General Assembly approves Burma resolution, debate intensifies

Mizzima News
24 November 2008

The United Nations General Assembly's Third Committee on Friday approved a draft resolution on the human rights situation inside Burma, amid a lengthy debate that illustrated the divide over Burma, the rights of member states and the workings of the international body.

The UN's Social, Humanitarian and Cultural Committee passed the resolution, critical of the human rights condition in Burma and the authorities inaction or unwillingness in combating rights violations, by a vote of 89 in favor and 29 against, with 63 abstentions.

All 27 members of the European Union offered their support for the resolution, in addition to the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, among others.

In contrast, only seven Asian countries approved of the draft, including none of Burma's immediate neighbors and no member of ASEAN. Bangladesh, Brunei, China, India, Laos, Malaysia and Vietnam all voted against, while Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand abstained (Cambodia was absent).

The abstention on the part of the Philippines came just days before U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice this weekend rained praise on the Philippines as being the one country in Asia supportive of the United States' position on Burma.

In addition to Japan, Mongolia, South Korea and Kazakhstan, the other three Asian countries to support the item have all recently witnessed significant external intervention, led by either the United States or Australia – Afghanistan, Iraq and Timor-Leste.

Burma's delegate to the Committee reserved strong language for those who supported the motion, letting it be known that Burma would feel under no obligation to be bound by the vote.

"If left unchallenged, [the motion] will set a dangerous precedent for all developing countries", he warned, as the resolution was an attempt to infringe on national sovereignty while a case of direct interference in the domestic affairs of a member state.

Subsequently, a no-action motion put forth by the Burmese representative was defeated by a vote of 90 against to 54 in favor, with 34 abstentions.

Those that opted not to support the draft commonly sighted the politicization of human rights, inattention to the domestic progress made by Burmese authorities and the inappropriateness of the venue for country specific resolutions – the Human Rights Council felt to be the rightful forum in which to raise such concerns.

France, who took the lead in tabling the action on behalf of the European Union, said the text was designed to raise awareness among the international community as to the continuing rights violations in the Southeast Asian country and "in an effort to mobilize action on all sides."

The French representative called on Burma's ruling military to engage in dialogue and to cooperate fully with United Nations mechanisms in the area of human rights. He proceeded to say the new constitution, approved in May, fails to address the assurance of basic rights inside the country and that, "No attempt had been made to prosecute those guilty of repressing the acts of peaceful protest from a year ago."

India's representative, explaining his country's vote, first noted that the country has always recognized the importance of human rights. However, it was forced to vote against the resolution as it was not "forward-looking" and confrontational in approach. India also wished that the Committee would recognize the positive steps of the Burmese government over the past year – a sentiment similarly voiced by Indonesia and Japan, despite the latter weighing in in support of the draft.

Further commenting on the ideological, development and interest divide at the international level, Friday also witnessed the tabling of a resolution critical of human rights as a unilateral coercive measure "implemented in contravention of international law and the United Nations Charter, and with negative consequences to economic development."

The resolution passed, garnering 124 votes in favor to 52 against. All ASEAN countries, China, India and Russia supported the motion; while the European Union, United States, Canada, Australia and Japan were among those who voted against the action.

READ MORE---> General Assembly approves Burma resolution, debate intensifies...

Burma needs a pragmatic solution

by Moe Thu and Htet Win
Mizzima News
24 November 2008

Since 1962, not a single military-dominated government in Burma has been able to improve the country's economy. This, as the Burmese economy is poised to suffer even more in the upcoming months, and possibly years, due to the pervading global economic crisis.

The country's economy has already suffered a lot during the past two decades, a period when the military regime has continued to pursue its stranglehold on political power, dragging the economy into the doldrums along the way.

"The Burmese army's philosophy is to keep its own ass safe to the detriment of others, so we will go around in circles until the present structure is forced to change," said one Rangoon-based observer.

The country is moribund in a Catch-22 situation, in which one "solution" inevitably leads to but another problem.

"I have no hope the country will be back on the right track soon after the 2010 general election, which it is highly possible will lead to but another crisis," he said. "That's because of those military officers who have been indoctrinated with a superiority complex for generations.

The Revolutionary Council, which was installed in 1962 and headed by General Ne Win and later transformed into the Burma Socialist Program Party through the 1974 constitution, started this unhealthy mix of civilians and military personnel in public administration.

Ne Win's military government of xenophobia, combined with the mismanagement of the economy, assured that the country descended to the status of a least developed nation, the effects of which eventually erupted into the mass anti-government uprising that was put down by the Army through bloodshed in 1988.

Following 1988, the then State Law and Order Restoration Council – and present day State Peace and Development Council – assumed power and continued to rule the country, without any constitutional mandate and consumed by paranoia, as has happened throughout Burma's martial history.

What could be the remedy for the Southeast Asian nation, rich in natural resources like timber, minerals and natural gas? As long as the country forges ahead with the new constitution, which solely favors the role of the military in the public administration, it will be but old wine in a new bottle.

"We are desperately in need of 'agents' like liberal minded general David O. Abel, both in the military and civilian circles," commented an observer who wished to remain anonymous. Almost all liberal minded civilians are in exile or in prison.

In 1999, a newspaper quoted the military government as saying that the National Convention would go forward without the National League for Democracy (NLD) – who had earlier walked-out of the proceedings under protest in 1996. Burma, the official added, was going to be a democracy in its own way.

The international community has since continuously recognized the NLD's commitment to democracy. Yet, such recognition has not translated into productive "action."

It might be possible that Burma could first improve its economy within a framework of a slightly altered political forum. Under such a scenario, some liberal figures would be allowed to play a role, and changes in an improved economy would assist in fomenting pluralism in the political environment.

"In the future government of Burma after 2010, we do not need opportunist civilian politicians who would just sit back and seek personal gains from the status quo, but those who really dare to come out of their comfort zone and speak up to military officers on economic and social issues," added the observer. He also questioned the democratic credentials and self-complacency of some domestic elitist groups, mainly Burman in ethnicity, who seek to present themselves as the only viable alternatives to military officers.

However, the trick in Burma is that if the leadership was practically enlightened as in China and Vietnam, political pluralism can be kept waiting. But, Burma to date has lacked such political leadership.

In the present stock, only dogmatists are dominant. So are we going to see liberal -- not even fully, but partially -- elements in the government under the new constitution? Hope very marginally, because it is not in the nature of the military.

"Those 25 percent of seats in the future parliament, which the military reserves in both houses, will always vote as a bloc," the observer continued.

Even if Burma is fortunate enough, after the multi-party election is carried through, the key phrase in the coming years will be "economic rationality."

However, for that, can we be so optimistic about the already corrupted military reinventing itself in our country's future? Officials of the regime are already corrupt themselves in their morals, and they corrupt others along with them.

"Even if and when Burma is a liberal economy, rent-seeking will be really great and widespread," he said, adding that most resources would go into private pockets.

Still now, there are elements who are promoting the concept of "regime security," while the security of 53 million Burmese has been starkly neglected. And they try to expose themselves as an opposition or counterbalance to the military in a future so-called civilian government, if elected.

As generally expected, some businessmen are preparing to contest the 2010 election.

Most of these people will likely come from regime-friendly media and business circles. However, it remains to be seen whether there may be an altered scenario following the announcement of the electoral laws, which are anticipated in a few months time.

Many of these prominent elements are currently active, taking leading roles with the civic organization.

However, an even larger question still looms: Will any civilian government really be able to influence the direction of the country to become a free country broadly accepted by both Burmese and the international community?

Burma's history since 1962 has been filled with failure stories of "insider" civilian politicians who achieved little or nothing to change the mindset of the ruling military caste. Yale-trained Dr. Maung Maung who was President of Burma during the 1988 uprising is a telling example.

Veteran analysts therefore have cautioned that the possibility for reform within the proposed constitutional framework will be extremely limited. Hopes are slim because many of the older generation Burmese elites, educated in the West and employed in public administration, just gave their nod to all that the Army wanted at the National Convention.

Meanwhile, Burma's military has already suffered its own generation gaps, resulting in a very limited number of fresh, liberal conscious, new officers, mainly because potential successors have poor exposure to alternative ideas – reflective of a nation that is educationally handicapped.

Imagine it the other way around, liberally trained Burmese soldiers could create a competition among elites, which might lead to a radical solution if competing military personnel claim that they are the ones who most love Burma and care for its future.

Without a reliable new generation produced professionally, no segments of society,
including the Burma defense services, could survive. The Burmese military is already facing such problem.

Recently, Home Affairs Minister Major General Maung Oo said the next one-and-a-half-years would be important for the NLD's survival. So the NLD must be creative, seeking ways and means to be able to play a role in future political developments; this is why some political forces have come out to encourage the NLD to find a new way to integrate itself into the future processes.

The results of the 1990 election, decisively won by the NLD, could be a tool which it could utilize in order to gain a foothold in forward developments. Perhaps, the NLD should endorse a new political party, in low profile, to remain relevant and to continue to involve itself in the future political process.

Opposition forces are already weak, being unable to adequately oppose the new constitution. But they can still weaken the effectiveness of the implementation of the new constitution.

Politics is about aspiring to nominal things such as freedom, democracy and rights. The new constitution falls short of those basic things for the time being. No rational person is satisfied.

As long as there are accusations of violations of ethnic minority and political rights, then external forces such as the UN and some Western countries' encouragement for democracy in Burma will be reluctant to openly deal with the Burmese government, regardless of it being called civilian or military.

However, the truth remains that Burma is a low priority in the eyes of most Western countries. For example, the United States has more than enough allies in the region to offset China. Adding Burma to the list will not make a meaningful difference.

The junta understands this, and is thus proceeding apace with its own political process, designed to ensure that it reaps the vast majority of the political spoils. Despite repeated calls from opposition parties and the masses for a process of dialogue to address persisting differences and divides within Burma's political spectrum, the junta and its supporters look to be preparing to push ahead with the 2010 general election at all costs.

So, what is to be expected in the short and mid-terms? As elections draw near, the world community must make sure that it is endorsing a real opposition in Burma, with reliable democratic credentials, and not a sham opposition of seasoned politicians who entered politics for personal gain.

Some leading pundits and opinion leaders fear that Burma, after 2010, will withdraw into isolation if the ruling class does not get their way. Nevertheless, there is little chance that this worst case scenario will happen, because authoritarian regimes realize the costs of isolation in an increasingly globalized world. They will at least open up some space for their own elites. In Burma's case, most probably sanctions will also become irrelevant with the arrival of a new government.

International policy circles, therefore, should be prepared and start to think about how to respond to continued political repression and human rights abuses in Burma, while encouraging economic reforms after 2010. They must not forget there are over 2,100 prisoners of conscience in Burma's gulags and Burma's future parliament is the fruit of their sacrifice. Revolutions are rare in history, but we should not downplay the role of social movements.

In summary, Burma is possibly headed for a change in direction, where barriers to democracy are cautiously lowered. But, even though this might be – many new challenges will remain.

READ MORE---> Burma needs a pragmatic solution...

Imprisonment of two Burmese lawyers 'arbitrary': rights group

by Salai Pi Pi
24 November 2008

New Delhi (Mizzima)– A regional human rights body has condemned the Burmese military rulers for arbitrarily sentencing two lawyers, who were acting as defence counsels for political activists and called for their immediate release.

The Asia Human Right Commission (AHRC) during a consultation meeting concluded on Sunday called for the release of Burma's Supreme Court advocates Khin Maung Shein and Aung Thein, who addressed the complaints of their clients -- political activists arrested for anti-government protests last year -- to the court.

"The imprisonment of the two Supreme Court advocates in this case must be deemed arbitrary, and we the assembled jurists, lawyers and legal academics duly call for the immediate release of U Aung Thein and U Khin Maung Shein," AHRC said in a press release on Sunday.

A court in Rangoon's Hlaing Township on October 6, sentenced Aung Thein and Khin Maung Shein to a prison term of four months on charges of contempt of Court after they submitted a complaint from their clients that states the defendant's desire not to cooperate with the court as they have lost faith in the judicial proceedings.

Aung Thein and Khin Maung Shein, who have over 20 years experience as lawyers in Burma, were representing several defendants arrested in connection with the September 2007 protests and charged with criminal cases including three persons - Htun Htun Oo, Maung Maung Latt and Aung Kyaw Moe - and a woman, Htar Htar Thet, who were charged in five cases.

AHRC's Burma affairs spokesperson, Min Lwin, said Burma's judiciary system is being manipulated by the ruling junta and is used to intimidate political activists by awarding long prison terms while criminal cases could be eased off by bribing.

"The present judiciary system in Burma operates in the way were criminal cases could be defended by money but in terms of political cases, there is no mercy and the accused is awarded harsh penalty," said Min Lwin, who submitted to the AHRC's consultation meeting information on Burma.

The AHRC's criticism of the Burmese regime and call for the release of the sentenced advocates came during the Fourth Regional Consultation on an Asian Charter for the Rule of Law meeting attended by assembled jurists, lawyers and legal academics from throughout Asia in Hong Kong on 17 to 21 November.

"We express our grave concern at the state of the law in Burma, where, we have learned that criminal procedure has in many respects been completely abandoned such that parties to cases are denied their most basic rights and political interests and corrupt practices determine the outcome of trials," the AHRC said.

Burma's military rulers after having brutally suppressed protesters in August-September 2007, continued to crackdown on opposition activists by arresting them. And since July the regime began the trial of the detained activists and started handing down long prison terms of up to 68 years.

Prominent student leaders such as the '88 generation students' led by Min Ko Naing, were sentenced to 65 years in prison each while a prominent Monk U Gambira, who led the monks on to the streets in September 2007 was given 68 years in jail.

According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners- Burma, the junta during the past two months had already sentenced 189 dissidents including monks, members of Burma's opposition party – National League for Democracy - activists, students, lawyers, bloggers, poets, rights activists, a comedian and journalists for peacefully expressing their views.

Besides sentencing to lengthy prison terms, the government also transferred at least 60 activists to concentration camps in remote areas across Burma from Rangoon's Insein prison, a move that critics view as an act to distance them from their family members.

The AHRC, while calling for the immediate release of the two imprisoned advocates, deplored the junta's act and pledged that it will continue to pressure the military junta for free and open trials in Burma.

"The jurists, lawyers and legal academicians in AHRC pledged to mount pressure on the government in their respective countries to push the Burmese regime to refrain from consistence committing of human rights abuses and corrupt practice of the law," said Min Lwin.

READ MORE---> Imprisonment of two Burmese lawyers 'arbitrary': rights group...

Another changing of the guards for Burma's junta

by Solomon
24 November 2008

New Delhi (Mizzima) – An official within Burma's Ministry of Information has hinted there has been a changing of guards within the top ranks of the country's military authorities during the last quarterly meeting held in the capital city of Naypyitaw.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said there have been a few changes among the ranks of the military leaders during the last quarterly meeting, held between November 17 and 21, but declined to give details, saying the government will soon make a public release of the reshuffle.

"There have been some changes and promotions of military personnel, but we cannot say anything at this movement," the official said.

Burma's military leaders regularly hold quarterly meetings, the most recent one ending last Saturday, at which they reportedly discussed matters and issues facing the military and conducted a reshuffling within the ranks. In the previous quarterly meeting, held in June, the junta reshuffled nearly 100 positions.

"This time there are some changes in the military, because they [the junta] have to strengthen the Army, so three Major Generals have been promoted to Lieutenant Generals," said Win Min, a Burmese analyst based in Thailand.

However, Win Min said the reshuffling was insignificant and the quarterly meeting, which is the last for 2008, focused more on the junta's planned election for 2010.

"I think this time there will be less changing within the Ministries, they will do that in the next meeting," Win Min iterated.

The last reshuffling in the top brass of Burma's Army was in June, which gathered members of the State Peace and Development Council, powerful military commanders and heads of Bureau of Special Operations (BSO).

However, sources told Mizzima that retired BSOs, such as Major Generals Maung Bo, Ye Myint and Kyaw Win, were seen at the most recent meeting, proving that they are still members of SPDC's upper echelon.

Sources told Mizzima that the head of the junta, Senior General Than Shwe, wants to keep them in the mix in order to handle ceasefire groups, and particularly due to their role in persuading the nearly one-and-a-half dozen mainly ethnic rebel groups to disarm.

"Than Shwe and his generals may become members of a defense commission; something along the lines of the Chinese model," said a source in Naypyitaw of the potential political landscape following the 2010 election.

The junta has been preparing for such offices in the post-2010 era by requisitioning some Defense buildings in the capital.

Sino-Burmese-based analyst Mya Maung said the recently concluded meeting aimed primarily at preparations for the 2010 general election.

"For the 2010 election, the generals are focusing on security, home affairs and the police department," said Mya Maung.

Burma's rulers have announced that they will hold a general election as part of their roadmap to democracy and will allow the winning party to assume power and form a government.

But it has also maintained strict vigilance over opposition activists in the run-up to the election by arresting and sentencing activists to long prison terms. Additionally, the junta has also stepped up security measures in several towns and cities across the country where pro-democracy activists had led mass demonstrations in August and September 2007.

According to Mya Maung, in preparation for the general election, the junta is likely to change several positions within the military – with some personnel retired and others sent into the civilian government. Police units might also be transformed into paramilitary outfits.

"They [junta] are enhancing police forces for the suppression of any kind of protest that might erupt, while the military will be maintained to sustain the fight against ethnic rebels," Mya Maung said.

He said the junta has thus far expanded at least 16 to 18 battalions of police across the country, with over 400 policemen in each battalion.

However Htay Aung, a researcher at the Network for Democracy and Development (NDD), based in Thailand, said the junta during the recent quarterly meeting was likely to have discussed only a few important things such as the 2010 general election and the recent maritime boundary issue with Bangladesh.

"I think they [the junta] would have discussed important things such as the 2010 election, and the recent oil crisis between Bangladesh, and also about the economic crisis," Htay Aung explained.

It is likely that the junta decided who would form political parties for the 2010 election and who would remain in the distinct military apparatus, Htay Aung said.

However, he said changes within the military ranks in the quarterly meeting are normal and have little overall significance on the military structure.

(Additional reporting by Sein Win)

READ MORE---> Another changing of the guards for Burma's junta...

Eighteen More Political Prisoners Transferred

By LAWI WENG
The Irrawaddy News

Another 18 political prisoners were transferred from Rangoon’s Insein Prison to remote prisons around Burma on Monday, and family members are struggling to confirm their loved ones’ whereabouts.

According to the Thailand-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma), 18 political prisoners were transferred to various prisons including Thaton Prison, Moulmein Prison, Kale Prison, Meiktila Prison, Myingyan Prison, Bamaw Prison, Taungyi Prison, Lashio Prison, Tavoy Prison, Paungte Prison and Tharawaddy prison.

Beginning last Sunday, many prominent political prisoners, including Buddhist monks, leading activists from 88 Generation Students, lawyers, a blogger and a poet, were transferred from Rangoon's Insein Prison.

Many family members say they still can’t locate where their loved ones have been transferred during the past week.

Aung Tun, the younger brother of leading activist Ko Ko Gyi, said his brother was no longer in Kengtung Prison in Shan State and his location is unknown.

Also human rights activist Su Su Nway is now in Kale Prison in Sagaing Division, according to Nyan Win, a spokesperson of National League for Democracy, even though Insein Prison authorities said she was transferred to Mandalay Prison last week.

Many families say the remote locations are causing added difficulties in visiting their loved ones.

Aung Thein, a lawyer who defended members of the 88 Generation Students was given four months in prison for contempt of court, is currently detained in a prison in Bassein, the capital of Irrawaddy Division.

His wife said, "I spent 10,000 kyat (US $8) to visit his prison last week. They told me they couldn’t allow me to see him due to National Day. I had stayed for two days but I didn't see my husband."

Meanwhile, the Burma Fund, a policy think tank of the exiled government, the National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma, has released a report, "The Findings in the Open Heart Letter Campaign,” which is based on data compiled by the 88 Generation Student group before many of its members were arrested. The group initiated a campaign on January 4, 2007, calling on Burmese citizens to write letters describing their feelings about the social and political situation in the country.

Dr. Thaung Htun of the Burma Fund told The Irrawaddy: "By releasing this report, we hope the international community—and especially Asean—will give more attention to the situation in Burma because it is getting worse."

READ MORE---> Eighteen More Political Prisoners Transferred...

Asean Human Rights Moves More Talk Than Action

By KAVI CHONGKITTAVORN
The Irrawaddy News
November 24, 2008

As the Asean summit draws closer, it has become crystal clear that the state will continue to reign supreme in the overall scheme of things in this regional grouping. On the eve of the Asean Charter entering into force on December 15, loud noises have been heard non-stop on the inevitability of making Asean a people-oriented community, especially in the area of promotion and protection of human rights. In reality, however, it remains a distant dream. Following the charter's enforcement, the most important mechanism that Asean will establish by the end of next year is an Asean human rights body (AHRB)—that much the ministers have agreed to. After all, the proposed body still does not have an official name.

The members of the High Level Panel (HPL) still have to deliberate on the appropriate name. The first draft of the terms of reference (TOR) was completed at the recent meeting in Bali and will be ready within weeks for consideration of the foreign ministerial meeting ahead of the summit in Chiang Mai. The content and mandate of this body is still under negotiation and it is going to be tough.

During the 4th roundtable discussion on human rights in Asean last week, Sihasak Phuangketkeow, the HPL chairperson, said human rights promotion and protection would be an evolutionary process given the differences of Asean members' diversities, stages of developments and political awareness. All Asean members, he reiterated, understand the importance of setting up an Asean human rights body as the world is watching closely.

"We have to deal with the reality—the region's diversity. But we are part of the global community. There are certain norms and standards on human rights that we have to observe and respect and promote. The Asean human rights body must conform to international standards and norms. Otherwise, we will not credible," he said.

Sihasek, who is currently the Thai envoy to the UN Permanent Representative in Geneva, expressed the hope that Asean members would be willing to engage the human rights body that would create moral clouts beyond the current mandate.

As the HLP is touching up the first TOR draft, several issues remain contentious. Asean human rights experts and civil society groups want the human rights body to give equal treatment to promotion and protection and make the mechanism more participatory. They have cried foul over the attempt to use the non-interference principle in the field of human rights. They argued that any violation of human rights within Asean should not be tolerated and the non-interference principle should not be used as a pretext for this.

Their question is: How can Asean as an organization promote its cooperation for the protection of human rights, when all member countries agree that the primary responsibility and jurisdiction in protecting human rights is with the governments.

According to a human rights scholar Dr Sriprapha Petcharamesree of Mahidol University, the proposed Asean human rights body is actually focused on promotion more than protection. The TOR has made 12 recommendations on human rights promotion and a few ideas for protection.

Apparently, the HLP members were more comfortable with the promotion activities such as raising awareness through various means such as education and capacity building and technical cooperation. Civil society groups want a mechanism that has a broad-ranging power to compile, investigate and write reports on the human rights situation in Asean member states. Given the current global financial crisis, they expected there would be more cases of violation of human rights that Asean needs to address.

Admitting that the Asean human rights body is not a panacea for all problems of rights violations, Sihasek expressed the hope that when the members reach the comfort level, human rights protection would be forthcoming.

"They would be more open to request for information, open to information sharing and engage in human rights with each other," he said.

Being the last region in the world to have a human rights mechanism, these civil society groups hope that Asean can draw valuable lessons from other regional organizations that have already established comprehensive human rights protection mechanisms such as in Europe, Africa, North and Latin America.

Within Asean, only Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines are more enthusiastic about a more liberal human rights body.

For instance, they want to have members of the human rights body coming directly from an electoral process. But the rest of Asean members preferred government nominated persons, who are official or otherwise but they have to be "impartial".

As the Asean chair, Thailand could have done a lot better to improve the TOR but for the present political impasse that has produced undignified and ineffective leaders.

Taken together, they have diminished the country's overall bargaining power on all Asean-related issues. Worse, due to the government's incompetence and lack of urgency, as it stands now, Thailand might not be able to co-sign the over two-dozen Asean documents planned at the summit. Both Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat and Foreign Minister Sompong Amornwiwat must take the blame.

Kavi Chongkittavorn is Assistant Group Editors of Thailand's English daily The Nation and this article appeared in The Nation on Monday.

READ MORE---> Asean Human Rights Moves More Talk Than Action...

A Coup Against Than Shwe

By AUNG ZAW
The Irrawaddy News

Snr-Gen Than Shwe’s hold on power in Burma is turning the country into a gulag. Even members of the armed forces, including many young officers rising in the ranks, know that Burma would be better off without him. But are they prepared to act on the growing dissatisfaction they feel as they watch the country slide into a black hole?

There is no doubt that many soldiers and officers believe that removing Than Shwe and other junta hardliners from power is the only way to end Burma’s misery. Members of the military have watched the gap between rich and poor widen to a chasm even within their own ranks, with ordinary soldiers struggling to survive while corrupt generals grow obscenely rich.

It is entirely possible that some unknown faction within the armed forces is plotting the overthrow of Than Shwe and those loyal to him. We don’t know who they are or when they will strike; but we can be sure that if they did turn on their supreme leader, many others within the military would likely join forces with them.

If some bold young officers did decide to take matters into their own hands, it wouldn’t be the first time in Burma’s recent history. In 1976, Capt Ohn Kyaw Myint, a staff officer serving under Gen Kyaw Htin, then commander in chief of the armed forces, plotted to assassinate state leaders, including Ne Win and San Yu.

Along with other young officers who graduated from the Defense Services Academy, Ohn Kyaw Myint held clandestine meetings in the War Office to discuss the assassination of Ne Win, the strongman who first placed Burma under military rule.

Burma’s secret police eventually uncovered the plot and immediately set out to discover who the ringleader was.

On the evening of July 2, Ohn Kyaw Myint decided to seek asylum at the US embassy in Rangoon. Although he appeared at the US ambassador’s residence and explained his abortive coup plan, his request for asylum was rejected. The secret police finally caught him.

When Ohn Kyaw Myint and several other officers were put on trial, they became national heroes overnight. Army soldiers and officers who were interrogated in connection with the coup plot told Ohn Kyaw Myint and his group how much they admired them. The open trial in Insein was attended by many ordinary citizens who also expressed admiration for the young rebel officers.

The accused army officers openly attacked Ne Win’s “Burmese Way to Socialism” when they were placed on the stand. They lashed out at corrupt cadres and criticized the regime’s policies, which they said were driving the country into economic ruin.

Their testimony turned out to be quite prophetic: A little more than a decade later, the collapse of the economy triggered massive social unrest and led to Ne Win’s forced resignation. (Ironically, Capt Win Thein, one of the accused officers who lambasted Ne Win’s disastrous economic policies, is now a millionaire with close business ties to the current military leaders.)

Many junior officers were apprehended and jailed or forced to resign. Hundreds of army officers at the War Office were removed from their posts and regional commanders implicated in the coup plot were forced to step down. Gen Tin Oo, the former armed forces chief of staff who is now the chairman of the National League for Democracy, was among those who were thrown into prison for having knowledge of the coup plan.

Than Shwe, who was then a colonel and a loyal follower of Ne Win, escaped the purge.

Ohn Kyaw Myint was hanged for his part in the plot, but his name is not forgotten in Burma. Many still applaud his heroic attempt to get rid of the men whose stranglehold on power had slowly squeezed the life out of the country.

Why did the plot to assassinate Ne Win fail? Most have blamed it on the would-be coup leaders repeated postponement of their plans to carry out the plot. On one occasion, they called off their mission as they drove their army jeep on A.D. Road, where Ne Win and other top leaders lived, because they saw bird droppings on their windshield. They thought it was a bad omen and decided to abort at the last minute.

Today, activists say there is no shortage of young officers like Ohn Kyaw Myint in the armed forces. But many Burmese ask: Where are they? Perhaps past experience has taught them to be cautious (although Ohn Kyaw Myint’s case would seem to suggest that an excess of caution can prove to be deadly).

It is probably fair to say that these moderate forces within the military, whoever they are, are not necessarily supporters of Aung San Suu Kyi or the democracy movement. But they probably want to restore the army’s honor by doing its duty instead of trying to run the country.

Burmese in the past looked to the armed forces for protection from external threats, such as a possible invasion by the Kuomintang in the years after the Communists won the civil war in China, and from the multi-colored insurgents who threatened Burma soon after it won its independence from Britain.

The Burmese armed forces are now regarded with fear and contempt by ordinary people, a fact that troubles many officers who believe they are working in the service of their country.

But many Burmese know that there are still some genuine patriots within the ranks of the military, and believe that the only hope for their country is for one of them to finally break Than Shwe’s hold on power.

It may seem a remote possibility, but you can’t blame people for wanting to believe that there are still some within the ranks of the armed forces who understand the meaning of courage and decency.

READ MORE---> A Coup Against Than Shwe...

The Freedom Challenge In Burma, a test of Barack Obama's attitude toward promoting democracy

November 24, 2008; Page A16
Washington Post - Editorial

BARBARITY IN Burma last week served as a reminder that, with or without President-elect Barack Obama, the global struggle for liberty will rage on long after George W. Bush takes his "freedom agenda" home to Texas.

Some of Mr. Obama's foreign policy advisers are nearly as impatient to deep-six that policy as they are to bid farewell to its author. They believe that Mr. Bush's extravagant rhetoric overpromised and underperformed. Dissidents were encouraged and then abandoned. Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay mocked Washington's pretensions to lead or lecture.

The critics are right on all counts. If Mr. Obama intends to govern with more humility, caution and realism, we say, bring it on. U.S. foreign policy could use a healthy dose of all three.

But abandoning the promotion and support of democracy as core American goals would be a terrible mistake. Mr. Bush was right to see freedom as integral to all other foreign policy objectives. The stifling of democratic alternatives in Arab countries fuels terrorism. China's succor of dictators in Africa impedes healthy development in poor countries.

Democracies are more likely, over time, to cooperate honestly with each other on global challenges such as climate change and disease control. And the United States can regain and retain the stature to lead in the world, on any issue, only if it is using its power on behalf of universal ideals.

No doubt these principles will feature somewhere in the new administration's rhetoric. But because other, seemingly more hardheaded considerations will always compete, the rhetoric will not mean much unless democracy promotion is baked into the administration's structure, budget and personnel.

The need is especially urgent when global recession could undermine democracy and stoke bellicose nationalism. It's urgent, too, because in the past decade, dictators and authoritarian ruling parties have learned to fight back. When Vladimir Putin seeks to extend Russia's influence, he doesn't just want more people watching Russian movies or buying Russian MiGs. He wants to replicate among his neighbors the kind of one-party rule he has imposed on his own country. His efforts will continue whether or not the Obama administration chooses to push back on behalf of the budding democracies Mr. Putin would target.

The spasm of repression in Burma last week similarly is not just about one country. In secret trials hidden away in fetid prisons, the ruling junta of that Southeast Asian nation of 50 million people sentenced more than 150 activists, Buddhist monks, bloggers, students and others to decades and decades in prison.

U Maung Thura, a comedian better known by his stage name of Zarganar, was sentenced to 45 years, with several charges still pending. His crime: attempting to deliver aid to victims of Cyclone Nargis last spring, when the regime did not want reminders of its own failure to help.

U Gambira, a monk who helped lead peaceful demonstrations against the regime 14 months ago, was sentenced to 68 years. A journalist was sentenced to 14 years for taking photographs during a sham referendum last spring. Lawyers have been sentenced for seeking to defend these activists and for resigning from cases when they were not permitted to mount serious defenses.

As news of these sentences spread from anguished relatives to supporters across the border and so around the world, another development was more openly announced: China's plans to proceed with a $2.5 billion pipeline to bring Burma's oil and gas to its Yunnan province. For China's Communist Party, repression in Burma is not an obstacle but a convenience, enabling the exploitation of natural resources with a minimum of well-targeted corruption.

The regime's ferocity last week, unexpected even by its dismal standards, came as something of an embarrassment to Western humanitarian groups, which have been revving up a campaign to convince the Obama administration that Burma's regime is moderating and that engagement, rather than isolation, is the right policy. Supporters of engagement argue that it helps neither the United States nor the long-suffering people of Burma to leave the field to the Chinese.

This may be true. But public opinion and, we trust, a sense of self-respect will never permit the United States to outbid China for the junta's affections. And in Burma, unlike in many dictatorships, there is a clear alternative authority: the National League for Democracy, which overwhelmingly won an election two decades ago. The regime negated the results, and the league's leader, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, has been under house arrest for most of the time since.

Like Nelson Mandela in his long years of imprisonment, she remains the legitimate leader of her people. Like South Africans, Burmese will remember who sided with her during their years of oppression and who sided with the oppressor.

And as the world watched and measured America's shifting stance on apartheid, so it will measure the next administration's commitment to democracy in Burma and beyond.

READ MORE---> The Freedom Challenge In Burma, a test of Barack Obama's attitude toward promoting democracy...

US Congress warned of Chinese cyber, space threats

WASHINGTON (AFP) — China has developed a sophisticated cyber warfare program and stepped up its capacity to penetrate US computer networks to extract sensitive information, a US congressional panel warned.

"China has an active cyber espionage program," the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission said in its annual report to the US Congress. "China is targeting US government and commercial computers."

In its 393-page report, the panel also criticized Beijing for exercising "heavy-handed government control" over its economy and "continuing arms sales and military support to rogue regimes" such as Sudan, Myanmar and Iran.

The commission also issued a warning about China's space program. "China continues to make significant progress in developing space capabilities, many of which easily translate to enhanced military capacity," it said.

"Although some Chinese space programs have no explicit military intent, many space systems -- such as communications, navigation, meteorological, and imagery systems -- are dual use in nature," the commission said.

The commission, which was established by Congress in 2000 to analyze the economic and national security relationship between the two nations, said China was investing heavily in cyber warfare.

"Since China's current cyber operations capability is so advanced, it can engage in forms of cyber warfare so sophisticated that the United States may be unable to counteract or even detect the efforts," the commission said.

It said Chinese hacker groups may be operating with government support.

"By some estimates, there are 250 hacker groups in China that are tolerated and may even be encouraged by the government to enter and disrupt computer networks," the commission said.

It quoted Colonel Gary McAlum, chief of staff for the US Strategic Command's Joint Task Force for Global Network Operations, as saying China has recognized the importance of cyber operations as a tool of warfare and "has the intent and capability to conduct cyber operations anywhere in the world at any time."

"China is aggressively pursuing cyber warfare capabilities that may provide it with an asymmetric advantage against the United States," the commission said. "In a conflict situation, this advantage would reduce current US conventional military dominance."

The commission recalled that unclassified US military, government and government contractor websites and computer systems were the victims of cyber intrusions in 2002 codenamed "Titan Rain" and attributed to China.

And earlier this month The Financial Times, citing an unnamed senior US official, reported that Chinese hackers -- possibly with backing by the Beijing government -- had penetrated the White House computer network and obtained emails between government officials.

The commission made 45 recommendations to Congress including possible "additional funding for military, intelligence and homeland security programs that monitor and protect critical American computer networks."

On the economic front, the commission said "China relies on heavy-handed government control over its economy to maintain an export advantage over other countries."

"The result: China has amassed nearly two trillion dollars in foreign exchange and has increasingly used its hoard to manipulate currency trading and diplomatic relations with other nations," it said.

"Rather than use this money for the benefit of its citizens -- by funding pensions and erecting hospitals and schools, for example -- China has been using the funds to seek political and economic influence over other nations," said Larry Wortzel, chairman of the commission.

Beijing's "continuing arms sales and military support to rogue regimes, namely Sudan, Burma, and Iran, threaten the stability of fragile regions and hinder US and international efforts to address international crises, such as the genocide in Darfur," the commission added.

The commission acknowledged some progress by China, specifically its adherence to non-proliferation agreements and involvement in the six-party talks to dismantle North Korea's nuclear weapons production capacity.

But it criticized China's use of prison labor to produce goods for export and an "information control regime" that it said regulates the print and broadcast media, Internet, entertainment and education.

The report is available on the commission's website at www.uscc.gov.

READ MORE---> US Congress warned of Chinese cyber, space threats...

The U.S. Should Move Beyond Sanctions

Sat, 2008-11-22

By Nehginpao Kipgen for Asian Tribune

In an apparent shift from the policy of traditional sanctions, the U.S. Congress created a post for policy chief for Burma to increase pressure on the military junta.

In response to this unprecedented action, the White House announced the nomination of Michael Green for the post on November 10. Whether this maneuver brings vigor to the Burmese democratic movement is a question remains to be seen.

Green, who has served as a senior director for Asian Affairs under the Bush administration, should have noticed the quandary over the Burmese political imbroglio, especially the futility of conflicting approaches by the international community.

According to this legislation, the policy chief will consult with the governments of China, India, Thailand and Japan, members of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), and the European Union to coordinate international strategy.

Years of sanctions after sanctions, this is a new birth in the American policy toward Burma. Sanctions, however, still remain the popular way of punishing the rogue regimes and governments around the world.

When it comes to Burma, sanctions have little impact on the military regime due to engagements by neighboring countries, notably China, India and members of ASEAN.

A solution to Burma’s problems greatly lies in two possible ways:

• Popular Uprising and
• Intervention.

Popular uprising have been tasted twice in 1988 and in 2007. Both events were brutally crushed by the military with force.

The word intervention can be engagement or sanction. There is no doubt about the U.S. sanctions hurting the military generals and also the general public. Had there been a coordinated international approach, Burma could have been different today.

It must be difficult for the U.S. government to abandon its traditional policy of isolating the Burmese generals and start engaging with them. But they have to realize that sanction alone is not effective in resolving Burma’s crisis when there is engagement on the other end.

While sanctions are in place, the new envoy can start initiating a ‘carrot and stick’ policy by working together with key international players. The one similar to the North Korean six-party talk model should be given emphasis on Burma.

The six-party talks involving the United States, European Union, ASEAN, China, India, and Burma should be initiated. In the beginning, the military generals and some other countries might resist the proposal, but we need to remember that the North Korean talk was also initially not supported by all parties.

The hard work of the U.S. in North Korea is now paid off with North Korea being removed from the State Department’s list of terrorists, and in return, North Korea promised to shut down and dismantle its nuclear facilities.

It was not only the sticks that worked but also the carrots. The U.S. offered energy and food assistances to the North Korean leadership. A similar initiative could convince Burma’s military generals to come to the negotiating table.

Now that the U.N. Secretary General is heavily involved in the process, the U.S. can garner stronger support from the international community. Without such move from the U.S., Ban Ki-moon’s 'Group of Friends of the Secretary General on Myanmar' will yield little.

The most effective U.N. intervention would happen when the Security Council decides to take action. This scenario is bleak with China and Russia vetoing the move, and likely to do again if Burma issue comes up in the Council’s agenda.

The creation of U.S. special envoy and policy chief for Burma is a widely welcome move. With this new position coming into place, the U.S. should start moving beyond imposing sanctions.

Nehginpao Kipgen is the General Secretary of US-based Kuki International Forum (www.kukiforum.com) and a researcher on the rise of political conflicts in modern Burma (1947-2004).

- Asian Tribune -

READ MORE---> The U.S. Should Move Beyond Sanctions...

Unlawful Convictions of Burmese Political Prisoners are Crimes Against Humanity – UNSC Should Refer Burma to the International Criminal Ct

Sourced: Global Justice Centre
19 November 2008

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Unlawful Convictions of Burmese Political Prisoners are Crimes Against Humanity – U.N. Security Council Should Refer Burma to the International Criminal Court Certain judges in Burma, acting under the orders of Chief Justice U Aung Toe and Senior General Than Shwe, are themselves criminally liable as co-conspirators to crimes against humanity for their acts in “trying” and “convicting” 60 political activists last week. “These acts are the latest from the junta which uses the judiciary as one of its key weapons to commit grave crimes,” says Global Justice Center President Janet Benshoof. Judges including those listed below are criminally culpable and must be referred to the International Criminal Court.

• Chief Justice U Aung Toe
• U Thaung Nyunt, North District Court, Yangon Division
• Daw Soe Nyan, U Tin Htut, U Kyaw Swe, and U Sein Hla, Western District Court, Yangon Division
• Daw Aye Myaing, Hlaing Tha Yar Township Court, Yangon Division
• Daw Than Than, Tamwe Township Court, Yangon Division
• Daw Nyunt Nyunt Win, Kyauktadar Court, Yangon Division
• Daw Mya Mya Swe, North Dagon Court, Yangon Division
• Daw Thiri Tin, Ahlon township Court, Yangon Division

On November 11th approximately forty pro-democracy dissidents received prison sentences of up to 65 years. On November 13th twenty more activists were sentenced to terms ranging from 4½ to 9½ years. The convicted include members of the ‘88 Generation Students, labor rights activist Su Su Nway, musician Win Maw, HIV/AIDS activist Than Naing, blogger Nay Phone Latt, and members of Daw Aung San Sui Kyi’s party, the National League for Democracy. Even the defendants’ lawyers were not immune from the regime’s revenge; in October defense lawyers Nyi Nyi Htwe, Aung Thein and Khin Maung Shein were sentenced to between four and six months imprisonment for submitting a complaint about the unfair trial conditions of eleven NLD activists.

Judges did not allow the defendants to question prosecution witnesses, many defendants did not have legal representation and those that did were not permitted to meet with their lawyers in private. Burma Lawyers’ Council General Secretary U Aung Htoo stated, “Rule of law in Burma cannot even be dreamt of when the judiciary has become an instrument of political oppression, exercised by the SPDC military junta.”

United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Burma, Tomás Ojea Quintana, said this past week in reference to these convictions, “There is no independent and impartial judiciary system [in Burma]." However, the judges actions go much further; these prison sentences are crimes under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, including violations of Article 7(1)(e) “Imprisonment or other severe deprivation of physical liberty in violation of fundamental rules of international law” and 7(1)(h) “Persecution against any identifiable group or collectivity on political, racial, ethnic, cultural, religious, gender…or other grounds”.

GJC President Benshoof noted that top judges in Hitler’s criminal regime were convicted as co-conspirators of crimes against humanity and, more recently, in the Dujail1 decision, the Iraqi High Tribunal found Judge Awad Hamed al-Bandar jointly criminally liable for crimes against humanity committed with Saddam Hussein because he used the façade of “judicial authority and law” to “try” and then “execute” civilians. Burma Lawyers’ Council and Global Justice Center urge the international community to expose the regime’s criminal partnership with members of the judiciary and to join the call for a UN Security Council referral of all grave international crimes in Burma to the International Criminal Court.

Contact: Aung Htoo
General Secretary, Burma Lawyers’ Council
Mobile: 66 (0) 81 533 0605
Website: www.blc-burma.org
Email: blcsan@ksc.th.com
Contact: Janet Benshoof, Esq.
President, Global Justice Center
Tel: 1-212-725-6530 x203; Mobile: 1-917-601-6200
Website: www.globaljusticecenter.net
Email: jbenshoof@globaljusticecenter.net

1 A1-Mahkama al-jina’iya al-‘Iraqiya al-Uliya [The Iraqi High Criminal Court], al-Dujail Opinion, Unofficial English Translation, (Dec.26, 2006), www.law.case.edu/saddamtrial/documents/20070103dujailappellatechamberopinion.pdf

READ MORE---> Unlawful Convictions of Burmese Political Prisoners are Crimes Against Humanity – UNSC Should Refer Burma to the International Criminal Ct...

Army recruits murder suspect as soldier

by Nan Kham Kaew

Nov 21, 2008 (DVB)–Villagers from Nat Sat village in Bago have expressed disappointment over the military's recruitment of a man suspected of the murder of a 14-year-old girl from the village.

Zay Lay (also known as Zayar Soe), a resident of Nat Sat village, was wanted by the police for the suspected murder of his next door neighbour’s daughter Wut Yee Hnin, known as Sabai, on 22 September 2007.

The girl's father said he had reported her missing after she went out with Zayar Soe and never came back.

"That morning, she was preparing meal for us as we were planning to go to the monastery,” her father said.

“Then our next door neighbour Zayar Soe showed up and asked her to go with him so she did," he said.

"But she never returned home so we filed a missing person report at the police station."

After the provincial police had gathered evidence and interrogated Zayar Soe, they changed the focus of the investigation from a missing person case to a murder and robbery inquiry.

"Zayar Soe fled the village and the police issued a warrant for his arrest," the girl’s father said.

"The police searched for him all over the region but he was nowhere to be found."

The girl’s father said that Zayar Soe was now a soldier with the identification number P/384905 in the local Light Infantry Battalion 216's brigade 11, led by lieutenant Zaw Htike.

Zayar Soe was immediately arrested when he returned to Nat Sat village as a soldier but he could not be held because he had joined the army.

"He just came back into the village in a military uniform and was immediately arrested by the police accompanied by local authorities such as the ward Peace and Development Council and the Union Solidarity and Development Association,” the father explained.

“But lieutenant Zaw Htike who was with him at the time said it was an army matter as Zayar Soe is now a soldier," he went on.

"So the police had to hand him back to the army but the army official never charged him with anything," he said.

"We filed a complaint about this to senior general Than Shwe and other government leaders such as the minister of home affairs and police chief Khin Yee on 22 December but nothing has been done about it so far."

Bago police station was unavailable for comment.

READ MORE---> Army recruits murder suspect as soldier...

Ko Ko Gyi transferred to Mai Sat prison

by Nan Kham Kaew

Nov 21, 2008 (DVB)–Detained 88 Generation Student leader Ko Ko Gyi has been transferred for the second time since his 65-year sentence was passed earlier this month.

Ko Ko Gyi was transferred to Keng Tung prison in eastern Shan state along with fellow student leader Min Ko Naing after they were sentenced in Mau-ubin.

But Keng Tung locals said that Ko Ko Gyi was sent to Mai Sat prison near the Thai-Burma border two days after his arrival in Keng Tung.

His transfer came as families of the student leaders were preparing to visit their loved ones who are currently detained in various prisons across Burma.

Wah Wah Win, the wife of Pyone Cho who was transferred to Kaw Thaung prison in Tenasserim division, said the transfers of the activists to remote prisons made it difficult for families to visit.

"It's difficult for us both physically and financially as he was transferred to a very remote place but we are not depressed about it – he has done good things to help the majority of the people," she said.

"We will support him as best as we can."

READ MORE---> Ko Ko Gyi transferred to Mai Sat prison...

Seniors on the Streets

An elderly woman sells sticky rice in the street in Rangoon.

(Photo: Aung Thet Wine/The Irrawaddy)

By AUNG THET WINE
The Irrawaddy News
November 21, 2008

RANGOON — On busy Maha Bandoola Street in Rangoon, an old lady trembles as she walks slowly along the potholed sidewalk. Old rags hang from her frail body as if from a coat hanger. She holds a worn-out bamboo basket in her bony hand and mutters to herself as she passes by anonymously.

Daw Ohn Myint is 78 and comes from Sin Phone village in Shwe Pauk Kan Township, a suburb of Rangoon. If anyone took the time to listen to her muttering, they would realize she was not talking to herself.

“My sons and daughters, please help me,” she whispers. “Please be kind and help me buy food.”

A few 10 and 20 kyat notes lie untidily in her basket.

"My home was destroyed in the cyclone and I can’t afford to repair it,” she told The Irrawaddy. “I used to sell stuff at the market, but nowadays I am too old.

“I live alone,” she added softly.

In Burmese tradition, when the parents and grandparents are no longer able to work, their children take care of them. If they have no relatives, the community looks after them. Burmese people have always been proud of this generous custom—the Burmese welfare system, so to speak.

However, the tradition of magnanimity is gradually disappearing in Burma. In the age of military rule, economic hardship, rising crime and high unemployment, most people are only concerned for themselves.

And more and more elderly people, like Ohn Myint, have to resort to begging in the streets to make ends meet.

On a repressively hot afternoon at Rangoon's Aung Minglar bus station, an elderly couple sits idly on a bench. They seem malnourished and skinny. On the ground in front of them lies a brown towel. They wait patiently for a passerby to drop a note on it—perhaps enough to buy a piece of fruit.

“Both our sons are dead,” explained 70-year-old Daw Mya Sein. “One died as a soldier, the other in an accident in a factory.”

Mya Sein indicated her husband beside her. He is paralyzed and unable to move or speak, she said. Now she has to beg and take care of him at the same time.

“I notice more and more old people begging,” said a well-known Burmese author who now works for an NGO. “Many are disabled, some are blind. When I ask them, they say economic hardship has driven them into the street. Many of them are alone in the world. Some have sons or daughters, but often they too are so poor they cannot afford to feed their parents.”

The Burmese government’s social welfare office—the Resettlement and Rehabilitation Ministry—estimated that there are currently 4.7 million people in the country above the age of 60.

According to data published by the Department of Labour in 2004, the life expectancy for Burmese men is 61.5 years. For women in Burma, life expectancy is 64.4 years, with rural women averaging 63.8 years and urban women living to 66.

"I see a lot of old people selling vegetables in the markets and collecting garbage for a living,” a journalist in Rangoon said, adding that he believes the military government has failed in its responsibility to provide for senior citizens.

Even government employees complain of being discarded once they retire.

"I worked all my life at state-owned textile factory, a 70-year-old grandfather said. “I retired with a pension in 1992. Nowadays I collect just 768 kyat (US $0.60) a month for my pension.”

He said he now works as a night security guard in Hlaing Thar Yar industrial zone.

A 63-year-old ex-warrant officer in the air force told a similar story. He said most low-ranking public servants cannot retire peacefully after a lifetime’s work. “Most have to find new jobs to make a living,” he said.

A retired army warrant officer, who had served more than 60 years in the defense services, told The Irrawaddy he receives a pension of only 7,000 kyat ($5.55) a month.

“It’s absolutely nothing,” he grumbled.

Although the Burmese authorities have failed to deliver on a policy to protect elderly people, they are quick to pay lip service to the proposals.

Aung Tun Khine, the deputy general director of Burma’s Social Welfare Ministry promised his department would—in cooperation with the UN—take care of elderly people whose homes had been destroyed by the cyclone.

"We will give preference to poor senior citizens who live alone, and to those without regular incomes," he told a weekly journal, adding that there are currently 59 shelters for senior citizens in the country, providing protection for some 2,000 people.

However, a local journalist scoffed at the junta’s efforts. He called on all levels of society in Burma to work together to fill the gap the regime had created.

“In the sunset of their lives, many of our senior people are in hopeless positions. Some end up in the streets,” he said. “Where the government has failed to do anything, we must step in. All people in Burma are obliged to help take care of our senior citizens.”

An old-age couple begs for money in the street.
(Photo: Aung Thet Wine/The Irrawaddy)

Elderly beggars are common sights at Rangoon’s markets.
(Photo: Aung Thet Wine/The Irrawaddy)

The despair and humiliation of begging.
(Photo: Yuzo/The Irrawaddy)

READ MORE---> Seniors on the Streets...

Zarganar, Ashin Gambira Get Long Prison Terms

By SAW YAN NAING
The Irrawaddy News
November 21, 2008

Burma’s best-known comedian Zarganar and the prominent monk Ashin Gambira were among 35 regime critics sentenced to long prison terms in another day of trials in Rangoon’s Insein Prison on Friday.

Zarganar, whose anti-regime satire was a constant thorn in the side of Burma’s ruling generals, was given a 45-year term. Gambira, one of the leaders of the September 2007 uprising, was sentenced to a total of 68 years.

The media friendly Zarganar was convicted on several criminal charges, including infringements of the Electronic Act, 505 b.

Zarganar was arrested in the night of June 4 in a raid in which the authorities seized his computer, about US $1,000 (1,140,000 Kyat) in cash and three CDs containing footage of May’s cyclone devastation, the opulent wedding of junta leader Snr-Gen Than Shwe’s youngest daughter Thandar Shwe and the film “Rambo 4,” in which Hollywood star Sylvester Stallone fights Burmese government soldiers in a mission to rescue kidnapped westerners.

The 29-year-old Gambira was also convicted on several charges, including offences under Section 505 A and B of the State Offence Act, Section 13/1 of the Immigration Act, Section 17/1 of the Illegal Organization Act, Section 33 A of the Electronic Act and Section 6 of the Organization Act.

One of Zarganar’s associates, Zaw Thet Htwe, who helped him deliver aid to cyclone survivors, received a sentence of 15 years imprisonment. Another associate, Tin Maung Aye, was sentenced to 29 years imprisonment and a third, Thant Zin Aung, received 15 years imprisonment.

The trials of Zarganar, Zaw Thet Htwe and Thant Zin Aung are still proceeding, and the court is expected to pronounce further sentences on them next week.

Thirteen members of the 88 Generation Students group received prison sentences ranging from three to five years on Friday and they are also expected to face further sentences next week, sources said.

Five Buddhist monks were among a further eleven regime opponents who were also sentenced to prison terms on Friday, prison sources said. All took part in the September 2007 uprising.

The 11 condemned were identified as Pyinya Thiha, Pyinya Dipa, Narapatint, Okantha Marla, Zarnayya and dissidents Htun Htun Naing, Than Htay, Soe Shwe, Ngwe Soe, Khin Htun and Kyaw San Lay.

Htun Htun Naing, Than Htay, Ngwe Soe and Kyaw San Lay were each sentenced to four years imprisonment for offences under sections 145 and 505 b of the criminal code, said one source close to the court. Khin Htun sentenced to four-and-half-years for offences under sections 143, 145, 505 b.

The sentences handed out to the monks are not yet known. All of them are from Tharthana Theippan monastery in Rangoon’s Bahan Township.

Tharthana Theippan was the scene of a ceremony held by members of the 88 Generation Students group in August 2007 to mark the 19th anniversary of the 1988 uprising. The ceremony honored the students, monks and citizens who lost their lives during the uprising.

In Thursday’s sessions of the current wave of trials, about 20 detained activists were given prison sentences of between two and six years. They included the Burmese hip-hop star Zayar Thaw, who is a leading member of Generation Wave, a dissidents group founded by young Burmese activists during the September 2007 uprising.

More than one hundred democracy supporters, including Buddhist monks, defense lawyers, members of the opposition National League for Democracy and the 88 Generation Students group have so far been sentenced by Burmese courts since the beginning of November. The longest sentence was the 68 year term of imprisonment handed out to Ashin Gambira on Friday.

READ MORE---> Zarganar, Ashin Gambira Get Long Prison Terms...

HIV/AIDS Risk High Among Political Prisoners

By MIN LWIN
The Irrawaddy News
November 21, 2008

Political prisoners in Burma run a high risk of contracting HIV/AIDS because of unhygienic medical treatment, according to reports from inside several of the country’s prisons.

One report, by Reporters without Borders, said an imprisoned member of the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD), Aung Than, probably contracted the disease after being forcibly injected during treatment in Insein Prison for a prostate condition.

Aung Than was sentenced to 19 years imprisonment in 2006 for writing and distributing a collection of poems called “Daung Man” (“The Force of the Fighting Peacock.”)

Another NLD member, Hla Than, who was elected to represent Coco Island Township in the 1990 election, named five political prisoners he knew had died of HIV/AIDS—Khin Sein, Mya Shwe, Naing Aung Lun, Bo Ni Aung and Thuta Aung.

One former political prisoner, Aung Kyaw Oo, who served 14 years in Insein and Tharawaddy Prisons, said detainees were forbidden to possess hypodermic syringes and injections were carried out with shared needles, usually by ill-trained medics drawn from the prisoners themselves.

“If prisoners refuse to be injected with used needles they are punished,” said Tin Aye, a former political prisoner, who served 15 years and nine months.

“Insein prison is a center of the HIV virus,” he said. “Prison conditions favor the spread of HIV.”

Aung Kyaw Oo said most of the medics in prison hospitals were drawn from convicts with little medical background or knowledge, including drug offenders.

NLD spokesman Nyan Win said the standard of medical treatment in Burma’s prisons had worsened since inspectors of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) stopped their routine visits.

The Geneva-based ICRC suspended its routine visits to Burmese prisons in December 2005 when the junta-affiliated Union Solidarity and Development Association insisted on accompanying ICRC aid workers. The ICRC pointed out that its protocols required that prison visits be independent and unsupervised.

According to the Thailand-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners-Burma (AAPP), 137 political prisoners have died in Burma’s prisons since 1988. The AAAP says the prevalence of HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis and other deadly transmitted diseases is high among prisoners.

READ MORE---> HIV/AIDS Risk High Among Political Prisoners...

U Gambira to serve total of 68 years in prison

by Than Htike Oo
21 November 2008

Chiang Mai (Mizzima)– The Burmese military junta's vendetta against monks came to the fore with U Gambira, a monk leader being sentenced to another 56 years in prison, totaling 68 years, by a Special Court sitting in session inside Insein prison today.

A person close to the family of the monk, who rattled the Burmese military junta during the saffron revolution, said that he was sentenced today by Kamayut Township court on nine counts and by another four counts by Ahlone Township court.

Earlier, Kemmendine trial court which held proceedings inside Insein prison sentenced U Gambira on November 19 to 12 ½ years in prison on three counts including under section 295(a) and 505(b) of Penal Code (insulting religion and inducing crime against public tranquility).

U Gambira was 29, when he headed the monk-led protest, popularly known as saffron revolution in 2007 September, while he was pursuing Buddhist studies – the 'Dhamasaryiya Course'. The monk who stirred the conscience of the anti-regime masses by his political activity became the leading Sayadaw of 'All Burma Monks Alliance' (ABMA) which spearheaded the movement.

After the saffron revolution was brutally crushed by the junta, he went into hiding. But he was arrested in Singai Township, Mandalay Division on November 4, 2007.

Similarly another leading monk U Kaylartha from ABMA (Mandalay Division) who has already been sentenced to 35 years in prison with charges under the Unlawful Association Act, was given an additional four years in jail again today by a court inside Mandalay prison on two counts. His total prison term adds up to 39 years.

The monk-led protests spread like wildfire in the entire nation after the local security forces tied the protesting monks to lampposts and beat them up in public when they staged demonstrations in Pakokku, Magwe Division on September 5, 2007 against rising fuel and essential commodity prices.

The 'National League for Democracy' (NLD) issued a statement yesterday which urged the junta to review and reconsider the harsh prison sentences being handed out to political activists and political dissidents in recent times in accordance with the existing laws, regulations and by-laws.

READ MORE---> U Gambira to serve total of 68 years in prison...

Comedian Zarganar handed 45-year prison term

by Nem Davies
21 November 2008

New Delhi (Mizzima) – Famous comedian and film director Zarganar, held in Insein prison, was sentenced to 45 years in jail today by the prison court.

The court held the trial inside Insein prison and sentenced him on three counts under the Electronic Law to 45 years in prison today for 'disaffection towards state and government' by using the internet.

"I am proud of my elder brother-in-law. He was arrested because of his relief effort among Cyclone Nargis victims. The government's action is arbitrary. My brother cracked a joke when the judge pronounced his judgment. 'I was given 45 years prison term on an 'I' case. I was sent to Insein prison when I used Internet to study IT (Information Technology)', "Ma Nyein, his sister-in-law quoted him as saying.

His family members had to wait at the main entrance of the prison as they were not allowed to attend the court proceeding. Only his defence counsel Khin Htay Kywe was allowed to enter the courtroom. She served as defence lawyer in this case along with lawyers Aung Thein and Khin Maung Shein.

The court fixed November 27 to hear five remaining cases against him.

His family and defence lawyer have not yet decided to go for an appeal. They will discuss the need for an appeal against today's judgment with him when they visit him in prison on Sunday.

Similarly the same Insein prison court sentenced sport columnist Zaw Thet Htwe and his co-accused Thant Zin Aung today to 15 years in prison each and gave 29 years prison term to another accused Tin Maung Aye a.k.a. Gadone for their rescue and relief operation for cyclone Nargis victims.

The authorities arrested Zarganar at his residence while he was into Cyclone Nargis rescue and relief operations for the victims.

The comedian joined the pro-democracy movement actively and he was arrested time and again for cracking political jokes and also barred from performing in public and in films.

Canada based 'PEN' (Canada) awarded him 'One Humanity Award' for 2008 for his bravery and integrity in his struggle for freedom of the press and freedom of expression and imprisoned him for these activities.

READ MORE---> Comedian Zarganar handed 45-year prison term...

Army frames charges against ILO complainants

by Myint Maung
21 November 2008

New Delhi (Mizzima)– Burma's Army has framed charges, under the Electronic Act, against farmers from Natmauk Township who lodged a complaint with the International Labour Organization (ILO) against the seizure of their farmland.

The farmers, from five village tracts in Natmauk Township, Magwe Division, lodged their complaint against the local Central Ordnance Depot, objecting to the seizure of their farmlands by the Army. Subsequently, Captain Phyo Wei Lin of the Central Ordnance Depot has prosecuted three farmers, held to be the leaders of the ILO filing, at a township trial court.

"We are in trouble now and we are on the run," U Tint, one of the villagers whose name appears on the ILO complaint and is listed in the prosecution's case against the farmers, told Mizzima.

Forty-nine villagers in all, from five villages, including Ngeyekan, Ywathit and Nyaung Pauk, lodged a complaint with the ILO on August 3rd against the Central Ordnance Depot for seizing about 5,000 acres of farmland situated along the Natmauk-Magwe railroad.

"We don't know about this Electronic Law and also don't know about the Video Law, as we cannot see movies regularly in our rural area," U Tint commented.

The Electronic Law is a common tool used by the junta against political dissidents who allegedly use the Internet to disseminate news held to be critical of or damaging to military authorities.

Captain Phyo Wei Lin accused the defendants of sending news and facts to the foreign media.

In a well known case, blogger Nay Phone Latt was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment on November 10th for violating the same law.

The Natmauk Police arrested Ngayekan villagers Ko Hla Soe, Ko Nay Lin and Ko Sein Sten on October 20th – later prosecuting them under the Electronic Law. Nine days after their arrests, another villager, Ko Zaw Htay, was also detained.

At first, Captain Phyo Wei Lin registered a case against the initial three detainees under section 31(a) of the Official Secrets Act and section 51(a) (making a photograph of an Army establishment), but the prosecution changed the charge against them to a violation of the Electronic Law.

In their complaint, the villagers said that the Central Ordinance Depot seized about 5,000 acres of farmland from them in 2005 for the purpose of growing physic nut – viewed by the state as being essential in addressing the country's energy shortfall.

READ MORE---> Army frames charges against ILO complainants...

At the mercy of Mother Nature and Burma's generals

by Khin Tun
Mizzima News
21 November 2008

Famine forces thousands to do whatever they can to survive in Chin state

On the surface, things can seem brighter than usual for villagers from Matupi in Southern Chin state of Western Burma, home to some 500,000 people. Fathers, mothers and children are busy in the paddy fields reaping their new crop of rice, which has just ripened this past month. However taking a closer inspection of the situation, it soon becomes apparent that there is a serious problem, a lack of food security – adding to the woes in a state where, according to the Chin Mobile Backpack Medical Team, "malnutrition and child mortality is one of the highest in the country." In a sign of desperation, even children, along with their teachers, are forced to leave school in order to harvest crops, because of the fear that the plague of rats might at any moment destroy the very thing which is so fundamental to their survival - rice.

Background

Since 2006, Chin state has been hit by a plague of rats brought on by the dying of bamboo, a natural phenomenon occurring every 50 years in Chin state and the surrounding mountain ranges of northeast India. During the phenomenon, vast forests of bamboo covered jungle produce flowers and a type of fruit which attracts rats. The rats consume the bamboo seeds, which local people believe causes the rat population to rise exponentially.

In a twisted tale of bad luck, for a region which the World Food Programme describes as "one of the poorest and most isolated states in Myanmar," once the bamboo has flowered it dies, causing the plague of rats to turn on villagers' crops for survival. Village elders, who experienced firsthand the last mautam – as the plague is referred to in local jargon – in 1958, explained that this time the situation is much worse. Unusually strong winds have damaged crops, and the dying of bamboo forests at different times has caused the rats to shift unpredictably between areas.

Farmer turned rat catching expert

Local farmer Masie from Matupi is now highly experienced at catching rats. The previous night he caught eight rats, one of which his wife is cooking on the fire. By Masie's high standards, eight rats is a rather low count, as at the height of the rat infestation he caught over 40 rats in just one night. In trying to protect his fields, Masie has handmade over 150 rat traps, locally called, hmakhau, in addition to the more conventional traps he bought from a larger town three to four days walk away. He proudly shows off a collection of rat tails he has collected since this August, numbering over 1,000 so far. Masie describes how the rat infestation affected his family last year:

"Last year the rat infestation was much worse, and I wasn't able to build any rat traps, because I had never experienced this kind of huge rat infestation. I thought we could drive out and scare the rats and protect our crops with ease. But, just before the rice was about to be ripe for harvest the rats came and finished all the rice in the fields in only one night. We lost all our rice from the fields…we came home from the fields with empty hands."

This year things have improved, his family has collaborated with two other families to manage and secure their rice paddy fields. They have fenced in a six tin field area and added over 150 traditional hand-made rat traps alongside nine more conventional traps.

The villagers are trying to harvest very quickly, as they fear the rats might come again, similar to last year, and eat their rice. Masie hopes to harvest over 280 tins (one tin is approximately six kg of cleaned rice) for 18 family members. Unfortunately, even with the preparations of the villagers in protecting their crops – especially the rice, it couldn't stop the rats from wreaking havoc on the villager's cornfields. "This year our harvest of corn was totally destroyed and we harvested nothing," sighed Masie.

Bamboo shortage

Most villagers stay in the fields day and night as this helps to scare away the rats. Yet due to the mautam phenomenon of bamboo dying, there is a shortage of bamboo, which is traditionally used to construct shelter. Therefore villagers cannot construct appropriate huts for living in their rice fields. Instead, they have little alternative but to either walk to their fields for up to an hour each day, or stay in cramped pitiable huts.

Saichea is a crippled old widow staying alone in a small, confined hut. She tells of how her hut's roof is leaking, yet with everyone busy in the fields and a shortage of adequate bamboo, her roof cannot get fixed. "Every time it rains in the night I have to go to other houses to sleep, because my hut's roof is leaking," tells the old woman. When she was a child she sustained an agonizing accident, leaving her unable to use her right hand or foot or work to earn a living. Consequently, she depends on help from neighbors and church leaders. She displayed her meager food supplies of all she has left, consisting of one pot of rice and a few other essential foods donated to her, which she uses very sparingly.

Food crisis destroying communities – villagers flee to India

Since the start of this year, at least 11 households from a border village in Matupi, Burma, have left for neighboring villages across the border in India's Mizoram state. Some villagers departed in secret as it is seen as a disgrace to leave their village and community. Traditionally, the village elders used to kill a pig to compel them to reconsider leaving. However, village elders stated that some villagers who were offered the meat did not accept it, instead insisting on leaving the village.

In the same village, at least ten households last year faced the problem of finishing their rice early, forcing them to find work in India to try and support themselves. Due to job availability, many of the family members have to work apart, some in Saiha in Mizoram, the largest town closest to southern Chin state. They take up any work offered, usually jobs which the local people do not want, such as carrying wood, working in paddy fields, farm cleaning, constructing roads and digging holes for toilets.

Teiko is one such individual that has had to go to India to earn money, working for approximately 15 days at a time. He has been working on the construction of a bridge over the Kaladan River in India. With this money he then buys rice and carries it back to his village in Burma, over two days walk away. He explains his family's situation:

"Last year we could only harvest 30 tins, which lasted only two months. We survive by earning money in India. Because of the struggle for food we could not send all our children to school, our youngest daughter had to stay to work in the fields. She cried, pleading with us to send her to school, but we couldn't afford to.

This year we have nearly finished our harvest and expect 80 tins, but for one year we need at least 140 tins. When I was in India earning money, my wife borrowed rice from villagers, and we had to pay back the rice once I returned from India.

Working in India, luckily I didn't face any problems with getting paid. Most of us are dependent upon earning money in India. It's the only way to solve our food problems. We are struggling for life, but by the grace of God our health is good."

Limited aid assistance to Burma

Teiko's village has received some limited aid (35 rice bags in total, for over 250 people) from neighboring villages across the border in India, but the real need is substantially greater. Therefore, regretfully, there is no alternative for villagers but to find work in India to keep their families alive.

Chihu is a mother with two daughters from a neighboring village in Mizoram, India, an approximately five hour walk from Burma. She also was not spared the destruction of the rat infestation, yet some assistance is reaching them. She elaborates:

"Usually two fields give a crop of 150 tins, yet all our corn and rice fields were destroyed last year. This year we harvested only 50 tins, which lasted only one month, as we host many guests. In some fields the villagers harvested nothing due to the rats, only in some fortunate fields the rats didn't touch could rice be found. Luckily we are in a better condition than our brothers and sisters in Burma, because of help from NGO's from foreign countries. We received this June, 40 kilos of rice, four liters of oil and eight kilos of dal per household."

However, in an extremely positive development, DFID (Britain's Department for International Development), has offered assistance to six out of nine townships in Chin state, with an initial budget of US$ 1,083,450 for the six months from October 2008 – March 2009. An estimated 55,000 people will benefit from the undertaking. DFID's immediate aim is to improve the food security situation of farmers and their family members affected by the rat infestation and crop destruction, in addition to enhancing rural transportation and communication systems through work for food/money programs.

Yet, because the aid will have to come through Rangoon and the Burmese military government's Ministry for Development of the Border Areas and National Races and Ministry of Agriculture – in collaboration with the UN and other organizations active in the country – it is questionable just how much assistance will actually reach the most affected people. Exiled Chin groups based along the Indian-Burmese border have welcomed the aid, but are calling for a much broader relief approach, including cross-border aid, having set up their own food relief committees, including CFERC (Chin Famine Emergency Relief Committee) and CHRC (Chin Humanitarian Relief Committee.) These groups have a proven track record of being able to provide assistance to the most vulnerable victims, targeting over 70 villages.

However, due to a lack of financial capacity, local relief efforts are currently unable to have a sustainable impact and reach all the targeted villages.

Tlaiko, a father of four children from one of the worst affected townships in southern Chin state, passionately relates his thoughts on the aid proposal from Britain that will see all efforts first routed through Rangoon:

"You, the British, rescued and saved our spirits as R.A. Laurren (the first missionary from the U.K. to the people in this region, over 100 years ago) built our community, and now you have come to help us in our physical needs. But, we were so heartbroken when we heard that the donations of the U.K. are coming through Rangoon. It is impossible that the donations will reach us through Rangoon. The SPDC (military junta) have been stealing our belongings like thieves. They will surely steal all the assistance from you. How can your government believe them? We will get nothing I am sure. I would like you to think back to Cyclone Nargis in the Irrawaddy delta. I think you know much better than we do about this. Assistance from your government directly to us on the border would be the quickest and best way."

A village headman from Matupi talked about how the mautam and the Burmese military have affected his village:

"The majority of people have harvested much less compared to last year. We have harvested as a village approximately 1,300 tins of rice, yet we should harvest 3,500 tins. We get nothing from them (the SPDC). Rather, they beat us and take many things like rice, pigs and goats. We heard so many times that they would help, and sometimes they come, but they only give words. It's sure they will be cheating us. We heard that even after Cyclone Nargis they took many things which should have reached the people."

Work for food initiatives

In a self-initiative spawned from a village council in India, villagers asked those from a neighboring village in Burma to clean the road between their villages, receiving 20 rice bags as payment. When asked about this work for food program, village leaders from

Burma were unanimous in their support.

"We want to work for rice, we want more work. Why should we not accept that? That is the best program for us as it will not only solve our food problem, but also assist in our development," prospered one village headman. "We have been working for the SPDC for no pay, portering and serving them, even as they killed our animals."

Just across the border in another village in Mizoram, things are considerably better. The Indian government has actively responded to the mautam, and since 2005 has introduced a 10-year scheme called the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act. The aim of project is to develop agriculture, plantations and fisheries, in addition to undertaking road construction – by means of the government employing erstwhile unemployed members of the local community.

Satae, from a neighboring village in Burma, is now 69 and has spent his entire life in his village. He explains about how he would like to see a similar work for food/money initiative for his village:

"When we think about our village's development, we first think of having good work which can bring about a better solution to our food shortage and development. We heard that our brothers in India are working under a work for food program in Mizoram, which is benefiting the people a lot. We are just dreaming of getting such a beneficial work program. If we could have such a program, that will solve our food shortage problem and will also bring about sustainable development as well. We envy them."

Threatening the very core of Chin livlihood

As part of the traditional approach of shifting cultivation practiced by the Chin, this December and January signals the start of cutting and cleaning the jungle to make way for new paddy fields. March will see the burning of these areas to allow for the planting of new rice paddy in April. Yet, with many villagers having to leave their communities for India to seek food and work, it may prove difficult for them to grow and harvest their own food. As such, some of the very basic tenets of traditional life in Chin state, which have supported local communities for generations, are being threatened by the ongoing food crisis and the inadequate response of external actors to the plight of the population.

However, one thing I have learned, living in India, can be summarized in one sentence from Ghandi: "We have to be the change we want to see..."

READ MORE---> At the mercy of Mother Nature and Burma's generals...