told to plant Physic Nut saplings in the spaces on the left and right, along the roadside in two areas--- the road between Maw Hpawng village-Myitkyina downtown and Tatkone quarter-Balaminhtin Irrawaddy River Bridge. The orders came from the quarters' administrative offices (Ya Ya Ka).

Under a rotation system, civilians from each quarter have been ordered to grow the saplings in the given areas. Both civilians and government personnel have been directed to grow the saplings, said residents of Myitkyina.

Yesterday, two residents from each sub-area in Tatkone were ordered to go with iron crowbars to the planting areas on the roadside towards Balaminhtin Irrawaddy River Bridge from Tatkone by the quarter administrative office, said residents.

Again, 15 sub-areas in the quarters between Maw Hpawng and Myitkyina downtown have been ordered to send two-inch long 100 stems of Physic Nut each to their quarters' administrative offices by 5 p.m. Burma Standard Time today, according to residents of these quarters.

The local military authorities use civilians as forced labour for Physic Nut planting but they avoid planting saplings with too many people for fear of media attention, said local people.

In Kachin State, the Physic Nut or also called Jatropha Curcas has to be grown in the whole state under the government project in the entire country. Most Physic Nut trees are planted alongside main roads, public places, football grounds and in front of government buildings in Kachin State, said locals.

At the same time, children and some adults are often hospitalized with vomiting caused by eating the poisonous fruits of Physic Nut but the military authorities are yet to put a single 'warning poster' in front of the plantations in public places, complained local residents.

The Physic Nut or also called Castor Oil Plant locally bears fruits in three years after planting. The junta has ordered to grow Physic Nut in 500,000 acres in Kachin State.

The junta claims to produce bio-fuel or diesel from Physic Nut but there is no market to sell the Physic Nut fruits in Kachin State till now, said local people.

Transforming of ethnic armed groups by Burmese junta

by Zai Dai

KNG - Isn’t the junta's pressure on the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), the armed wing of Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) to transform it to the regime’s Border Security Force seemingly a harsh violation of the principle of Federal Democracy ostensibly to be launched once again in Burma?

It is regrettable that the junta has pressurized KIA to transform to its Border Security Force seven months before the 2010 election in Burma. The KIA must do it within a very limited time as ordered by the Northern Commander Brig-Gen Soe Win in late April. It is crucial to scrutinize as citizens of Kachinland (Kachin State) and Burma whether there is truth behind such treatment. The regime might misuse the process of declaring globally that it has been initiating the resuscitation of Federal Democracy and will revitalize the country very soon. The Federal Democratic Union is the aspiration of all the citizens of the country.

Yet, history has been subverted as seen across the globe or in the nature of the dictatorship uprooting the original bond of political stance up to the present. On the one hand, an action of maneuvering could lead one's country into constant destitution and on the other hand a single submission of the victims toward their despotism could re-strengthen a certain and constant neo-slavery system in the country. Is it the right time for one and all being citizens of this soil to adjudicate why and how the junta threatens the KIA and other armed groups to surrender?

The regime's plot manifested itself towards KIA as its target and international communities in general in a way that the regime has officially declared its devoted principle of military dictatorship.

Meanwhile, certain assumptions could be possible that the regime has really informed the armed group from its heart despite positive engagement by the KIA for being constantly loyal and supportive towards the regime. Thus, it could be noteworthy to critically analyze the plot of the regime from the very angle that it could be a certain Constructive Logic of the regime's pressurizing the KIA.

Of course, the regime's pressure on ceasefire groups in particular on the KIA has not been a new chapter. Its natural or rather unwise strategy has been to disarm it since the very agreement. Yet, unfortunately, no constructive appeal or interference has been made from any democratic big brother, father and grandfather nations/communities so far from outside even though it is a very critical plot for the security and peaceful survival of tribes/minorities in Burma.

Such a norm of humanitarian jurisdiction is being adjudicated in the better implication of democratic enterprises side by side. In a way what is needed is democratic value as a safeguard/shield towards the marginalized, deprived, the oppressed, and the victims who are badly alienated from the state under the military's yoke. Having persecuted non-Burmese minorities from the time of Takhin Kodaw Hmiang, General Ne Win, U Nu and currently the regime and particularly towards KIA and Kachin people and other armed groups and minorities, it clearly reminds one of euthanasia.

The regime has been making the constitution referendum, election of 2010 and so on in its own way without the consent of the people in Burma. Even now, the plot towards the KIA has come without any prior principle engagement and any consensus as practiced by despots like General Ne Win who ordered gunning down pro-democratic innocent citizen demonstrators in 1988. Just like outdated colonizers of the past, the regime is still practicing discrimination toward the minorities of the country by its merciless military might.

As a matter of fact certain crucial assumptions would be precipitated that the regime may have engaged one way or the other with both inner alliances, its sympathizers and Chinese smugglers who are cunning parasites of the regime. This is just for the sake of business in order to extract and rob resources from the country for China that dehumanizes and re-colonizes the citizens and the land of Burma.

It seems that the Chinese would be dominating the country as long as the regime exists by supplying outdated arms, ammunitions and fighters to be used in civil war or rather to uproot and wipe out insurgencies in Burma.

On the one hand, the regime could be an interim government through the election into a full fledged Federal Democratic Union. It could be possible that the regime would initiate this since it wants KIA to be absolutely transformed into Border Security Force (BSF) which we can see only in fully democratic countries like USA, India and so on.

First, BSF seems to be formed not for civil defense but for the defense against enemies outside the country. Having the longest border with China, BSF seems to be needed for the special purpose of security against foreign enemies. Is there any hint that China could become the regime's enemy?

Second, supposing the regime seems to be in the process of wiping out KIA prior to the Kachins. Then, why are the Kachins and minorities committed towards the principles of Federal Democratic Union established with the basic policy of ethnic cleansing campaign of the Burmese regime? By no means is the regime itself on the right track as the Federal Union has been established with its norm and principle.

Third, then it could be possible that the regime has decided to maintain Buddhism as the religion and policy in the military based democratic country regardless of the negligence of the vow of democratic principle. Rather should the regime make a mutual-engagement with Chinese instead?

As result, the coming election would by no means be conducted in an undemocratic manner or under the supervision and safeguard of the Chinese government. In this process, the strong alliance of the regime with China is leading Burma to a position of one of the strongest allies of China to subvert the social-economic-political domination of the west and Europe.

As analyzed the tendency of the new state to conceive such a terrible alliance against norms of democracy, against the denial of peaceful survival of its own citizens, the regime has perpetuated an alliance with China. The regime has failed to solve the political chaos in Burma between Burmese groups and minorities on the principle of democratic value and tools. The regime has chosen and created a path of uncertainty, danger and more insecurity for future generations of the country.

As a matter of fact, being citizens of Burma it is the right time to focus on the regime’s plot on the KIA, making a new enemy of its own citizens, neglecting the humanitarian crisis of Burma prevailing among minority and armed groups created by the regime by way of mercy killing since 1962. There is need to create a country which is a friend of its own citizens and nations all over the globe.

Bangladesh to Bring Maritime Dispute with Burma and India to UN

By Takaloo, Dhaka (Narinjara): Bangladesh is planning to seek a UN settlement for its maritime demarcations with Burma and India in the Bay of Bengal as the two neighbors have challenged Bangladesh's attempts at hydrocarbon exploration with overlapping charges.

"We are taking preparations to put forward our objection at the UN by June to Myanmar's claim and by November to India's claim in the Bay of Bengal," an official involved in the process told the News Age newspaper on Monday.

The report came after Burma and India both recently opposed Bangladesh's offshore block bidding for exploration of oil and gas in the Bay of Bengal.

Bangladesh has also objected to Burma's test drilling in the sea adjacent to its territory, raising tensions between the two neighbors over the maritime demarcations in November 2008.

According to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, Bangladesh must demarcate its sea boundaries by July 27, 2011, India must demarcate by June 29, 2009, and Burma by May 21, 2009.

Officials said that Burma submitted its claim for the maritime delimitation to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf, a UN body established to deal with the law of the sea, in December 2008, while India was set to submit its own claim last Monday.

Bangladesh Foreign Minister Dipu Moni will also leave for Burma for a three-day meeting scheduled for 15 - 17 May with discussion on the maritime boundary issue at the top of the agenda.

Suu Kyi and US citizen charged

(DVB)–Charges have been brought against opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi relating to her contact with the US citizen who last week spent two nights in her compound, where she is being held under house arrest.

According to Suu Kyi’s lawyer, Kyi Win, the official court trial will take place on 18 May, after Kyi Win has applied for the right for a formal legal defence.

The charge falls under Article 22 of the Burmese penal code, which bars her from contact with foreign diplomats and political organisations, and contact with any outsiders without permission.

Article 22 carries a sentence of between three and five years.

The US citizen John William Yettaw, along with Suu Kyi’s two caretakers, has been charged under Article 22/109, relating to aiding and abetting the breaking of Article 22.

All four remain at Rangoon’s Insein prison, where the trial is being held.

Lawyer Kyi Win said that a member of the Special Branch police unit, Police Colonel Zaw Min Aung, brought the charges against both parties, while two judges and a jury will form the special court in which the trial will take place.

Last Wednesday, Yettaw was arrested after swimming across Lake Inya in Rangoon, apparently after having spent two nights in Suu Kyi’s compound.

Under conditions of her house arrest, Suu Kyi is forbidden to have visitors. A broader Burmese law states that no foreigner is allowed to spend the night at a local’s house.

US embassy staff held a brief meeting with John Yettaw yesterday, but no details were given as to his motives.

“We weren’t able to get any details from him about the circumstances – there were other people in the room – and so they didn’t talk about anything in great detail,” said Richard Mei.

Suu Kyi’s doctor, Tin Myo Win, was detained the day after Yettaw was arrested. There has been no news of his situation.

Suu Kyi’s current internment under house arrest is due to expire on 27 May, as stated by the Burmese government.

Reporting by Naw Say Phaw and Francis Wade

Govts, Exiles Call for Suu Kyi's Release

By THE IRRAWADDY

The British prime minister, the Australian government and its opposition party joined the chorus of calls from Burmese activist groups around the world on Thursday for the immediate release of Burma’s pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

“I am deeply disturbed that Aung San Suu Kyi may be charged with breaching the terms of her detention,” said British premier Gordon Brown on Thursday. “The Burmese regime is clearly intent on finding any pretext, no matter how tenuous, to extend her unlawful detention.”

Earlier, Foreign Minister Stephen Smith had addressed Australia’s parliament. "It is Australia's longstanding position—shared by governments of both political persuasions—that she [Suu Kyi] should be released immediately and unconditionally and I repeat that today,” he said.

According to the Australian press, opposition foreign affairs spokeswoman Julie Bishop told parliament that the Burmese military junta had ignored the will of the majority of its people.

"The world must engage in greater levels of diplomacy and other actions to ensure Aung San Suu Kyi is free, and that freedom and democracy is returned to the people of Burma," she said.

Meanwhile on Thursday, in Rangoon, Suu Kyi’s party, the NLD, released a press statement saying that Suu Kyi was “devout in her search of national reconciliation and was the one person who could effect political reform through dialogue and compromise.”

Suu Kyi was charged with breaching the conditions of her house arrest relating to an incident last week when an American man— John William Yettaw, 54, from Missouri—swam across Inya Lake and entered her house.

Suu Kyi, 63, has spent over 13 of the past 20 years in detention for leading the pro-democracy movement in Burma. Her latest term under house arrest is due to expire at the end of this month and opposition activists say the junta is looking for a legal pretext to keep her detained.

“We unequivocally condemn this attempt by the junta to cloak its continued detention of Suu Kyi in a veil of legitimacy,” Jared Genser, her US-based legal counsel, said on Thursday before the court hearing.

On March, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention declared that they found Suu Kyi's current detention violates international and Burmese law.

The Washington-based National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma— which describes itself as the country's government-in-exile—also condemned the NLD leader’s arrest. The group's prime minister, Dr Sein Win, who is a cousin of Suu Kyi, said, "It is nothing more than a political ploy to hoodwink the international community so that they can keep Daw Aung San Suu Kyi under lock and key while the military maneuvers its way to election victory in 2010."

Meanwhile, a London-based advocacy group, Burma Campaign UK, called for an intense diplomatic effort to secure the release of Suu Kyi after she was taken into custody from her lakeside home on Thursday morning to a guest house inside the compound of Rangoon's notorious Insein Prison.

“The United Nations and Asean must dispatch envoys to Burma to demand the immediate release of Aung San Suu Kyi and all Burma’s political prisoners,” said Zoya Phan, the international coordinator at Burma Campaign UK, adding that she also called on the British government, the EU and the US to use their influence to ensure the UN sends an envoy to Burma.

“Burma’s generals will use any excuse to keep Aung San Suu Kyi detained. If strong action isn’t taken, Aung San Suu Kyi could face the rest of her life in jail,” she said in a statement on Thursday.

Suu Kyi was recently reportedly to be suffering from low blood pressure and dehydration, and had difficulty eating. Her health reportedly improved this week after a visit from a doctor who administered an intravenous drip. However, the NLD has called for her to receive regular medical checkups.

The US State Department and the EU also voiced their concerns over the health of the Nobel Peace Prize laureate.

Australia calls for release of Suu Kyi

By Sandra O'Malley

SMH - Australia has called for the immediate release of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi after Burmese authorities sent her to prison over an unauthorised visit by an American.

The 63-year-old, who has lately been in poor health, has been under house arrest for the past two decades.

She was sent to the notorious Insein prison on Thursday after being charged over an incident in which an American man swam across a lake to visit her house.

Foreign Minister Stephen Smith expressed grave concern over the latest chapter in Ms Suu Kyi's incarceration.

"It is Australia's longstanding position - shared by governments of both political persuasions - that she should be released immediately and unconditionally and I repeat that today," he told parliament.

Ms Suu Kyi has spent most of the past 19 years detained in virtual isolation in her crumbling compound since the Burmese military junta refused to recognise her National League for Democracy's landslide victory in the country's last elections in 1990.

Opposition foreign affairs spokeswoman Julie Bishop told parliament the military junta had ignored the will of the majority of Burmese people.

Ms Bishop travelled to Burma in 1995 and met Ms Suu Kyi.

Ms Suu Kyi said at the time that she was "a prisoner in her own country".

She said it seemed "the Burmese regime is determined to make that a reality".

The junta was "unparalleled" for its human rights abuses against Burmese people.

"The world must engage in greater levels of diplomacy and other actions to ensure that Aung San Suu Kyi is freed and that freedom and democracy is returned to the people of Burma," Ms Bishop said.

Charges against Suu Kyi 'troubling:' US

The Age - The US State Department expressed concern after Burma's military junta detained and charged pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi with breaching the terms of her house arrest.

"We have seen this report, which is certainly troubling if true," State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said about Suu Kyi's expected trial on Monday to face the charges, which carry a maximum jail term of five years.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton "has seen it as well, and has asked the Department to work to get more information", added Kelly.

The charges would stretch the 63-year-old's detention past its supposed expiry date this month and through elections that are due in 2010.

US national John Yettaw was detained last week after swimming across a lake and hiding inside Suu Kyi's off-limits home for two days.

He was also charged with violating the security law and immigration conditions, according to Hla Myo Myint, one of the democracy activist's lawyers.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said on Thursday he is "deeply disturbed" by the arrest.

"The Burmese regime is clearly intent on finding any pretext, no matter how tenuous, to extend her unlawful detention," he said in a statement issued by his Downing Street office.

"I am deeply disturbed that Aung San Suu Kyi may be charged with breaching the terms of her detention," he added.

But he said: "The real injustice, the real illegality, is that she is still detained in the first place. If the 2010 elections are to have any semblance of credibility, she and all political prisoners must be freed to participate.

"Only then will Burma be set on the road to real democracy, stability and prosperity," he added.

The European Union's special envoy Piero Fassino said there is "no justification" for the new charges.

"There is no justification" for the decision to charge her with breaching the terms of her house arrest, he told Italy's Channel 5 television.

Fassino said the international community should use "every possible means to press for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi" as well as "the 2,000 other political prisoners who are held in Burmese jails", he added.

The Italian envoy said that Europe should work with the United States and Asian countries to "make the Burmese junta understand that its oppressive and dictatorial policy is unacceptable for the international community".

Burma: Free Aung San Suu Kyi

Pressure From ASEAN, China, and India Needed

(HRW-New York) - All of Burma's international trade and aid partners should strongly condemn the renewed imprisonment of the democracy leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, in the notorious Insein Prison, Human Rights Watch said today. Human Rights Watch called on the UN secretary-general, members of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), China, and India in particular to press the authorities for her immediate, unconditional release.

"Burma's military authorities have taken advantage of an intruder's bizarre stunt to throw Aung San Suu Kyi into one of Burma's most notorious and squalid jails on trumped-up charges," said Elaine Pearson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. "China and India, as Burma's main supporters, and ASEAN should condemn this injustice and use their leverage to push hard for her freedom."

New, spurious charges that she violated her house arrest relate to the unwanted intrusion into Aung San Suu Kyi's home on May 3-5, 2009, by John William Yettaw, an American who allegedly swam across Inya Lake in Rangoon to visit her.

On May 14, Special Branch police arrested Aung San Suu Kyi and her two live-in party supporters and domestic workers, Daw Khin Khin Win, and her daughter, Win Ma Ma, at Aung San Suu Kyi's home in Rangoon, and transferred the three to Insein Prison. Authorities charged them under Section 22 of the State Protection Act, which states, "any person against whom action is taken, who opposes, resists, or disobeys any order passed under this Law shall be liable to imprisonment for a period of from three years up to five years, or to a fine of up to 5,000 Kyats, or to both." The trial is set for May 18.

Burmese authorities have held Yettaw since his arrest on May 6. A US embassy official visited him on May 13. He was charged today under the same provision as Aung San Suu Kyi.

Human Rights Watch called on ASEAN member states, China, and India to put pressure on Burma's rulers to free Aung San Suu Kyi immediately and unconditionally, as well as more than 2,100 other political prisoners.

Burma's military government has announced elections for 2010, as the next step in their "road map to democracy," a sham political process that has dragged on for more than 15 years. Most of Burma's main trading partners and diplomatic supporters - China, India, Thailand, Singapore, and Russia - have repeatedly expressed support for the process. But in the past two years, arrests and intimidation of political activists have intensified. The number of political prisoners has doubled, offices of the Aung San Suu Kyi's opposition National League for Democracy party (NLD) have been forcibly closed, and freedom of expression, assembly, and association have been sharply curtailed.

"China, India, Singapore, Thailand and other Southeast Asian countries should be calling for a genuine and participatory political process in Burma, which means serious public pressure for the release of political opponents," said Pearson. "Aung San Suu Kyi's latest arrest shows how their silence simply encourages more contempt for basic freedoms."

The United Nations has attempted mediation between Burma's military government and Aung San Suu Kyi's party, the NLD, calling for "national reconciliation" without success. Ibrahim Gambari, the current special adviser on Burma for the UN secretary-general, has visited Burma several times and met with Aung San Suu Kyi without obtaining any tangible results. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon issued a statement today expressing "grave concern" and calling "on the government not to take any further action that could undermine" the process of national reconciliation.

"There is no process of national reconciliation whatsoever as long as political opponents like Aung San Suu Kyi are behind bars," said Pearson. "The UN has tried talking nicely to Burma's generals for years, but now the secretary-general should simply insist on Aung San Suu Kyi's unconditional release, from prison and from house arrest."

Aung San Suu Kyi, general secretary of the NLD and winner of the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize, has spent more than 14 of the past 20 years under house arrest. She has been detained in Insein Prison only once before, following the Depayin incident, when a pro-government mob attacked her motorcade in upper Burma on May 30, 2003.

Her five-year house arrest detention order was set to expire at the end of May 2009, after authorities imposed a one year extension in 2008. Aung San Suu Kyi's health has deteriorated in the past two years. Last week, members of her party said she suffered acute dehydration and low blood pressure.

Suu Kyi to Be Tried

The Irrawaddy News

RANGOON (AP) — Burma's pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi was taken by armed escort Thursday to a prison compound where she will be tried in connection with the intrusion of an American man who sneaked into her compound, her lawyer said.

Such a trial could justify another extension of Suu Kyi's yearslong detention, which officially ends May 27. In the past the junta—which regards the Nobel Peace laureate as the biggest threat to their rule—has found reasons to extend her periods of house arrest, which international jurors say is illegal even under Burma's own law.

It was not immediately clear what accusation she faced, but Burmese exile groups said she was likely to be charged under a catchall public security law and could face a prison term of up to seven years.

An American man, John William Yettaw, was arrested last week for allegedly swimming a lake to secretly enter Suu Kyi's home and stay there for two days. His motives remain unclear. The intrusion raised fears that Suu Kyi may have been ensnared in activities that could put her in further legal trouble.

"Everyone is very angry with this wretched American. He is the cause of all these problems," Suu Kyi's lawyer Kyi Win told reporters. (JEG's: the American swimmer is a SPDC's plot)

Earlier, a motorcade accompanied by armed police, drove Suu Kyi and two women who live with her from their lakeside villa to Insein Prison. They were escorted into the closely guarded prison through a side gate.

One of many strict rules the junta imposes on citizens is that they must notify local officials about any overnight visitor who is not a family member. The law also states that foreigners are not allowed to spend the night at a local's home.

Some members of Suu Kyi's party, the National League for Democracy, have been jailed for about two weeks for violating that law.

Kyi Win said that Suu Kyi told him she didn't invite the American and that she told him to leave her home. The lawyer said that the incident was merely a breach of security in the lakeside area where authorities normally keep close watch over Suu Kyi and her household.

Also to be tried are Suu Kyi's two helpers—Khin Khin Win, 65, and her daughter Win Ma Ma, 41—who have lived with her since she was last detained in 2003.

Suu Kyi, 63, has already spent more than 13 of the last 19 years—including the past six—in detention without trial for her nonviolent promotion of democracy, despite international pressure for her release.

She has recently been ill, suffering from dehydration and low blood pressure. Her condition improved this week after a visit from a doctor who administered an intravenous drip, Nyan Win said on Tuesday.

"Please tell them (reporters) I am well," the lawyer quoted Suu Kyi as saying. But he added: "I am very concerned about Suu Kyi's health, even though she said she is well."

According to the US Campaign for Burma, a Washington, DC-based lobbying group opposed to military rule in Burma, Suu Kyi and her two helpers were to be tried together with Suu Kyi's personal doctor, Tin Myo Win, and Yettaw.

The doctor was arrested without explanation last week, a day after Yettaw was taken into custody.

In an e-mailed statement, it said they would be charged with violating a section of the Emergency Provision Act on public order and security, which is often used against political dissidents. The charge would carry a maximum prison term of seven years.

The lobbying group did not say where it got its information.

"This is the cunning plan of the regime to put Daw Aung San Suu Kyi in continuous detention beyond the six years allowed by the law they used to justify the detention of her," the group said. Daw is a term of respect used for older women.

"This also shows total defiance of the regime to the United Nations and the international community who have been consistently and repeatedly calling for the regime to release all political prisoners, including Daw Aung San Suu Kyi," the group said.

A US diplomat was allowed to visit Yettaw on Wednesday. Burma's state television showed a still photo of Yettaw meeting with consular chief Colin Furst. A US diplomat said the meeting lasted 30 minutes and that Yettaw said he had been treated well.

The diplomat, who insisted on anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to reporters, said Yettaw had not at that time been formally charged with any crime. He did not elaborate, calling the issue sensitive.

Wednesday's TV report said the meeting took place at the Aung Tha-byay police station in Rangoon, which in the past has been used for detention and interrogation of suspected political dissidents.

Burma's state-run newspapers reported last week that Yettaw, 53, of Falcon, Missouri, swam on the night of May 3 to Suu Kyi's lakeside home and departed by swimming a longer 1 1/4-mile (2-kilometer) route on the night of May 5, before being arrested the next morning.

The report said his motive was under investigation.

There are no known previous cases of anyone sneaking into Suu Kyi's home, though a well-informed account earlier this week on a pro-government Web site said Yettaw admitted to making a similar secret visit late last year.

Suu Kyi produced in prison court

by Mizzima News

Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – In a major development, which took the Opposition by surprise, the Burmese military junta authorities took Aung San Suu Kyi from her residence on Thursday morning to be produced in a special court in the infamous Insein prison, according to party sources.

She has been charged in connection with the case of an American citizen John William Yettaw, who intruded into her residence by swimming across Innya Lake in Rangoon.

Two maids who stay with Suu Kyi and look after her also face unspecified charges.

Suu Kyi to face charges related to ‘swimmer’

(DVB)–Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has been ordered to appear in court this morning to face charges related to the US citizen who broke into her compound last week.

The imprisoned opposition leader met with her lawyer yesterday afternoon at 4pm to discuss the unsuccessful appeal for her release, and the incident involving US citizen John William Yettaw.

Suu Kyi later asked lawyer Kyi Win to return to her compound, where she has been under house arrest for 13 of the last 19 years, and told him she had been ordered to appear in Rangoon’s Insein prison court at nine o’clock this morning.

According to Kyi Win, authorities deem the incident involving John William Yettaw, who was arrested last Wednesday after swimming across Inya Lake from Suu Kyi’s compound, to be a breach of her house arrest conditions.

Speaking to DVB, Kyi Win said that Suu Kyi hadn’t invited the man to her compound and therefore was not in breach of her conditions, under which she cannot invite visitors.

“Daw Suu told him to go back, but he didn’t,” said Kyi Win.

“He said he was so tired and wanted to rest, but she pleaded with him. Then he slept overnight on the ground floor.”

Suu Kyi’s caretaker Khin Khin Win, and his half-daughter, will also attend court, along with Kyi Win, lawyer Nyan Win, and another man, Hla Myo Myint.

The National League for Democracy leader’s current internment under house arrest is in its sixth year.

Her release date, as stated by the Burmese government, is due for 27 May.

Kyi Win also said that her health was improving following reports that she had been suffering from dehydration and low blood pressure.

“She looks OK,” he said.

“She has a very strong spirit.”

Reporting by Htet Aung Kyaw

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Lost ID cards have led to corruption amongst Immigration authorities in Ye township

HURFOM (Rehmonnya): Same day service is available to villagers who are seeking an immediate replacement for a lost ID, but are forced to pay steep price hike.

For villagers who have lost their ID cards in Ye township, Immigrations authorities are now offering two methods for seeking a replacement. The normal option is the standard application process - the applicant answers a battery of questions, pays the fee of 3,000 Kyat, and then waits several months. The alternative now offered comes with no questions, and the card can be picked up the same day, but at a cost 20,000 Kyat. This alternative cost is 15 times the price of the normal replacement fee.

According to a 30 year old villager from Andin village who had recently had to have his ID replaced, “I decided to apply for a new ID by the normal method; I paid, answered a million questions, and then I had to wait six months. My brother on the other hand chose the ‘special’ method, and picked up his ID card that evening”

Villagers who travel face many checkpoints along the way, and authorities check ID cards everywhere. If a villager does not have one, they receive a fine and are forced to return home. Authorities will make no exceptions about villagers traveling without ID cards. In once case a villager had a letter of permission from the village headman, they were fined and many questions were asked.

“Once I was stopped at the cement bridge which is situated at the entrance of Ye town,” said a 40 year old village from Ye town, “I had lost my ID card, but I had a permission letter from a member of the Township Peace and Development Council (TPDC) that said I was travelling back fromYabu village which is in Kaleinaung Sub-township, Tenasserim Division. While I was allowed back into Ye town, I was fined 3,000 kyat.”

“Many people in Ye township have been migrating to Thailand and need to get their ID cards as quick as possible. They have to pay more money, but they are happy to because they have to travel immediately,” according to a source who spoke with a member of the immigration authority, “But for people who don’t need to travel, they can pay the lower price. However the service is slower because the agents who make the IDs are lazy about the work when they only make the regular fee a villager must pay for a card replacement.”

Army sergeant dies under interrogation

(DVB)–A Burmese army sergeant suspected of involvement in the theft of firearms and ammunition from an military armoury last week has reportedly died whilst undergoing interrogation.

On 4 May an ammunitions depot belonging to the army’s Light Infantry Battalion 256 in Burma’s Magwe division was raided.

Two days later, masked men robbed a jewellery shop in Yamaethin town, Mandalay division, leaving one dead and two injured.

The firearms used in the robbery are believed to have been those stolen from the armoury.

Sergeant Myint Soe, aged 35, a member of Battalion 256 who was interrogated under suspicion of his involvement in the armoury theft, died en route to the Yamaethin hospital on Sunday.

“People who saw the interrogation said he was kept under burning hot sunlight all day without giving him any water,” said an anonymous source close to the military.

“At the end of the day, they poured a bucket of cold water over his head and then he fainted.”

A hospital staff member, also speaking under condition of anonymity, told DVB that the sergeant was covered in bruises and his fingernails and toenails had been removed.

A Yesagyo resident who lived near the armoury had last week voiced suspicion that the army were involved in the break-in.

“It is impossible to do it without the participation of at least family members of the army,” he said.

“Outsiders dare not come to this kind of territory. They are afraid, as you could be shot if you are too close to the army [camp].

“It is possible that they want to smuggle weapons for sale.”

Reporting by Naw Say Phaw

India deports some Rohingya boat-people to Bangladesh

by Solomon

New Delhi (Mizzima) - Authorities in India’s Andaman Island have begun deporting Rohingya boatpeople, stranded in the Island as of December 2008, to Bangladesh.

An immigration officer of Andaman Island said they have deported 49 Rohingya boat people to Bangladesh since February but said the rest of the 364 people remain.

In December 2008, Indian Navy, tipped-off by local fishermen, rescued more than 400 Rohingya boat-people drifting on wooden boats in the ocean near the Andaman and Nicobar Island.

“They are still here, but 49 people have been deported to Bangladesh. Still there are 364 left,” the official told Mizzima on Wednesday.

He said, the 49 boat-people were deported to Bangladesh on February 25 and they are still waiting for representatives of Bangladesh to accept the rest.

“Now we are waiting for representatives of Bangladesh Embassy to take back the remaining people but nobody has come for them,” the official added.

The official said they have confirmed that all the boatpeople, who claimed to be citizens of Burma, boarded boats in Bangladesh.

“They are in good health and the government continues to provide them facility and accommodation,” said the official. “All of them want to go back to Bangladesh,” he added.

The boat people claimed that they were Burmese citizens, who fled their country for Bangladesh. They sailed off with the hope of reaching Thailand or Malaysia in search of greener pastures.

Late last year and in early 2009, about a thousand Rohingya boat people, who were sailing in the Andaman Sea, were reportedly arrested by Thai authorities.

The boatpeople said, they were arrested and detained briefly by Thai authorities and were later set adrift in the sea on boats without engines and with little food and water.

While another group of about 400 Rohingya boatpeople were also rescued from the coast of Sabang in northern Aceh province of Indonesia in January while 78 others were arrested and detained by Thai authorities in Ranong town.

Kitty Mckinsey, spokesperson of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Bangkok, said they are still negotiating with Thailand regarding the 78 Rohingya.

“They are still in the Ranong detention centre, and nothing has been decided about their future yet,” said Mckinsey.

“Thailand has its own procedures for asylum seekers from Myanmar [Burma] and it’s not clear whether the Rohingya would be included under those procedures,” she said, adding that the UNHCR is continuing its efforts in negotiating with the Thai government.

The Rohingya people, who are Muslim minorities, mostly reside in northern Arakan state of Western Burma. Leaders of the Rohingya community said, they are not recognised as citizens, have no right to own property and marriage for them requires permission from the authorities.

Burma, in its state-run newspaper, had declared that Rohingya is not included among the over 130 national races that are recognised in Burma.

According to UNHCR in Bangladesh, there are over 20,000 recognised refugees living in two camps in Bangladesh. Meanwhile, nearly 200,000 others remain unrecognised and are living outside the camps.

US embassy still denied access to ‘swimmer’

(DVB)–The US Embassy in Rangoon is yet to meet the man arrested last week after allegedly entering imprisoned opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s compound, although they remain optimistic that permission will be granted.

The news comes a day after allegations surfaced that the man in question, US citizen John William Yettaw, may have made another visit to the leader of opposition party National League for Democracy (NLD) last year.

The source of the allegations was a Burmese website, tharkinwe.com, which seemingly takes a hostile stance toward the NLD’s leader. No further official information has been reported.

A spokesperson at the American Embassy said the only details they had so far received was confirmation of his name and passport number, but hinted that cooperation from the government had been unsatisfactory.

“We made the request through the Foreign Ministry to see him for consular access but haven’t gotten a favorable reply yet,” said Richard Mei, Public Affairs officer at the embassy.

“But we’re optimistic we will.”

Yettaw was arrested last Wednesday after apparently swimming across Lake Inya in Rangoon, on the shores of which stand Suu Kyi’s compound where she has been held under house arrest for 13 of the last 19 years.

The state-run Myanmar Ahlin newspaper claimed the man had stayed at the compound for two nights.

Police arresting him allegedly found his passport, some American and Burmese currency, and a video camera.

Reporting by Rosalie Smith

Australian company pulls out of Burma

(DVB)–An Australian company has announced its withdrawal from Burma after evidence arose that a subsidiary was working on designs for a new airport in the country’s capital, despite Australia’s tough sanctions on Burma.

Downer EDI, one of Australia’s largest engineering companies, recently announced the withdrawal of the contract for its Singapore-based subsidiary CPG’s work on the design of a new airport in Naypyidaw, Burma’s remote jungle capital.

The move followed an investigation by Asia Sentinel newspaper in Singapore.

Journalist Ben Bland, who carried out the investigation, said that Downer EDI claimed they knew nothing of the contract until he contacted them.

“They said this was an ‘unintentional oversight’, which is why they have moved to pull out of Burma so quickly,” he said.

“[They] told me that they were pulling out because ‘our group policy has not been applied at a sub-divisional level’.”

Australia has launched numerous vocal condemnations of the Burmese regime, and last year extended sanctions on the country.

Burma’s ruling State Peace and Development Council are alleged to have used forced labour in the construction of the new capital, which in 2005 was moved 350 miles north from the previous capital, Rangoon.

“It does seem likely that a lavish new airport in the junta’s secretive capital would benefit the generals more than anyone else,” said Bland.

Downer EDI claim to operate under a ‘zero harm’ policy, and followed the announcement by saying it would investigate closely all contracts it holds.

“We take Zero Harm very seriously and while not insinuating anything against our direct client in Singapore, we believe this action to be in keeping with the intent of our policy,” said Maryanne Graham, corporate affairs manager at Downer EDI.

She added that whilst the design work is being undertaken in Singapore, the project itself is based in Burma, and therefore warranted withdrawal.

Reporting by Francis Wade

Threatening Suu Kyi’s Health

By KYAW ZWA MOE
The Irrawaddy News

Here’s a relevant question that no one has raised yet: is the Burmese junta deliberately manipulating events in hope that Aung San Suu Kyi will die from natural causes, which—in this case—would not be natural at all?

That’s not possible, you say? The ruling generals in Naypyidaw see the 63-year-old pro-democracy movement leader as an “enemy of the state.” They believe she’s the No 1 enemy, the leader of the “destructive elements” that threaten their rule and who have sabotaged “the peace and stability of the country.”

So, is it out of the question that the generals would be happy if Suu Kyi died by natural causes or was physically impaired? They can’t assassinate her because of the counterproductive reaction from the international community, even from such loyal allies as China and Russia. But they can ensure that her medical treatment is lacking or dispensed at a minimum level.

You can judge for yourself regarding the incidents that unfolded last week at her lakeside house at No 54 University Avenue. Actually, the house is not a real home for the Nobel peace laureate. For 13 years, it’s been her prison.

Suu Kyi now has low blood pressure; she is dehydrated; she has difficulty eating. In short, she is ill again, but on Thursday her primary physician was barred from visiting her for a routine medical checkup and detained for questioning.

Another doctor treated her with an intravenous drip on Friday. Following her request and demands by the National League for Democracy (NLD), she was allowed to return on Saturday and Monday.

"We are worried about Daw Suu's health,” said NLD spokesman Nyan Win last week.
“Authorities should allow free access of her doctor to give Daw Suu the required medical treatment."

If you look at these and earlier incidents in light of basic humanity, law and human rights you can see a pattern of willful negligence by the regime. Of course, in Burma the local population is used to neglect.

The fact is that Suu Kyi has been detained illegally for 13 years, with no just cause and only the minimum of proper medical treatment, which could lead to an early death or a premature loss of physical strength.

This month is more critical than ever for the junta. Suu Kyi’s lawyer, Kyi Win, said that according to the law, she should be released on May 27, the date marking six years since May 2003 when her NLD motorcade was attacked by a junta-backed mob in upper Burma and she was detained.

Suu Kyi’s lawyer is right, but the generals redo their own rules and laws, using them like a rubber band—to stretch and shrink at will.

For example, Suu Kyi was detained for the first time in 1989 under 10 (b) of the State Provision Act, under which a person could be detained under house arrest for a maximum of three years under the existing law. But one year later, the government changed the law to a maximum of five years. Suu Kyi was detained at that time until 1995, a total of six years.

This is a critical moment for the generals, since they plan to hold a national election in 2010. If Suu Kyi is free, it greatly complicates the election. In 1990, the junta held an election while Suu Kyi was under house arrest, believing the state-backed National Unity Party, formed by former members of the dictator Ne Win’s Burma Socialist Programme Party, could win the election. Instead, Suu Kyi’s NLD party won by landslide.

If a healthy Suu Kyi is free prior to the 2010 election her most loyal supporters and the general public will return to the political activism of 1995 and 2002 when she was free.

In light of that, you should expect the generals to find a way not to release Suu Kyi, in spite of their own law.

So what now? Several options could play out during the course of the next year.

The junta’s rubber-band law could find a way to keep her under house arrest. Or perhaps Suu Kyi does develop a serious illness, effectively limiting her leadership ability.

Or, if the regime does release her—somehow seeing a political gain in that act—it could always fabricate a new reason for her arrest, as it did in 2003.

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