Myanmar may have to leave ASEAN if it has nuclear plant

JAKARTA, Indonesia, Aug 8 (TNA) -- Myanmar may be forced to abandon its Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) membership if it is found to have a nuclear reactor in the country, ASEAN Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan said on Saturday.

So far there is no clear evidence that the Southeast Asian country, Thailand’s neighbour to the west, has such a facility but if it does, it will be forced to leave the organisation because operating a nuclear plant violates a regional pact which states that ASEAN will be a nuclear free zone, said Mr Surin.

Mr Surin was responding to Western media reports which said recently that impoverished Myanmar was building a secret nuclear reactor and plutonium facilities with the help of North Korea and aims to have a nuclear bomb in five years.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during the ASEAN meeting in Thailand’s Phuket last month also warned about possible nuclear links between the two countries. She said the communist-state could be sharing atomic technology with military-ruled Myanmar which could pose a major threat to the region.

“ASEAN (government) leaders will have to jointly consider on the issue. If (Myanmar) is found guilty then it will be forced to leave ASEAN,” said Mr. Surin, adding that so far there is no sign that the country has built such facilities.

Myanmar along with Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam are ASEAN members.

Touching on the court delay in issuing a verdict against Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and two housekeepers following the May 3 incident in which American John William Yettaw allegedly swam across a lake to her home and stayed there for two days, Mr Surin said he believed the postponement probably so the verdict to be issued would not impact the feelings of the international community.

The verdict must be transparent before general elections, otherwise Myanmar authorities would not have reason to back their claims to the international community, and it would also put pressure on ASEAN, he said.

If convicted, Mrs Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate who has been under house arrest since 1989 could face up to five years in prison, which would prevent her from participating the general elections that the junta has scheduled for 2010.

Myanmar court has postponed the verdict until Tuesday. (TNA)

READ MORE---> Myanmar may have to leave ASEAN if it has nuclear plant...

What to do with The Lady

By Larry Jagan

Delays in the trial of Burmese democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi have fuelled the rumour mill about what the secretive junta is really up to as elections draw closer

(Bangkok Post) -The delay in the trial of Burma's democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi has fuelled intense speculation about why the military junta is dragging out the court ruling and what its real agenda is. As Burma's top general Than Shwe has often told subordinates, international pressure "is like an elastic band" - when it's pulled tight nothing should be done as it only makes matters worse. When the elastic band is relaxed "we proceed with our plans".

There is no doubt that the international pressure is very taut at the moment, and the delaying tactics appear to fit neatly into Than Shwe's strategy of dealing with the opposition leader's continued detention. But he must know that the campaign in support of Aung San Suu Kyi will not subside.

The democracy icon is poised to learn her fate on Tuesday when the judges reconvene their secret court inside Insein prison. She is on trial for allegedly breaking the conditions of her house arrest, when she gave food and shelter to an uninvited American who swam to her lakeside residence. If found guilty, she faces a maximum of five years in jail.

The verdict was originally scheduled to be announced more than a week ago, but the court postponed its decision on the grounds that it needed more time to consider the legal arguments in relation to the 1974 constitution - which Aung San Suu Kyi's lawyers insist is no longer relevant.

There is no doubt that one of the regime's main concerns is the possibility of street protests when the verdict is announced. The state-run media warned the public against protesting for several days before the scheduled court verdict last week. They particularly wanted to avoid the Aug 8 anniversary of the mass pro-democracy movement which toppled the previous military ruler, Ne Win.

Benjamin Zawacki, Amnesty International's Bangkok-based Burma researcher, said the delay could be a tactic to "bait any potential demonstrators or activists anticipating a guilty verdict to identify themselves, and then switch the date of the verdict so there is enough time to crack down on them".

At least 30 National League for Democracy (NLD) activists were arrested in Rangoon and other towns on the eve of the original verdict hearing, although many have since been released.

Some Burma watchers say that Aung San Suu Kyi being found guilty is a fait accompli.

"These charges are a complete and crude fabrication, a pretext to keep Daw Aung San Suu Kyi in detention," the former UN human rights rapporteur for Burma, Professor Paulo Pinheiro, told Spectrum.

British ambassador to Burma Mark Canning, who completed his posting there last month, said: "The trial has been entirely scripted and the end already decided before hand," he said after a rare occasion when he was allowed to attend the court hearing.

Public sentiment echoes that of the diplomats. "No one is in any doubt about the outcome," said Moe Moe, a taxi driver in the country's main commercial city.

"Those men in green in Naypyidaw [the new capital] know she is the people's hero and the real leader of this country."

But is it as cut and dried as the diplomats would have us believe, or is Than Shwe unsure of how to handle the case with one eye on next year's election and the ongoing problem Aung San Suu Kyi and her supporters would present him with after a transition to his homegrown version of "democracy"?

Than Shwe plans to announce the formation of an interim government that will hold administrative power for at least one year, until the elections are staged, according to senior military sources in Naypyidaw.

He and other senior generals around him, especially Maung Aye, plan to stand down when the time is right, after the elections planned for next year. New houses are being built for them near Maymeo. The regional commander has confiscated large tracts of land there and new residences for the top military brass are already being built, according to Burmese military sources.

All government ministries have been told to complete all their outstanding work by the end of August, especially the preparation of statistical information.

Aung Thaung, the minister and a close confidant of Than Shwe's, recently told his deputies that there would be a new government soon, and he may no longer be the minister. Most of the current crop of ministers have also told their staff they will no longer be ministers by the end of the year. It is understood that members of the interim government will not be allowed to run in the elections, which is why the ministers will resign their posts and not take part in the pre-election administration.

"According to Than Shwe's plans, all the current ministers will have to resign, if they are to join a political party and fight the forthcoming elections," said the independent Burmese academic, Win Min.

Many analysts believe Than Shwe has been waiting for the verdict to further marginalise Aung San Suu Kyi before proceeding with his plans for a a civilian administration ahead of the elections. "The whole country will really be surprised to see how power is handed over," he reportedly told a high-ranking visiting foreign official.

So far there have been no hints as to who will be in the interim administration. Some analysts speculate that it may even include a senior member of the NLD - which would then preclude them from running for office in next year's elections.

This would also be one way of giving this body credibility - both nationally and internationally. It is possible that Than Shwe wants Aung San Suu Kyi herself to participate in the interim administration, a senior government official recently told Spectrum.

For Than Shwe, there is another major consideration - what to do with Aung San Suu Kyi after the elections. While it may be relatively easy to keep her locked up until then, the problem is that releasing her afterwards would only ensure she would be an enormous thorn in the side of any civilian government.

So Than Shwe's plans must involve finding a way to neutralise her and at the same time give her freedom. That is the key issue Than Shwe now has to grapple with, and until he decides what to do with her, she will remain in detention.

The timing of the election is crucial to what happens next week. All indications are that it is likely to take place towards the end of next year. So the further away it is, the more likely it is that the process will be drawn out - first a verdict, then another delay before sentencing, and appeals to the high court.

If Than Shwe is considering ways to co-opt Aung San Suu Kyi, then there must be secret talks or contact between the two. Leading opposition figures in Rangoon, including her lawyers, categorically dismiss these suggestions. Diplomats are equally sceptical.

"But if there were such talks I wouldn't tell diplomats - and certainly not journalists," a western diplomat in Rangoon told Spectrum. After all, it took months for news of the regime's secret talks with Aung San Suu Kyi to emerge, when she was under house arrest in 2000. Those, brokered by the UN envoy Razali Ismail, led to her release in May 2002.

"Whatever happens, Aung San Suu Kyi will be freed before the elections take place," claimed a senior government official with close links to Than Shwe.

READ MORE---> What to do with The Lady...

Falun Gong Practitioner Killed within Days of Arrest

Within two weeks of being detained, Mr. Yang Guiquan was tortured to death while in police custody.

(Falun Info) -Within two weeks of being detained, Mr. Yang Guiquan was tortured to death while in police custody.

A middle-aged man in northeast China has died just sixteen days after being detained by security agents while speaking to passers-by at a shopping mall about the persecution against Falun Gong, the Falun Dafa Information Center recently learned. Mr. Yang Guiquan (杨贵全) was reportedly brought to a local hospital on July 5, 2009 in critical condition with bruises and scars from electric batons visible on his body. Doctors pronounced him dead on arrival. He was 45-years-old.

“The speed with which this innocent man was picked up off the street, tortured, and killed highlights the mortal danger that hundreds of thousands of Falun Gong prisoners of conscience in China face at this very moment,” says Falun Dafa Information Center spokesperson Gail Rachlin. “A year after Beijing hosted the Olympics, clearly the surrounding ‘strike hard campaign’ hasn’t let up if you’re a Falun Gong practitioner. Yang’s tragic death is a startling reminder of that reality.”

Mr. Yang was an employee of Rongxing Plastics Limited City (荣兴塑料有限公司) in Fuxin, a major coal-mining city of 782,000 people in Liaoning province. According to sources inside China, at approximately 6:00 p.m. on June 20, 2009, he was speaking to passers-by about the persecution against Falun Gong at a local shopping mall when he was detained by Wu Zhongqi (伍忠启) and other officers from the public security bureau branch of the Haizhou District Police Department. They interrogated Mr. Yang overnight at the police department compound, then transferred him to Xindi Detention Center (新地看守所).

Upon hearing of his arrest, Mr. Yang's family members and employer went to the public security bureau on multiple occasions to request his release, but were repeatedly turned away and refused access to him.

During his detention, Mr. Yang reportedly embarked on a hunger strike to protest the illegality and injustice of his arrest. Rather than release him or grant him his legally enshrined rights, the guards tortured and brutally force-fed him. Such forced-feedings are routinely conducted by guards with no medical training and as a form of torture rather than nourishment. They are a leading cause of verified deaths among Falun Gong practitioners who have been killed in custody.

As a result of the abuse he was subjected to in custody, on July 5, 2009, Mr. Yang was in critical condition. He was first taken to the Public Security Hospital for treatment, then returned to the detention center. Several hours later, he was taken to the Fuxin City Mining Corporation General Hospital (阜矿集团总医院). Doctors at the general hospital said that Mr. Yang was not breathing and had no heartbeat when he arrived. They determined that he had died before arriving at the hospital.

Mr. Yang died at approximately 3:00 p.m. on July 5, 2009. The police notified his family members at approximately 8:00 p.m. that day. According to sources inside China who were able to view his body, Mr. Yang’s back and head showed bruises, and there were marks of beatings on his legs. Mr. Yang's inner thighs also showed marks from shocks from an electric baton.

There are 3,292 known cases of Falun Gong practitioners who have died as a result of persecution in China. Liaoning province is one of the deadliest provinces for Falun Gong practitioners – at least 396 adherents are documented to have died there from abuse since 1999.

The Falun Dafa Information Center urges international media to visit Liaoning province and investigate first hand the circumstances surrounding Yang’s death.

Additional details:
Mr. Yang Guiquan’s home address: Room 604, No. 1 Building, Meihai Neighborhood, Beixin Village, Xihe District, Fuxin City, Liaoning Province (细河区新市北新村煤海小区一号楼604室)

Original Post: 07 Aug 2009

READ MORE---> Falun Gong Practitioner Killed within Days of Arrest...

Overseas Employment Agencies Offer Services on Credit

JEG's note: This falls under Human Exploitation, agencies are paid up to $110 per head on recruitment, who pays? the employer. On top of that they charge a $1500 fee to the applicant and there is no guarantee the applicant will get a job abroad. The employer is the only one who should pay for the service, the applicant is free from these exorbitant charges, what a great idea to have the news censored to keep people ignorant of their rights, another "less-honest initiative" of the military junta.

By AUNG THET WINE
The Irrawaddy News

RANGOON — To meet a growing demand from overseas employers, employment agencies in Burma have begun offering their services at a discount or on credit to persuade more Burmese workers to apply for jobs abroad.

“We are introducing a credit scheme which allows successful applicants to pay only half of the service fee before they leave Burma, and the other half from their earnings while working abroad,” said the manager of an overseas employment agency in Rangoon’s Kamayut Township. “Other companies are giving discounts to get people to sign up,” he added.

With the demand for cheap Burmese labor growing in countries recovering from the sharp economic downturn of the past year, many job-hunting agencies are even turning to rural areas in search of new recruits.

“Recruiting agents are sent to Upper Burma to find workers to go to Malaysia. They get US $50 for each new worker they recruit,” said a broker working for an overseas employment agency in Rangoon. “If they can find a person who wants to work in Singapore, they get $110 per head.”

However, many agencies say they are still having difficulty filling orders from Malaysia, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) because the number of overseas job-seekers is steadily declining.

“I received more labor recruitment orders this month,” said the owner of an overseas employment agency in Botahtaung Township, Rangoon. “But those who want to go abroad can’t afford the service fee.”

The cost of finding a job overseas is high by Burmese standards, and often proves to be an insurmountable obstacle for those seeking opportunities to earn money abroad. For a job in Malaysia, for instance, applicants must pay between $600 and $1,100, depending on the type of job.

Malaysia is one of the most popular destinations for Burmese who want to work abroad, with many kinds of jobs available in a variety of industries, from restaurants to rubber plantations and furniture factories.

“Work orders from Malaysia have been increasing since July,” said an employee of the Thuka Su San Overseas Employment Agency in Rangoon. “The economic situation in Malaysia is improving and workers can get overtime work again now.”

Although Malaysia continues to attract Burmese workers, better-paying jobs in Singapore remain beyond the reach of most. Service fees for finding work in Singapore are set at around $2,200, and applicants are also required to have a command of English and some other skill, such as driving or carpentry.

“Service fees for Malaysia are cheaper and there is no education qualifications to get a job in the country,” said the employment agent from Thuka Su San. “That’s why we get more laborers from rural areas going to Malaysia, while those going to Singapore are from urban areas like Rangoon.”

However, the number of workers going to Singapore has sharply decreased, with each agency sending just one or two workers a month. In some months, they can’t even send one.

For other destinations that promise even better wages, such as the UAE, prohibitively expensive service fees mean that there are few takers for the jobs available.

“A worker at a shipping dock in the UAE can earn the equivalent of $17 a day plus accommodation and meals,” said an agent from the A Win Win Overseas Employment Company in Kamayut Township. “But few people are interested in the job because they can’t afford the $1,500 service fee.”

In Burma, there are 131 overseas employment agencies officially registered by the Ministry of Labor. However, some agencies have been deregistered due to the economic downturn.

READ MORE---> Overseas Employment Agencies Offer Services on Credit...

Junta wants KIA to disarm honourably: Northern commander

by KNG

In a giveaway, the northern regional commander of Burma's ruling junta, Maj-Gen Soe Win told a high ranking army officer of the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) last week that "We (the ruling junta) are just trying to convince the KIO to disarm themselves honourably", said KIO sources.

A KIO officer in the Laiza headquarters on the Sino-Burma border in Kachin State told KNG today, that Soe Win said this to Col. Wahkyawng Hkawng Lum, a staff member in the office of military headquarters of the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), the armed-wing of the KIO in Laiza. The conversation took place, while the commander was being escorted back home in Myitkyina, the capital of Kachin State from Laiza after the meeting with KIO officials on July 31.

The ruling junta's Northern Regional commander Maj-Gen Soe Win (left) and KIO chairman Lanyaw Zawng Hra
The northern commander’s statement comes at a time when there is palpable tension between the KIO and the ruling junta over the demands made to each other. The junta has demanded transformation of the KIA to a battalion of the Border Guard Force (BGF) in April, whereas the KIO has demanded that the junta allow the transformation of the KIA to a brigade-level Kachin Regional Guard Force (KRGF) and KIO's direct participation in the new Kachin State government in the aftermath of next year’s general elections. The KIO’s demands were made in July.

As of now the two sides have not responded categorically to each others demands.

Kachin Baptist pastor Rev. Dr. Lahtaw Saboi Jum, former General Secretary of the Kachin Baptist Convention (KBC) and also a peace mediator, yet again, met the junta's Lt-Gen Ye Myint head of Military Affairs Security (MAS) in Naypyitaw last week to resolve the problems between the two sides.

Lt-Gen Ye Myint sent a message for the KIO through the peace mediator Rev. Saboi Jum, that the junta would like to uphold the ceasefire agreement with the KIO. He also offered to initiate a dialogue to solve the problems between them, said KIO officers in Laiza.

Meanwhile, on the frontlines in Kachin State, KIA soldiers and Burmese Army soldiers are secretly making preparations for a possible civil war, said sources in the frontline.

According to a source close to the junta, the regime will start the war first against the KIO and not the United Wa State Army (UWSA).

KIO sources said, the KIO and the three ceasefire groups in Shan state--- UWSA, Kokang ceasefire group and Mongla-based National Democratic Alliance Army-Eastern Shan State (NDAA-ESS) have already agreed to fight the junta together if a war becomes inevitable.

READ MORE---> Junta wants KIA to disarm honourably: Northern commander...

Beaten, but not Defeated

By KYAW ZWA MOE
The Irrawaddy News

The bullets were about to fly in Rangoon and other cities on that day and the days ahead. Unbelievably, their targets were the students in white shirts and green longyi who were at the forefront of the marching columns of people from all walks of life, demanding democracy. Soon after the gunfire started, all that remained in the streets was blood, ownerless sandals, the smoke of guns and the groans and tears of those who had survived.

For a brief moment, the people had tasted victory after toppling the authoritarian regime that had clamped down on the country for 26 years. Sadly, that emancipation was soon replaced by the bitter realization that gun power had managed to defeat people power once again.

The result was at least 3,000 deaths, many more injured and jailed, and a flood of thousands of students and activists forced to flee into a life of exile. The tragedy began on August 8, 1988—21 years ago today.

The extraordinary events of that day have been permanently etched into the memories of those who witnessed them, and have become a part of the long saga of a nation whose struggle for independence began in the 19th century, and continues to this day.

If the current phase of this struggle, which began 21 years ago, were a person, it would be at the height of its youthful vigor. But after more than two decades, Burma’s pro-democracy movement is far from being in good health. It is not defeated, but it has been brutally beaten. Its leaders have been imprisoned and its forces have been scattered around the world. It wanders the earth, anguished, with no way to return to its home.

So far, nothing has succeeded in loosening the stranglehold of military rule. Non-violent protest and armed struggle have both failed to restore democracy. Neither sanctions nor engagement have persuaded the regime to relinquish its hold on power. Diplomacy has fallen on deaf ears, and prayers for peace have not penetrated the generals’ hardened hearts.

So what else is left?

It seems like all of our options have been exhausted, while Burma itself lurches perpetually on the brink of collapse. The worst nightmares of most countries are the daily reality of life in Burma.

But in life, the darkest despair can sometimes simply vanish, like a cloud that gathers and then passes. The Berlin Wall that divided Germany looked, for several long decades, like it might last forever. But then, it was gone, and with it the Cold War that had gripped the entire planet for what seemed an eternity.

The Burmese are no strangers to tragedy. They saw their country fall to a foreign power, but they fought on, determined to restore their dignity as a nation. In the end, they won their independence because they knew—with absolute certainty—that they were a sovereign people. It was a truth as undeniable as the sky, which the dark cloud of foreign domination could not obscure forever.

Today, Burma is darkened by different clouds, but its people are sustained by the same determination as their ancestors. The Burmese know that they are as free as any other people on earth, and that it is only the deadly delusions of their rulers that prevent this truth from shining through for all to see.

In the end, the clouds will pass, the bruises will heal, and Burma will show the world its true worth and beauty.

READ MORE---> Beaten, but not Defeated...

Security Tight on Anniversary of 8888 Uprising

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
The Irrawaddy News

Pro-junta supporters and truckloads of riot police patrolling Burma’s commercial capital on Saturday kept potential demonstrators off the streets on the 21st anniversary of pro-democracy protests that triggered one of the country’s bloodiest uprisings.

The anniversary comes days before a Burmese court rules on whether democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi should be jailed for five years for violating the terms of her house arrest. The Nobel laureate came to prominence during the demonstrations and remains the country’s most popular politician.

The verdict, scheduled for Tuesday, has already been delayed because judges said they needed more time to sort through legal issues. But Burmese scholars say the real reason for the postponement was fears that pro-democracy groups would take to the streets on the anniversary if a guilty ruling was handed down.

Rangoon’s streets were quiet Saturday and security forces were present in much of the crumbling city.

Dozens of riot police and scores of unarmed supporters of the regime were stationed along the main roads and junctions, as well as near the major monasteries and pagodas.

Dozens of barbed wire barricades, some of them freshly painted, were placed on roadsides.

Local media used the anniversary to praise the regime and warn residents not to be taken in by unidentified opponents, most likely pro-democracy groups.

Residents interviewed in Rangoon said they dared not mark the anniversary, knowing they would be quickly arrested and face the prospect of long prison sentences. Most said they had other priorities.

“I have forgotten that today is the anniversary,” said Hla Maung, a 52-year-old trishaw driver. “I wake up every morning thinking how to feed my family of three.”

Outside the country, dozens of demonstrators marked the day with protests in front of the Burmese embassies in the Thai capital of Bangkok and the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur. A small demonstration was also held at the Burmese consulate in Hong Kong.

The anniversary marks the August 8, 1988 demonstrations—known locally as the 8888 uprising—in which more than a million people protested following the government’s sudden demonetization of the currency, which wiped out many people’s savings. Suu Kyi, a political novice at the time, became the face of the movement.

The protests brought down longtime dictator Ne Win, but a new group of generals replaced him and brutally crushed the protests in September, killing an estimated 3,000 people. Elections were held in 1990, but the military refused to recognize the landslide victory of Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy party.

Suu Kyi, who has been detained for nearly 14 of the last 20 years, faces up to five years in prison on charges that she harbored an American who swam to her lakeside villa earlier this year—a violation of the terms of her house arrest.

Security has been increased in Rangoon over the past several weeks and was stepped up on Saturday in response to recent security threats, national police chief Brig-Gen Khin Yi said at a news conference Friday.

He said “external opposition groups and terrorists” had planned to carry out attacks during UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s visit last month, as well as near Insein prison, where Suu Kyi’s trial is being held. The targets also included buildings of the pro-junta Union Solidarity and Development Association, he said.

Khin Yi said authorities have arrested 15 people this year for planning to carry out “demolition activities” in Rangoon, Mandalay and other big cities, though he did not say how many were connected to the trial.

READ MORE---> Security Tight on Anniversary of 8888 Uprising...

Forced militia training conducted in Ye Township

HURFOM (Rehmonnya): On July 3rd, the Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) No. 343 led militia training in Ye Township. The LIB forced residents to choose between participating or paying a 6,000 kyat fine.

Nai Myo, a Arutaung villager explained, “At about 9:00 AM the village headman Nai Htun Thin announced every household has to attend the militia training, which [was] lead by the LIB No. 343. He said that this announcement came from the LIB No. 343, and everyone must follow the policy. He said the LIB No. 343 needed about 50 people from our village to attend the training.”

“One of my cousins had to attend the militia training because his family couldn’t afford to pay,” Nai Myo continued. “My cousin said ‘they just taught us how to beat people, and how to control the villagers. They didn’t allow us to hold real guns; they just gave us bamboo sticks to pretend with. One sergeant and 5 soldiers trained us, and about 20 villagers attended the militia training.’”

In the instance of Aurtaung village, most residents chose to pay rather then attend the training. Nai Myo stated, “In our village, we have about 1000 households. Most people were paying money instead of attending the training. Therefore, the authorities collected a lot of money during the militia training.”

Similar incidents of forced militia training and irregular taxation have occurred in the villages of Sonnatha and Ah Phor.

A Sonnatha villager said, “In our village, the village headman Ko Myo Win collected 6,000 [kyat] from each household for the militia training. But we didn’t hear who had to attend the training – I think everyone one in the village paid. There are about 500 household in our village.”

“In our village the authorities set up a signboard for the announcement. The village headman said that the authorities needed about 200 villagers to attend the training,” an Ah Phor villager explained. “If a household didn’t have a son or father, they could pay 6,000 kyat for the training. Everyone else was forced to join the training.”

A political investigator based in Ye Township concluded, “They are preparing for the coming election and an uprising in the villages. In addition, they are preparing to prevent people from uprising if Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is kept in prison.”

(Editors Note: All names have been changed for security reasons)

READ MORE---> Forced militia training conducted in Ye Township...

Verdict on the trial of Aung San Su Kyi postponed due to pressure

IMNA - The verdict for the trial of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has been postponed after increased pressure from politicians inside the country, as well as abroad in the international community, according to activists in Burmese political groups.

“The trial to imprison Daw Suu Kyi has been part of the military’s plan,” said U Aye Tha Aung, the secretary general of the Committee Representing the People’s Parliament (CRPP), he said in an interview with IMNA. “They [Burmese government] do not want her free in advance of the 2010 election. If she is released she could talk about the 2010 election and offer perspective on the [Burmese government’s] constitution. That is why it is impossible for them to release her.”

When the time came for the court to render a verdict on the previously appointed date of July 31st, the court put out a last minute extension to the judgment date, citing concerns that it needed to review the legal options. The new date for the court to read the verdict has been set for August 11th, 2009.

This is not first time the trial of Aung San Suu Kyi has been postponed. The trail was already in recess when UN secretary General Ban Ki Moon paid a recent visit to the Burmese government. The first postponement lasted until June 26th, to hear the testimony of defense witness Khin Moe Moe.

According to an article published the Burmese government state news paper, The New Light of Myanmar, two reasons have been given for the recent delay in the final stage of the trial. The first is for the court to reexamine the appropriateness of laws presiding over the trial, and the second is to address appeals that have been filed by both sides of the case.

U Aye Tha Aung explained that he believed without the release of Daw Aung San Su Kyi, the results from any election held by the military will be rejected outright. Also, that any government that comes to power in this way will also not be recognized by the international community.

The vice-chairman of the Mon National Democracy Front (MNDF), Nai Ngwe Thein, expressed his opinion, “The military court is probably planning to imprison her. The postponement of the case is due to pressure form the outside world and disagreement amongst the military groups.”

Nai Ngwe Thein believes that recent reports of a secret trip by Gen. Maung Aye to North Korea, and the construction of secret military tunnels, has led disagreement amongst the senior administration in the Burmese military government.

“But, in the case of a democratic icon [Suu Kyi], whether the outcome will be good or bad, it is still attracting the attention of the international community, who are watching closely,” he added.

U Nyan Win, a lawyer and spokesman with the NLD party who was also imprisoned 2 years ago, has been following the case in hopes of being able to provide council against illegal actions the court might try to take against Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. He explained that if the court would actually act according to the law and legal judgment, the case would be fair and she would be easily released.

A Burma watcher, and lecturer at the university of Rangoon (whose name has been withheld for security purposes), offered his opinion, “According to the court of the military government, she [Daw Aung San] can be imprisoned. But if the SPDC hops to recover any face in the international community, she will have to be released. That is, I think, what they are playing is a game of chess…If they [SPDC] continue to uphold her arrest, there will be no unification from the 2010 election. From there they will not be recognized by the ASEAN governments as well as by the world community. And right now there is no participation in the coming election.”

READ MORE---> Verdict on the trial of Aung San Su Kyi postponed due to pressure...

Security men guarding Suu Ky’s house punished

by Myo Thein

Rangoon (Mizzima) – Action has been taken against the security personnel deployed in and around Aung San Suu Kyi’s residence, who were responsible for the intrusion of an American John Yettaw, Police Chief Police Brig. Gen. Khin Yee has said.

He made the announcement at a press conference held in the Rangoon Narcotic Drug Museum on August 7 at 2 p.m. The press conference was about ‘Briefing on current activities on state security and maintaining law and order’.

“We investigated and questioned 61 security personnel from the police battalion deployed at Aung San Suu Kyi’s residence and then took action against some of them for dereliction of duty”.

In an earlier press briefing, he had said that the authorities would investigate the security lapse at Suu Kyi’s house and would take action against security personnel if they were found guilty.

“We have demoted a Police Lt. Col. and gave other personnel various prison terms ranging from three to six months,” Brig. Gen. Khin Yee said.

Police chief also said that action has been taken against over 20 personnel under the Police Disciplinary Rule.

On the health condition of Mr. Yettaw, he said that he was currently being treated in the Rangoon General Hospital. The American adheres to his religious perceptions and sometimes keeps Sabbath for about 44 days. “He had seizure earlier and had fits three times today”, the Police Chief said.

READ MORE---> Security men guarding Suu Ky’s house punished...

The Lady should be for turning

Illustration by M. Morgenstern

JEG's: I believe the sanctions were imposd on the generals pockets not the government, the government has the means to provide for the country instead they have opted to squeeze as much of the natural resources for personal gain. Do their "good governance" is shown with education? who for? Is it shown with healtchcare? Who for? What about jobs? do you have to belong and support the junta in order to be employable? The sanctions have nothing to do with the crisis the junta government has created. Suu Kyi has nothing to do with it either, she cannot be responsible for other governments decisions... Junta's greedy and well spread legal corruption has lots to do with the way the country is at present... you make up your mind, no-one forces your to follow DASSK or follow the junta, your choice...

By Banyan
The Economist

Aung San Suu Kyi is remarkable. But Myanmar’s problems are more than just those of democracy denied

JULY 20th marked the 20th anniversary of the day when military rulers first placed Aung San Suu Kyi under house arrest. The leader of Myanmar’s democracy movement has since spent more than 13 years detained at home or, as now, in a Yangon prison. She awaits the verdict of a sham trial in which she was charged with breaking the terms of her detention after an uninvited American, a nut, swam across to her lakeside home. Miss Suu Kyi plays a long game. But so does the military. It seized power in 1962. It has used force to put down two extraordinarily brave sets of pro-democracy protests, in 1988 and 2007. And it has ignored the result of free elections in 1990, convincingly won by Miss Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy.

Miss Suu Kyi, 64 and frail, has not wavered in her call for the junta to respect the election result and free what are now thought to be 2,100 political prisoners. She has long argued for countries to apply pressure by forbidding companies to trade with Myanmar or invest in it. The West has responded with sanctions regimes. Britain’s prime minister, Gordon Brown, recently called for even tougher financial measures against Myanmar.

There is no doubting Miss Suu Kyi’s courage. A decade ago she turned down the generals’ offer to leave the country (presumably, for good) to care for her dying husband. She never saw him again. Two sons have not seen their mother for years. Miss Suu Kyi’s moral stature puts her on a level with other imprisoned or exiled symbols of quiet resistance, the Dalai Lama and Nelson Mandela. She keeps democratic hopes alive in Myanmar; and around the world she inspires campaigners for freedom in the face of thuggish regimes. Elegant and dignified, she is the person any engaged liberal at Harvard or Oxford most wants to invite to dinner but can’t. This year garden parties at British embassies celebrating the Queen’s birthday were decorated with portraits of Miss Suu Kyi. At the embassy in Jakarta, a picture of her is projected onto an outside wall. She is, literally, democracy’s poster girl.

For weeks the military regime has delayed pronouncing a verdict in its trial, perhaps so as not to embarrass fellow members of the ten-country Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN), meeting for its annual summit this week in Thailand. Yet few doubt but that Miss Suu Kyi will be put away for even longer. Her house, which has become a shrine to the democracy movement’s living deity, may be confiscated and razed. Myanmar’s leaders have called for elections next year, but on terms that ensure the military is the force behind civilian rule. Having Miss Suu Kyi to stand and fight is not part of the programme.

An even longer game, then, for Miss Suu Kyi and her supporters. But is it the right one? A growing body of opinion thinks not. It follows a tedious ritual. The world calls for freedom and democracy. The United Nations dispatches a representative to Yangon. He is fobbed off. The Lady continues in detention. The UN’s most recent big cheese was none other than the secretary-general. Ban Ki-moon left Yangon earlier this month without being allowed to meet Miss Suu Kyi.

This costs more than just wasted journeys. Myanmar is rich in natural gas, timber and gems. China and India, strategic rivals to east and west, chummy up to the junta. The Burmese elite has second homes and bank accounts in Thailand. Russia sells the generals arms, as does China, and both provide cover for the generals on the Security Council. So Myanmar does now in fact engage with the world—but its engagement takes the ugly form of a rapacious capitalism with amoral partners. Hillary Clinton, on her first trip to Asia as secretary of state, admitted that isolation “hasn’t influenced the junta”. An American review of Myanmar policy is under way, but official silence over Miss Suu Kyi’s trial hints at a certain confusion. Because there is no engagement, America’s soft power has no traction.

Worse, everyone from the UN down views Myanmar through the lens of democracy above all else—even development. For a desperate country with shocking rates of disease and mortality such a priority is dubious at best, shameful at worst. If nothing else, it fails to acknowledge how development can improve local governance. In the Irrawaddy delta in the wake of cyclone Nargis, which struck last year killing 140,000, deciding how humanitarian aid should be spent has increased civic participation and local autonomy in the face of an uncaring regime. Yet apart from Japan, official aid levels to Myanmar are pitiful compared even with other poor countries.

Icon or obstacle?

Lastly, depicting Myanmar as a kind of velvet revolution gone wrong, as Thant Myint-U, a historian of Burma, points out, is to ignore a big part of the picture. The paranoid regime’s inward-looking cast is conditioned by centuries of invasions, among them by the British and, after independence in 1948, by American-backed Chinese Nationalists. Since independence, the military has faced dozens of communist and ethnic insurgencies. It is true that since the 1990s, ceasefires have been signed in all but two. But independent Burma did not emerge as a unified state and, under early democratic rule, insurgencies flourished. The remaining conflicts, financed by drugs trafficking, are the longest-running wars in the world. They cannot simply be ignored.

Sanctions have helped bring about no democratic transition in Asia—on the contrary. So imagine if the West reversed policy, dropped sanctions and pursued engagement. The generals have already looked at the development paths blazed by China and Vietnam and said they want to follow. In comparison to the regimes in those two countries, Myanmar’s badly lacks legitimacy. So Mr Thant says that development could bring about swift changes to the political landscape, as eventually happened in Indonesia. Development, in other words, could be the fastest path to democracy. Will the courageous Lady admit as much? (JEG's: development could follow if the generals were genuinely interested in the country instead of filling their personal pockets, that is the difference with China and Vietnam, they had their time to prove themselves instead they wasted what is rightful to the citizens in paying thugs and decorating the army barracks with silk and diamonds)

Jul 23rd, 2009

READ MORE---> The Lady should be for turning...

Suu Kyi is ‘Part of the Problem’: Goh Chok Tong

By WAI MOE
The Irrawaddy News

Goh Chok Tong, Singapore’s former prime minister and current senior minister, said on Thursday that Burma’s pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi is “part of the problem” facing the military-ruled country.

Goh told reporters at the Asia-Middle East Media Roundtable in Singapore that while the West sees Suu Kyi as the solution to Burma’s problems, she is also “part of problem” because she believes she is the government, according to Singapore’s Channel NewsAsia news network.

He also suggested Suu Kyi’s party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), needed to seek a fresh mandate in the 2010 elections, saying that Suu Kyi should not dwell on the fact that her party’s victory in the 1990 elections was not recognized by the junta.

“That was 19 years ago, that’s history. If she realizes she has to be part of the solution, she has to offer some concessions, such as to publicly say that she would be in favor of the lifting of sanctions,” Goh was quoted as saying in The Malaysian Insider on Friday.

On Burma’s scheduled elections for next year, Goh said the junta should make sure that the elections were “fair, free and legitimate.” He added: “The process must involve parties that oppose you as well. Aung San Suu Kyi must be allowed to participate.”

The senior minister from the most developed country in Southeast Asia also said that military-ruled Burma’s economy has enormous growth potential.

“Myanmar [Burma] has the potential to boom in the next 10 years and it can be like Thailand’s today in 20 years’ time,” Goh said.

Responding to Goh’s comments, Aye Thar Aung, the secretary of the Committee Representing the People’s Parliament (CRPP), an umbrella group consisting of parties elected in 1990, rejected the idea that Suu Kyi is part of Burma’s problem.

“I disagree with Mr Goh Chok Tong because Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has openly said since 1988 that she could negotiate with the generals for the benefit of the country. She has also said that believes the military is needed to resolve the problems in Burma,” said Aye Thar Aung.

“Significantly, she also recognizes the importance of resolving ethnic issues. So she is still a key player in efforts to reach a resolution,” he added.

The argument that Suu Kyi is “part of the problem” is not new.

In early 2003, a number of Burma analysts, citing claims in the country’s state-run media that Suu Kyi was not willing to negotiate with the military, began to suggest that she had become an obstacle to political progress.

At the time, these analysts argued that Prime Minister Gen Khin Nyunt, a relative moderate among the ruling generals, should be regarded as the most important force for political change in Burma, not Suu Kyi. Khin Nyunt’s ouster in October 2004 put an end to that idea.

But the debate over Suu Kyi’s role in Burmese politics has recently been revived, with some Burma experts and international aid agencies saying that greater attention should be paid to the needs of ordinary Burmese citizens, rather than the plight of its most famous political prisoner. With the US and the European Union threatening tougher sanctions in response to Suu Kyi’s trial on charges of violating the terms of her house arrest, the debate has intensified.

In a recent interview with Asia Times online, Burmese historian Thant Myint-U, a former UN diplomat who is currently a visiting fellow with the Institute for Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore, called Suu Kyi’s strategy for reform “a gamble” that has not paid off.

He added that Suu Kyi’s approach has come at “the increasing cost of other roads not tested and opportunities lost as well as the enormous effect sanctions and aid cut-offs have had on ordinary people, especially the poorest and most vulnerable in the country.”

Meanwhile, Singaporean leaders, who are vocal advocates of engagement with the regime, have come under fire for being fundamentally ill-informed about Burma’s political realities.

In an interview last Sunday with The online Citizen, Singaporean Foreign Minister George Yeo incorrectly stated that Burma had been ruled by the military since its independence in 1948 and that Suu Kyi’s father, Aung San, had created the law that a Burmese citizen married to a foreign national could not take political office.

“The statements made by Singaporean leaders this week are undermining their own credibility,” said Debbie Stothard, the coordinator of Altsean, the Alternative Asean Network.

The CRPP’s Aye Thar Aung said that while regional leaders were welcome to play a role in resolving Burma’s political standoff, they should try to learn more about the country to get a better understanding of the roots of its problems.

READ MORE---> Suu Kyi is ‘Part of the Problem’: Goh Chok Tong...

Burmese Army Equipped with New Arms

By LAWI WENG
The Irrawaddy News

The 400,000-strong Burmese army is now almost fully armed with locally manufactured MA-series weapons, according to several sources within the armed forces and rebel groups.

The sources told The Irrawaddy that the Burmese army—known as the “Tatmadaw”—had equipped all frontline battalions with MA1, MA2, MA3 or MA4 automatic assault rifles.

According to a weapons Web site, securityarms.com, the MA series was manufactured with the help of arms contractor Israeli Military Industries, and was designed similar to the Israeli Galil rifle.

The weapons are expected to be used in conflicts with ethnic rebel groups, in particular the Karen National Union, as the Tatmadaw seeks to extinguish the country’s 60-year-plus insurgency. The Burmese armed forces have one of the world’s most notorious records for atrocities and human rights abuses, such as killing civilians, raping women and conscripting children.

Since the 1950s, the Tatmadaw has traditionally employed German-made G-3 weapons. However, the G-3 assault rifle was considered too heavy for use in jungle warfare and, as the Burmese generals had endured decades of conflict with ethnic groups in Burma’s mountainous border regions, they began manufacture of the MA series in 2002, presumably after signing a license agreement with Israel Military Industries.

The MA1 and MA2 assault rifles are shorter and lighter than the G3, but not as powerful, said the sources.

The MA3 is an assault carbine, basically an MA1 with a side-folding stock, and the MA4 is a grenadier weapon, essentially an MA1 equipped with a single-shot grenade launcher.

Sources told The Irrawaddy that the weapons were manufactured at several factories in Burma, but the main factory is reportedly called Ka Pa Sa No 1, and is situated near Rangoon’s Inya Lake.

Sai Sheng Murng, the deputy spokesman of the rebel Shan State Army-South (SSA), said, “The MA1 and MA2 assault rifles are not heavy, so they are good for carrying to the frontlines. But they are not powerful like the G-3.”

“The MA1s and MA2s are similar to our M16s. In fact, we can use their ammunition in our M16 rifles, but they cannot use our ammunition in their rifles,” he said.

The Burmese army is one of the most battle-hardened forces in Asia, having fought almost continuously against ethnic insurgents and communist guerillas for more than six decades.

However, following the brutal suppression of student-led demonstrations in 1988, the United States and later the European Union imposed an arms embargo on the Burmese regime.

At the time, Burmese democracy activists and international sympathizers lobbied the West German government to prevent sales of G-3 weapons from the Fritz Werner arms manufacturing company going to the Burmese junta.

The German arms manufacturers registered themselves in Burma in the 1990s as Myanmar Fritz Werner Industries Co Ltd, an electrical and electronics company.

However, the photograph of a Japanese journalist, Kenji Nagai, being shot during protests in 2007 by a Burmese soldier holding what would appear to be a G-3 rifle, raised doubts as to whether local production of the German assault rifle was ongoing.

Despite the Western arms embargo, the Burmese military regime has no shortage of arms suppliers—Israel, Russia, Ukraine and China are reportedly the main players.

Meanwhile, recent reports have indicated that Burma has purchased nuclear material from North Korea and harbors ambitions of creating a nuclear arsenal.

READ MORE---> Burmese Army Equipped with New Arms...

Gang-rape follows Four-Cuts

by Hseng Khio Fah

(Shanland) -Latest reports of the Burma Army’s four-cut campaign said that a Shan woman from Shan State South’s Laikha township was gang raped in front of her husband by the Burma Army that has been waging a four-cut campaign since late July.

The couple was identified as Sai Awta, 23, and her wife Nang Noom, 20 (not their real names), from the 31 household Wan Nawngpoke village, Tarkmawk village tract, Laikha Township, said a source.

The incident occurred only a half of mile south of the village on August 2 at 5 pm, when three privates led by Sergeant Tin Aye from Mongkeung based Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) #514 was on patrol and found the said couple while they were working in their farm. The group detained them after accusing of being members of the SSA-South.

Some soldiers separated Sai Awta from his wife, tied him with a rope to a post of the hut and beaten him while others raped her wife in front of him in turn including the Sergeant until midnight. After that, the couple was warned not to spread news of the rape, said Sai Awta’s friend who declined to be named.

“They [soldiers] threatened them not to tell anybody; otherwise their family and both of them would be killed,” he said.

On that day, a 25 strong patrol from the battalion together with 14 men of pro-junta Mongzeun militia group (formally Brigade 758 of the Shan State Army (SSA) ‘South’ that surrendered in July 2006) arrived at the village.

It was led by Lt Myint Than and the militia group was led by Sai Yoong whose leader Mongzeun was killed in an attack by the SSA on 25 May.

“Villagers were given a deadline to leave their houses, if not all houses would be burnt down,” said a local source who wishes to remain in anonymity.

A clash between LIB#515 and SSA fighters on 15 July in Laikha township has led hundreds of villagers in Laikha, Kehsi and Mongkeung townships suffer from several human rights violations.

“License to Rape,” a report by the Shan Women’s Action Network (SWAN), which was published in 2002, detailing 173 incidents of rape and involving 625 women and girls, had shaken the international community.

READ MORE---> Gang-rape follows Four-Cuts...

Goh says Suu Kyi ‘is part of the problem’

(DVB)–Aung San Suu Kyi “is part of the problem” in Burma’s political crisis because she still believes she is the government, said former Singaporean prime minister Goh Chok Tong yesterday.

The comment, reported yesterday in Channel NewsAsia, was made during the inaugural Asia-Middle East Media Roundtable in Singapore yesterday.

Goh Chok Tong, now a Senior Minister in Singapore, had previously urged the ruling junta in Burma to hold free and fair elections next year following a meeting with Senior General Than Shwe in June.

The comments have stirred unrest among Burma observers, with the foreign affairs coordinator of the National League for Democracy-Liberated Areas, Nyo Ohn Myint , saying he was “very upset” by it.

“She has been under house arrest for 14 years and has never had a chance for dialogue or to show her ability to reconcile with the junta,” he said.

“[Goh] should have a look at the real problem, which is not the democracy icon, but is the military junta.”

Singapore is a member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) bloc, and follows the ASEAN policy of non-interference in internal matters of member states.

But, said Nyo Ohn Myint, the relationship runs deeper than straight diplomacy, with Singapore a significant investor in Burma.

“I think Singapore is protecting its business interests,” he said. “Singapore, and ASEAN countries, always try not to side with the opposition but stick with the ruling generals.”

Burmese political analyst Aung Naing Oo said however that the problem is “a conflict between idealism and pragmatic action”.

“[Singapore] wants the country to move forward, and they see Aung San Suu Kyi as the obstacle, mainly because the military is not moving,” he said.

“In a conflict that is not going anywhere, it is normal for anybody to look for alternatives. From a moral idealisitic point of view, then Goh Chok Tong is not right, but from pragmatic thinking he may be right.”

He added that the comment symbolizes the conflict between Eastern and Western countries on what action to take on Burma, with the likes of China and India refraining from condemnation while the United States and European Union hold tough sanctions on the regime.

Reporting by Francis Wade

READ MORE---> Goh says Suu Kyi ‘is part of the problem’...

Border guard pressure could ‘threaten peace’

(DVB)–Armed conflict will reignite in Burma if the ruling junta continues to force ceasefire groups to transform into border guards, a key armed ethnic group warned yesterday.

The New Mon State Party (NMSP) said in a statement that it is keen to maintain its 14-year-old ceasefire agreement with the Burmese government, but will not accept the dissolving of its armed units before self-determination is achieved.

Burma’s ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) has embarked on a campaign to transform ceasefire groups into border guards in an attempt to reduce their numbers and return them to the ‘legal fold’.

Ceasefire groups have said however that agreeing to the proposals would weaken the groups and effectively make them subordinated wings of the Burmese army.

“Our Central Executive Committee has decided not to go along with the plan to transform us into a border militia as it promises no insurance for the people of Mon state and to ourselves,” said the NMSP’s Nai Hong Sa Boung Khine.

He added however that pressure from the junta had eased recently regarding border guard transformation.

The NMSP also said in its statement that existing peace in the country will be seriously threatened should the authorities resort to coercion to achieve their objective.

The public declaration by the NMSP followed a similar announcement by another influential ceasefire group, the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO).

The KIO said it agreed in principle with the border guard proposal but suggested that step should be taken only when the nation is at peace and after a popularly elected democratic government is in place.

”No one likes the idea about the border guard force,” said James Lum Dau from the KIO. “When the majority is opposing it and only one party likes the idea, it is not practical to be pushing for a result.”

Reports surfaced last month of a campaign by the junta to use religious leaders and influential businessmen to convince ceasefire groups in Kachin state to become border guards.

According to a resident of Kachin state’s capital Myitkyina, government officials had been meeting with church pastors and business owners to help put pressure on the KIO.

Reporting by Aye Naing

READ MORE---> Border guard pressure could ‘threaten peace’...

Is the Lady Wrong?

By HTET AUNG
The Irrawaddy News

In a fresh attack on Burma’s pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, The Economist proclaimed that she was an obstacle to the country’s development. “Will the courageous Lady admit as much?” the international political journal challenged.

As a student of international development, I was keen to look into the argument through a comparative review of Suu Kyi’s own concept of development.

Before reading my analysis, readers should not lose sight of two fundamental factors: The system and the power.

Politically and economically, Burma has been in a transitional state to democracy, practicing a military authoritarianism and a market economy since 1988 with the military junta exercising legislative, executive and judiciary powers.

Meanwhile, the National League for Democracy (NLD), led by Suu Kyi, won a landslide victory in the 1990 elections. She, however, has been a prisoner of the junta for nearly 14 of the past 20 years.

The notion that democracy can be achieved through development, as Thant Myint-U said in the article, is in fact not new. It was a popular idea in the 1980s when the world witnessed the “economic miracle” in East Asia when countries such as South Korea and Taiwan took off, accompanied close behind by Southeast Asian neighbors Singapore and Malaysia.

Economists viewed these countries’ spectacular development as a consequence of rapid economic growth. They usually reached the conclusion that East Asia had succeeded on a policy of “development first, democracy second,” on the basis that democracy is fragile without a strong middle class.

Thant Myint-U seems to be a member of this camp. Some development theorists advocated that as the East Asian countries in question—the “Asian Tigers” as they became known—were ruled by one-party-dominated governments, the task of development in an authoritarian state was easier to implement than in a democratic one. They pointed to the failure of several Latin American countries’ economies as an example.

But later, a new finding proved that the growth of an economy that over-emphasized GDP (Gross Domestic Product) didn’t reflect that country’s development.

The late former president of the Philippines, Corazon Aquino, invited Suu Kyi to a meeting of the World Commission on Culture and Development in Manila in 1994. Under house arrest, Suu Kyi was only able to send to the meeting a letter which stated her concept on development.

Referring to Francois Perroux’s “A New Concept of Development,” issued by UNESCO (United Nations Education Science and Culture Organization) in 1983, Suu Kyi was aware of the need to redefine the meanings of “development” and “growth.”

“The unsatisfactory record of development in many parts of the world and the ensuing need for a definition of development which means more than mere economic growth became a matter of vital concern to economists and international agencies more than a decade ago,” she said.

Another finding on the recent economic miracles of East and Southeast Asia is that the success of those economies is due to the efficiency of strong government institutions. Ironically, these authoritarian states embraced the core principles of accountability, transparency, a minimum level of corruption, an independent banking system, an effective check and balance system through decentralization to the private sector, and the state’s social investment in education and health.

So, is it logical that the absence of good governance in Burma is due to the economic sanctions of the American-led Western countries? Does it make sense that the junta’s failed economic policies of the past 20 years were caused by the NLD leader’s advocacy of economic sanctions?

No country wants to invest in a country without a rule-based economic environment; and the necessary rules are drawn and adopted by policymakers from the political arena.

The development of China and Vietnam today could not have been achieved without the ability to conduct a series of reforms.

Therefore, it is impossible and even wrong to consider the “development first, democracy second” principle.

The people of Burma have been living without a constitution for 20 years and badly need a functioning political system. They have showed the desire for this many times, most memorably the 1988 pro-democracy uprising and the 1990 elections.

Suu Kyi wrote a special report in the Human Development Report titled “Deepening Democracy in a Fragmented World,” [published by the UNDP in 2002]. In it she wrote:

“Human development encompasses all aspects of human existence. It is generally accepted that its scope includes political and social rights as well as economic ones, but the different rights are not always given the same weight.

“For example, some people still claim that humanitarian aid and economic assistance cannot wait for political and social progress. This insidious idea creates dissonance between complementary requirements.”

After her release from a second period of house arrest in 2003, The Irrawaddy interviewed Suu Kyi, a month before she was attacked in Depayin. She answered questions covering a range of the issues, including humanitarian aid.

“We have never said ‘no’ to humanitarian aid as such,” she said. “We have always said humanitarian aid must be given to the right people in the right way, which of course calls for accountability and transparency.

“And of course we always say that the minimum necessary requirement is independent monitoring.”

In another interview, this time for an Altsean-Burma report—“A Peace of Pie? Burma’s Humanitarian Aid Debate”—Suu Kyi said: What I would like to say is the most important aspect of humanitarian assistance or any kind of assistance is good governance. Unless there is good governance, you cannot ensure that the assistance will really benefit the country.”

The past two decades are adequate testimony to the efficiency of a government with a total lack of “good governance,” which has caused what can only be called a “gross domestic failure.”

If the readers didn’t lose sight of the two fundamental factors, as I mentioned above, they can conclude the correct answer to the question of this article’s title.

READ MORE---> Is the Lady Wrong?...

Yettaw ‘friend’ being questioned by police

here



Aug 7, 2009 (DVB)–Burma’s police chief has said a girl who traveled into Burma with John Yettaw in 2008 and tried to stop him from visiting Aung San Suu Kyi’s compound is now being questioned by police.

The incident in May in which Yettaw swam to Suu Kyi’s compound was the second time he had done so, the first being in November 2008.

Following the latest incident, a photograph emerged of Yettaw standing alongside a previously unknown Burmese girl.

The picture was taken in the Thai border town of Mae Sot whilst Yettaw was visiting the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners-Burma (AAPP) in 2008, likely shortly before he first traveled into Burma.

Speaking at a press conference today in Rangoon, Burma police chief Khin Yi said that the girl was found in the Burma border town of Myawaddy, across from Mae Sot, and that she was now being questioned but was not under detention.

According to a source who was at the press conference, Khin Yi said she had travelled into Burma with Yettaw in November 2008 and had tried to stop him from entering Suu Kyi’s compound.

It was this incident that triggered the current court case, in which Suu Kyi faces a possible five year sentence for allegedly harbouring a foreigner.

Recently, 23 security officials charged with guarding Suu Kyi’s compound were variously demoted and imprisoned for failing to stop Yettaw from entering, said Khin Yi.

He also said that Yettaw, who is currently in hospital following a fit of seizures earlier this week, fell ill because he refused to eat. He added that authorities have spent 600,000 kyat ($US600) for his hospital bills.

The press conference was attended by foreign diplomats, non-governmental workers and foreign and domestic journalists.

The police chief also touched upon an alleged foiled bomb plot during the visit of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in early July.

According to Khin Yi, authorities arrested a bomb plotter named Htay Aung on 2 July, a day before Ban Ki Moon arrived in Burma. He was allegedly trained outside of Burma by a group called the Vigorous Burmese Student Warriors.

Suu Kyi, along with her two caretakers and Yettaw, is due to hear the verdict in her case on Monday, although Yettaw’s health condition could delay it further.

Reporting by Naw Say Phaw

READ MORE---> Yettaw ‘friend’ being questioned by police...

US Senator to visit Burma

By LALIT K JHA / WASHINGTON
The Irrawaddy News

The US Democratic senator from Virginia, Jim Webb, on Thursday announced that he will visit Burma as part of a five-nation tour in Asia.

Webb, who will arrive on Sunday, will be the first US lawmaker to visit Burma in a decade. No other details about the trip were available.

Webb is chairman of the East Asia and Pacific Affairs Subcommittee of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

In a statement, Webb said besides visiting Burma, he would visit Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia. The purpose of the trip is to explore opportunities to advance US interests in Burma and the region, he said.

The statement said Webb has worked and traveled throughout Asia for nearly four decades, as a Marine Corps officer, a defense planner, a journalist, a novelist, a Department of Defense administrator and business consultant.

Meanwhile, the Burmese Prime Minister in Exile, Dr Sein Win of the National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma, and officials of the National Council of the Union of Burma, have announced that they will present a plan to the United Nations on Friday proposing a way to unite the country.

The group will ask the UN Security Council and secretary-general to forward the plan to the military regime in Burma.

The plan, called “Proposal for National Reconciliation Towards Democracy & Development in Burma,” (PNRTDDB) is the result of an alliance of pro-democracy parties and ethnic groups, both inside and outside Burma.

The plan sets out detailed steps for a transition to democracy (T2D) in Burma, in association with members of the military regime.

Calling it a turning point in the history of Burma, Sein said: “For the first time, we have all come together to agree on a common platform for transition to democracy in Burma.”

“We are asking the United Nations and the international community to ensure that the regime engages in this dialogue, so that at last democracy and stability can be achieved in Burma,” he said.

READ MORE---> US Senator to visit Burma...

Russia taking raw Uranium from Burma since 2007

by KNG

A Russian firm has been taking raw Uranium from Hpakant areas in Burma's northern Kachin State since 2007, said reliable local sources.

Victorious Glory International Private Ltd. of Russia is taking the raw Uranium from the company's Uranium mines in Tarmakhan, Hongpa near Katai Taung, under tight security provided by the ruling junta, said eyewitnesses.

A local eyewitness told KNG today, the company's mining areas are fenced off with opaque covers and the Uranium is mined inside the mountain with sophisticated digging machines.

The raw Uranium is specially packed in sacks, which look like cement sacks. It is then transported to Hopin railway station in large trucks. Then the Uranium is transported to Rangoon sea port by trains for delivery to Russia, said sources close to the company and eyewitnesses.

According to eyewitnesses in Hpakant, the company has been excavating the raw Uranium from these areas since 2007.

The company signed an agreement with the ruling junta in Naypyitaw on February 15, 2007 for exploration of gold and associated minerals along Uru Hka River (or Uru Hka in Kachin) between Hpakant in Kachin State and Homalin in Sagaing Division.

One year before the two sides reached an agreement, Russian Uranium explorers arrived in the area, said residents of Hpakant. The movements of Russian miners are specially secured in the mines and outside by security forces of the junta, said residents of Hpakant.

The junta is constructing a nuclear plant in caves after tunneling into a mountain in Naung Laing in northern Burma, some 600 kilometres north of Rangoon. Five North Koreans worked there, according to South Korean media reports. A nuclear reactor from which plutonium can be extracted is also allegedly being built.

Two defectors from the Burmese Army testified recently that the junta has a secret nuclear weapons programme, which is being supported by North Korea and Russia.

READ MORE---> Russia taking raw Uranium from Burma since 2007...

Veteran politician refutes state’s interpretation of federalism

by Nem Davies

New Delhi (Mizzima) – A veteran politician from Shan State, Shwe Ohn, who attended the historic Panglong Conference in 1947, has strongly protested against an article appearing in the ‘New Light of Myanmar’, which says federalism means instigating for disunity among the people.

Mizzima received a copy of his protest letter, sent to the editor of the paper.

“I have not yet received a response from them. This article is wrong. It’s not true. I want this article to get corrected,” Shwe Ohn told Mizzima.

In the article, entitled ‘With care and with conscience’, written under the pseudonym ‘Ko Thar Yar’ and appearing in the 26th July issue of the ‘New Light of Myanmar’, the federal principle is assessed as a means of sowing disunity among the people.

“They are trying to reincarnate federalism with the intention of disintegrating the state, and they are sowing dissension among the ethnic people. If we start with this federal principle [according to the paper], our country will disintegrate into tiny states, all of whom will certainly become prey to the tiger,” explained Shwe Ohn.

The article goes on to argue, “The precedence of other big sates contains obvious lessons and examples which cannot be denied by anyone. So we should take care of federalism, which has seeds that can disintegrate our union.”

U Shwe Ohn, however, said the article’s premise was impossible and that author Ko Thar Yar was ignorant about federal principles. He further suspects, though it could well be the author’s own opinion, that some external influence was behind the essay.

In his letter to editor he explained federalism in its historical background, stating, “It is very clear that union means the states are integrated and constituted on an equal basis. But in 1948, in the Union of Burma, there was no Burman State and thus it must be a bogus Union.”

He also sent copies of his letter to the daily ‘The Mirror’ as well as Rangoon-based weekly news journals.

In his letter he contends that all ethnic representatives who attended the Panglong Conference seriously discussed the formation of a Federal Union on the basis of equality in politics, self-determination and the right to secession, as they did not want a unitary system.

“The problems of a union cannot be resolved as long as the problems of ethnic people, who are almost 40 percent of the total population, are not solved,” stipulates Shwe Ohn.

In his 311-page, 17 chapter book entitled ‘Let’s build an unbreakable Union’, Shwe Ohn chronicled the migration of ethnic people now living in Burma, the emergence of the Pagan kingdom, the historic Panglong Agreement and finally his views on the constitutions of Burma.

While the work was widely distributed among political activists in 2008, he has not yet received permission from the Censor Board to publish his work inside Burma.

Similarly, the 86-year old veteran politician wrote and published ‘How about a Third Union?’ in 1993 in addition to presenting his ‘8-States Federal Union principle’ to the junta sponsored National Convention, for which he was greeted with a one-year prison sentence.

He has since established the ‘Federal Democracy Alliance’ party, based on democratic and federal principles, in early 2008 in order to contest the forthcoming 2010 general election.

READ MORE---> Veteran politician refutes state’s interpretation of federalism...

Burma Army beheads woman

by Hseng Khio Fah

(Shanland) -A local woman in Mongkeung Township, southern Shan State was beheaded by the Burma Army troops that have been launching a four-cut campaign since 27 July , according to villagers who recently fled to Thailand.

In the morning of 3 August, Nang Hsoi, 29, from Wan Kart village, Ho Khai village tract was arrested in her village by soldiers from Mongkeung based Light Infantry Battalion (LIB)#514 after falsely accusing her as the wife of a Shan State Army (SSA) ‘South’ fighter and collaboration with the SSA, said a local villager who asked not to be named.
“In the evening they [soldiers] took her to a bridge nearby the village, cut her head down and threw it into the creek,” he said.

Two days before her death, over 10 villagers from Wan Kart, Wan Kawng and Wan Long village were detained on suspicion of being SSA spies at the army base.

The Burma Army that has been the four-cut campaign (cutting food, funds, intelligence and recruits to the armed resistance by local populace) had ordered villagers in Mongkeung, Kehsi and Laikha townships to leave their homes within 5 days, from 1 to 5 August.

Since then, at least 300 houses in the three townships were razed to the ground and more than 300 villagers were forcibly relocated to the town, said a source.

The campaign drive was led by the Mongnawng – based Military Operations Command (MOC) #2 command: Loilem based IB#9,
and #12,
Laikha based IB#64 and
LIB#515,
Namzang based IB#66 ,
#247 and
LIB#516,
Mongnai based IB#248 and LIB#518,
Panglong based LIB#513,
Mongkeung based LIB#514 and
Mongpawn based LIB#517.

To date, 21 villages from Panghsang village tract and 9 villages from Wan Htee village tract in Laikha township alone were forced to resettle in Marklang quarter of the town.

During the drive some were beaten and some were reportedly killed, forcing many others to hide in the jungle, said another villager who is seeking asylum on the Thai-Burma border.

“There were some people who are hiding in the jungle preparing to seek refuge in Thailand,” she said, “Many people will be coming soon.”

Currently, about 10 people are seeking asylum in areas near Thailand.

During the last engagement on 15 July, the Burma Army’s LIB 515 suffered 11 killed, 1 captured and 5 assorted weapons lost.

During the 1996-98 campaign against the SSA, 1,500 villages were destroyed and more than 300,000 in southern and eastern Shan State were forcibly relocated, a third of which had escaped into Thailand.

READ MORE---> Burma Army beheads woman...

USDA Card More Useful Than National ID When Traveling

Maungdaw (Narinjara): An USDA card is more useful than national ID cards when traveling around Arakan State, and many youths in Arakan State have joined the USDA in order to get a membership card, said one student from Maungdaw.

"In Maungdaw Township, to get a national ID card is very difficult for township people. More than 10,000 kyat has to be payed out as bribes for a national ID card, but it is no guarantee that you'll get the ID card in time. So many youths and students join the USDA for the organization's member card," she said.

In Arakan State, authorities do not allow a person to travel without a national ID card. Every traveler needs to show their identification to authorities when buying ferries and bus tickets.

There are also many checkpoints stationed along major roads around Arakan State and people can be arrested if they are unable to show their national ID cards whenever requested by the authorities.

"The national ID card is very useful in our country, but now the card is not as powerful as the USDA membership cards. In our state, anyone can travel anywhere with a USDA card," the student added.

Buthidaung and Maungdaw Township are more restrictive of travel than other places in Arakan, and most people are traveling with USDA cards.

A teacher from Maungdaw said, "If anyone has a USDA card, they can more easily get a national ID card. The immigration department issues the national ID cards to those people who are members of the USDA. Without the USDA card, a person can not apply for government jobs in Burma."

Many students at the Maungdaw government high school have joined the USDA for these benefits rather than for political reasons. However, the government still prohibits Muslim students from joining the USDA.

The USDA, or Union Solidarity and Development Association, is an organization backed by the Burmese military government and is intended to be transformed into a political party whenever the government needs it.

According to the organization, there are over twenty four million members in the USDA throughout Burma.

READ MORE---> USDA Card More Useful Than National ID When Traveling...

On the Run

Most of the refugees at Mae Usu temporary refugee camp are children.
(Photo by Yeni/The Irrawaddy News)

By YENI
The Irrawaddy News

MAE USU, Thailand — "If there is peace again, we will go back to our village," says the 60-year-old Karen woman, Bi Mae, as she holds her 4-month-old grandson in her arms in a makeshift bamboo hut.

But she knows well that she may never see some members of her family again or return to her village in Karen State, which has experienced a brutal civil war for more than 60 years.

Just two weeks ago, Bi Mae and four of her grandchildren crossed into Thailand with more than 500 other Karen refugees, as gun fire echoed in the hills and news spread that the junta’s army was rounding up villagers for forced labor.

Since the beginning of June, fierce clashes between a joint force of the junta’s army and the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) engaged the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA), forcing some 4,000 Karen villagers and internally displaced persons from Ler Per Her camp in Burma to flee to Tha Song Yang in Thailand’s Tak Province for safety. Many refugees are also secretly living with friends along the border, but the exact number is impossible to determine.

Refugees are living at six sites. The Irrawaddy interviewed refugees crowded into the grounds behind a Thai ecotourism site at Mae Usu cave, only a few kilometers inside the Burmese-Thai border.

"Right now 1,998 people are on the list here. Most of them are women and children,” says Chaklo, a member of the Karen Youth Organization (KYO), one of the community-based organizations helping refugees.

To help support the refugees, the Thai Burma Border Consortium (TBBC), an alliance of NGOs working for humanitarian relief, has distributed rice, beans, fish paste and salt, while the French NGO, Solidarit?s, provided water and sanitary facilities. The UNHCR has provided plastic sheets and tarpaulins for the shelter.

However, torrential rains have been falling for many days, making life even more difficult. At the camp’s makeshift clinic—supported by Dr. Cynthia Maung, and her Backpack Health Workers Team—many patients receive treatment for serious gastrointestinal problems like diarrhea and dysentery that are common ailments in the rainy season. Children in the camp are particularly at risk, according to the medics. Some children sleep in the bamboo huts while others play on the muddy ground of the green fields.

"They need to learn,” said Chaklo. “We also are ready to do that. But the Thai authorities don’t want us to set up a school here because the site is temporary."

Traditionally, the Thai policy is to start out with a short-term solution to aid new Karen refugees. While there is fighting on Burmese soil, the authorities grant the civilians permission to cross the border. But if there is no fighting, the refugees will be sent back to Burma. Presently, there have been no further reports of fighting after the withdrawal of KNLA troops from their military bases.

But there are ongoing reports of abuses by DKBA forces—forced recruitment, forced labor and money/food/livestock extortion—causing more people to flee and cross into Thailand. As a result, the refugees, for now, have been allowed to remain.

On July 9, Tassana Vichaithanapat, the director of the Foreign Affairs Division of the Operations Centre for Displaced Persons in the Ministry of Interior, visited one of the new sites, Nuh Bo.

During his visit, he met with refugee representatives, Thai district-level authorities and military officials and urged the authorities and international agencies to continue to provide humanitarian support while the Thai government tries to find a durable solution or until the displaced people are able to return to their homes, according to the TBBC.

Also, the Tha Song Yang district committee, which includes military, border police and UNHCR representatives, met on July 15 to consider possible solutions: an immediate return to Burma, relocation to Mae La refugee camp, or to open a new refugee camp at the site where the refugees are currently staying.

"Finally, they agreed that the refugees should stay where they are until the end of the rainy season. At that time, the security and humanitarian situation will be reviewed again to determine the next steps," said Angelina Sakic, a TBBC Program coordinator. "But the most likely outcome is that if the situation has not improved, they will be moved to Mae La camp."

In the meantime, most refugees hope to return to their village as soon as possible. Many are traumatized, thinking of their crops and the livestock they left behind and how it could all be destroyed or confiscated by the junta’s soldiers or DKBA troops.

Some men have left their family in the camp and crossed back to their village to determine if their possessions are intact. Their lives are at risk because Burmese soldiers and DKBA troops control the area.

"If they see them, they will shoot,” says Chaklo. “They think maybe they are KNLA men burying landmines. We hear the sound of gun fire everyday."

READ MORE---> On the Run...

Security Beefed Up on University Ave

By WAI MOE
The Irrawaddy News

The Burmese military authorities on Thursday began beefing up security around the lakeside home of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, sources in Rangoon said.

“This morning, security personnel surrounded Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s house,” said a journalist in Rangoon who spoke on condition of anonymity.

University Avenue—where the Nobel Peace Prize laureate’s house stands—was open to traffic on Thursday morning, the sources said, but riot police blocked the road in the afternoon.

“At about 2 pm, the police stopped all motorists from driving down University Avenue. We had to divert to other roads,” a taxi driver in the city said.

Security forces were withdrawn from University Avenue in May after Suu Kyi was taken to Insein Prison to face trial for allegedly harboring American intruder John W Yettaw.

Thursday’s activity around University Avenue has fueled speculation that preparations are under way to bring the pro-democracy leader back safely to her home after the trial, the verdict on which is due on August 11.

Commenting on the security surrounding Suu Kyi’s house, her lawyer Kyi Win said, “In Burma, everything happens in unexpected ways.”

Meanwhile, reporters in the former capital have been notified of a press conference at the Narcotics Museum in Rangoon at 2 p.m. On Friday. The subject of the press conference is expected to be related to Suu Kyi, journalists said.

Suu Kyi’s lawyers, Kyi Win and Nyan Win, were allowed to meet with their client at Insein Prison on Thursday afternoon.

READ MORE---> Security Beefed Up on University Ave...

Burma must come clean

(Bangkok Post) -The evidence is now overwhelming of an alliance between Burma and North Korea. The vital question for Thailand is whether whatever ventures the two rogue states have started up pose a threat to our neighbourhood.

In one sense, the answer is a clear "yes", since secrecy breeds suspicion. But as this newspaper showed in three major reports last Sunday, the Burma-North Korea alliance vastly increases the stakes of international diplomacy in our backyard and in the rest of Southeast Asia.

Any project involving nuclear weapons paints a new bull's-eye over the region, not to mention that Burma would be in gross and unforgivable violation of the Asean agreements it has signed.

First, the known facts.

Burma, with experts from North Korea, has undertaken huge earthworks in areas where foreigners and most Burmese are not allowed. Truck-sized tunnels have been burrowed into the ground and hills in the general region of the heavily secured new capital, Naypyidaw, in remote central Burma.

Commercial satellite photos show more than 600 tunnel complexes. Other photographs, taken on the ground and smuggled out of the country, show that some of the tunnels are fortified with blast-proof doors.

During construction of these tunnels, which was begun by 2003, Burma renewed official relations with North Korea, cut off in 1983 after state-sponsored terrorists from Pyongyang attempted to assassinate South Korean president Chun Doo-hwan in Rangoon with three deadly bombs.

Relations resumed in April, 2007. At the time, the chief concern of Burma's neighbours and the United Nations was that the twin rogue states would collude against human rights, chiefly with Burma purchasing weapons from North Korea.

The Burmese military continues to abuse citizens at the whim or acquiescence of the ruling junta. But the tunnel projects and increasingly warm relations between Burma and North Korea raise major questions that get to the very basis of Southeast Asian diplomacy, cooperation and peace.

Burma and its dictatorship have clearly violated major tenets of Asean. Indeed, as details of the tunnel projects emerged to the public, Burmese officials were attending the Asean Regional Forum in the southern Thai resort island of Phuket. The purpose of the ARF is specifically to encourage openness among all members in order to build trust.

Even the most peaceful and innocent nuclear project requires Burma - by Asean and by United Nations law - to fully reveal the work. It must be remembered that the junta has stated that it wants a small nuclear reactor, such as the one in Bangkok. Russia announced it would help to achieve that aim; then the subject was dropped from public discussion. But even that proposal must be fully public, and conducted through the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency.

There also has been speculation that the tunnels are part of a plan to mine uranium, and again Burma would be breaking international law not to discuss that.

On general principles of regional agreement, Burma must quickly disclose what it is up to with the tunnel complexes. The generals can prove that reports of nuclear cooperation with North Korea are wrong.

But by their silence they also can encourage even more distrust and suspicion about the intentions of their violent regime.

READ MORE---> Burma must come clean...