Engaging with Democracy or Authoritarianism?

By HTET AUNG
The Irrawaddy News

The voices supporting engagement with the Burmese regime have been louder in some of the recent media coverage of the political crisis in Burma.

This new attempt to untangle a 20-year-old political knot seems to have coincided with the seventh visit of UN’s Special Envoy Ibrahim Gambari to Burma on January 31 to February 3.

If we could point to any positive progress from this visit, it would be that it was the first time opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi was able to meet the UN envoy together with her colleagues.

It is clear that the NLD are again urging the UN’s Good Offices to broker meaningful dialogue between the party and the regime. It is also clear that Gambari was aware that the NLD did not refer to the junta’s statement that “confrontation, utter devastation, economic sanctions and total isolation do not benefit the country or the people” in a manner that suggested the party concurred with the regime’s stance.

The NLD’s position was clarified in a Special Statement 2 issued on February 17, saying, “Daw Aung San Suu Kyi informed authorities through U Aung Kyi, Minister for Relations, that she was ready to cooperate and issue a joint communiqué to prevent these problems [misunderstandings] from happening.”

The NLD emphasized its position in an interview with The Irrawaddy. Spokesman Nyan Win said reiterated the party’s stand on “unconditional dialogue,” as well as emphasizing the NLD’s desire for UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to visit the country.

The NLD, for its part, is ready to discuss and issue a joint statement on the country’s political problems, including the issue of economic and other sanctions. It is evident which party is avoiding meaningful dialogue.

During Gambari’s visit, Burmese Prime Minister Gen Thein Sein demanded that economic sanctions and visa bans be lifted if the UN wants to see stability in Burma.

The regime is playing a game of diplomatic ping-pong with the NLD and the UN in order to create a situation too complicated to be solved.

The generals have used—and will use—this same strategy time and again because they are confident they can manage the country without giving an inch to the opposition in any future political arena in Burma.

Meanwhile, a new US administration is reviewing its overall policy on Burma. The US, of course, is the main backer of economic and visa sanctions on the Burmese generals and their cohorts.

But before declaring a new policy on Burma, the Obama administration should consider this: will the Burmese regime really share space with the NLD in the future affairs of Burma?

Soldiers who are trained only to defeat their enemy will never sit down and talk with them as long as there is a possibility of winning the battle. Today, the regime sits confident that it is going to win the battle in 2010.

In recent days, a handful of foreign scholars and diplomats have issued pessimistic and critical statements regarding Suu Kyi’s political party. The opinions that popped up in the media showed an overall support for promoting engagement with the regime, and even went so far as criticizing the NLD as some breed of black sheep that is somehow blocking the country’s development.

The comments would not be surprising if Burmese politics were just another business, beholden to its shareholders and with a natural appetite for profits. But it is more than that. Activists, students, monks, journalists, writers, poets and even housewives—the entire spectrum of the pro-democracy movement—have been sacrificing their lives since 1988 in the belief that only democracy can bring about peace, freedom and prosperity, and most importantly, a life with dignity that each human being deserves from his or her community.

I believe that only an open democratic society can bring about economic development in Burma. We Burmese are struggling not to usurp power for the party we support, but to establish a functioning political system in the country.

If the international community wants to see Burma as a country governed by the rule of law, then it must get behind the democracy movement. If they want to see Burma as a stable nation in a prosperous region, the paramount task is to pressure the repressive military regime to come to its senses—to realize that a democratic system will ultimately alleviate the socio-economic crisis in Burma and lead to social stability within the society.

The author is a Bangkok-based independent researcher, graduating MA in International Development Studies at Chulalongkorn University.

READ MORE---> Engaging with Democracy or Authoritarianism?...

NLD Must Own Up to its Policy Mistakes

By ZARNI
The Irrawaddy News

Burma’s National League for Democracy (NLD) has been sending conflicting messages about western sanctions.

Much is admirable about the NLD’s endurance in the uphill struggle to force the Burmese military to enter into dialogue with it as a political equal. However, the NLD leadership needs to come clean on the impact of sanctions on the country, and own up to the policy mess it has helped create over the past two decades.

In a February 24 article, Mizzima quoted NLD spokesman Nyan Win as saying: “We have nothing to withdraw, as the economic sanctions were not imposed by us but are only concerned with the country that imposed the sanctions. And we have not done anything that the junta accused us of doing.”

As a lead organizer who helped build the US sanctions and boycott campaign, I personally know for a fact that the top NLD leadership, most specifically Aung San Suu Kyi herself, was closely involved in the sanctions campaign after her release from her first period of house arrest in July 1995.

Our campaign “pigeons” based outside Burma slipped into Rangoon to deliver her our campaign slogans and policy advice. The NLD leader then personally modified and/or blessed these quotes and messages, which we subsequently disseminated in support of the sanctions, boycotts and media campaigns. She had moral authority and international appeal. We had campaigners’ zeal and strategic capacities.

In fact, as far back as June 4, 1989, the Bangkok Post reported on her public call for an international trade and economic boycott. Since then, she has not publicly shifted her position, despite the fact that domestic, regional and international realities are no longer conducive to the use of sanctions.

Originally our “targeted sanctions” campaign was aimed at hurting the generals through their pockets. Strategically, we had hoped to compel the regime to enter into dialogue with her, marrying her non-violent campaign inside Burma with international clamor for change in Burma through western sanctions, diplomatic isolation, media campaigns and other punitive measures at the United Nations.

These efforts were to be supplemented by the armed resistance along the Burmese-Thai borders. To any dispassionate analyst, this “inside-outside” strategy has clearly failed.

The Free Burma Coalition, which spearheaded the western consumer and tourism boycotts, sanctions lobby and media campaigns, was in part responsible for the blocking of the junta’s initial (limited) economic openings in the 1990s, and in consequence any political dividends which may have come from such openings.

Worse still, our well-meaning activism in the West drove, however indirectly, thousands of female workers from the country’s textile industry into economically vulnerable positions, including prostitution and cross-border migrant work.

In the 20 years since we hatched this campaign in the US—12,000 miles away from our country and her realities—the generals have only grown richer, further entrenched and more confident, thanks largely to the country’s strategic natural resources such as gas and oil, the global extractive industry, and the support and cooperation they received from the rising Asian powers, such as China and India.

The NLD, the flagship opposition party, no longer inspires the same degree of confidence among dissidents, neither does it continue to capture the hearts and minds of the bulk of the Burmese citizens. Western governments, the NLD’s greatest supporters, appear to be losing faith in the party’s strategic leadership.

During her Asian tour last week, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced that the US was reviewing its Burma sanctions policy and hinted at a possible policy shift.

In Washington, a cross-party consensus on sanctions is emerging, to the effect that they are not serving US interests. Republican Senator Richard Lugar, who chaired the
Senate Foreign Affairs Sub-Committee, has acknowledged the futility of 47 years of economic isolation against Cuba.

We know the ruling military government must be held responsible for the negative consequences of its policy and leadership failures since 1962, by virtue of the fact that it makes policy and political decisions unilaterally and undemocratically.

Principles of accountability and transparency should apply to tyrants and democrats alike. I call on the NLD leadership to reflect honestly on the failures of their policies and their impact on society at large, in order for the whole of the opposition movement, which takes cues from Suu Kyi, to move on spiritually and strategically.

The critics of the “constructive engagement” approach have pointed out that engagement with the regime has not worked either. They are right—“constructive engagement” only concerns the generals, rather than civil society.

It is the NGOs, professional associations, chambers of commerce, educational institutions, global citizens and civil society groups that are best positioned to help open up Burma—in all aspects.

Citizen participation in political and economic processes is the foundation for an open and tolerant society, without which no democracy can function. The development of an indigenous business and commercial sector must be seen as part of the change process.

We need to work to develop an open, tolerant society out of the existing conservative and militaristic society. An open society cannot be built at the policy gunpoint of sanctions, any more than instant national reconciliation and dialogue can be imposed by UN resolutions.

I am far less optimistic about high level engagement with the regime than engagement at the level of organizations, institutions and associations in technical fields, culture and art, higher and basic education, public health, agriculture, sports, travel, research, commerce, etc.

If the ultimate goal of democratization is the emergence of an open society which can sustain democratic processes, new policies need to be created to help open up Burmese society and institutions—including the military, exposing them all to the ways of the democratic world.

The NLD leadership can inject life into its politics by choosing to publicly acknowledge the need to adjust its own tried and failed policies and strategies.

Parties, governments and leaders all over the world make mistakes. There is no shame in acknowledging them. Even Burma’s national hero Aung San recognized his mistake in collaborating with Japanese Fascists to fight the British imperialists and he reversed his stance.

The NLD would do well to draw inspiration from his legacy, to save themselves from going down in history as principled but failed leaders whose policies have further impoverished and isolated the society that has been reeling from decades of isolation.

People’s well-being should be placed above the party’s principles or leaders’ “face” by practicing the policy accountability and transparency that they preach.

Even if one disagrees with the “middle class first, democracy second” view of many Asian leaders, one must not overlook the fact that democracy is not just a political process, but also an economic and cultural one, requiring change in all spheres.

We need to have dialogue, debate and formulate solutions for Burma in the genuine spirit of democracy, instead of stigmatizing anti-sanction views and analyses. It is not enough to call for dialogue between the two supreme leaders, Aung San Suu Kyi and Snr-Gen Than Shwe.

After all, democracy is not about the leaders, however brave, noble and admirable. It is about the people, their daily lives, needs and concerns.

Zarni is founder of the Free Burma Coalition and Visiting Research Fellow at Oxford University (2006-09).

READ MORE---> NLD Must Own Up to its Policy Mistakes...

ASEAN human rights body lacks power to punish

(Associated Press WorldStream Via Acquire Media NewsEdge - TMCNet) CHA-AM, Thailand_Southeast Asian officials on Friday hailed the creation of a regional human rights body as a historic first step toward confronting abuses in the region, but the body will lack the power to investigate or punish violators of human rights like military-ruled Myanmar.

A confidential document obtained by The Associated Press says the rights body, which the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations hopes to form later this year, would "promote and protect human rights and fundamental freedoms" in the region but will abide by the bloc's bedrock policy of not interfering in members internal affairs.

The document, which outlines the proposed powers of the future rights body, falls short of key demands voiced by international human rights groups, which say the body will have limited effectiveness unless it can impose sanctions or expel countries that violate the rights of their own citizens.

The document was being presented behind closed-doors to ASEAN foreign ministers gathered at a coastal resort in Thailand ahead of an annual leaders summit this weekend. It is a first draft for the body's proposed powers, with a final draft scheduled for completion in July.

The delegates are expected to devote most of their time to grappling with how the region can best cope with the global economic crisis. Although reform in Myanmar may be discussed on the sidelines of the conference, ASEAN traditionally shies away from criticism of its members.

Thailand, which currently holds ASEAN's rotating chairmanship and is hosting the summit, bills the meeting as a turning point for the bloc.

It is the first time leaders will meet since the group signed a landmark charter in December. The document made ASEAN a legal entity and moves it a step closer toward the goal of establishing a single market by 2015 and becoming a European Union-like community.

One of the charter's key pledges is to set up the regional human rights body. It is a landmark step and a highly controversial one for the Cold War-era bloc made up of fledgling democracies, authoritarian states, a military dictatorship and a monarchy.

"It is a historic first for Southeast Asia," said Rosario Manalo, a senior diplomat representing the Philippines on the high-level panel that drafted the human rights body's outline. "It marks the efforts of the region to move toward democracy." Officials describe the human rights body as a work in progress, saying its powers will evolve over time.

"Investigative powers should not be ruled out. We'll take it step by step," said Sihasak Phuangketkeow, Thailand's chairman of the drafting committee. "We have to go as far as we can but at the same time we have to be realistic." (JEG's: we should send the corpses to them, maybe this way they will get up and dance to reality)

ASEAN's 10 members _ Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam _ range from very poor to moderately rich.

The bloc that has long been criticized as a talk shop that forges agreements by consensus and steers away from confrontation _ a factor that rights groups note will impede progress for the eventual human rights body.

According to the confidential document, the human rights body would follow the principles of "noninterference in the internal affairs of ASEAN member states" and would "respect the right of every member state to (be) free from external interference, subversion and coercion." Any decisions taken by the group "shall be based on consultation and consensus," the document says, effectively giving Myanmar and other violators veto power to block decisions.

International human rights groups have urged ASEAN leaders to press military-ruled Myanmar to end its rights abuses.

London-based Amnesty International said in a statement earlier this week that ASEAN "must be empowered to effectively address human rights in Myanmar." New York-based Human Rights Watch, in a letter to ASEAN Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan, urged the summit to address "the dire human rights situation in Burma" and also improve treatment of refugees, asylum seekers and migrants in the region.

The United States also blasted Myanmar's junta for having "brutally suppressed dissent" through a campaign of extrajudicial killings, disappearances and torture.

In its annual report on the state of human rights around the world, the U.S. State Department on Wednesday criticized Myanmar's junta for a range of abuses including the holding of more than 2,100 political prisoners, the continued detention of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, and a brutal military campaign against ethnic minority groups.

READ MORE---> ASEAN human rights body lacks power to punish...

Burma cyclone response was 'crime against humanity'

By Thomas Bell, Telegraph UK - South East Asia Correspondent

Burma's regime deliberately blocked international aid getting to victims of last year's cyclone, a report has claimed.

Survivors of Cyclone Nargis in Burma did not receive donor money they were promised to rebuild their lives Photo: AFP/Getty

The first independent inquiry into the aftermath of the disaster has said the authorities should be referred to the International Criminal Court for stopping help getting through and persecuting survivors.

It found the Burmese leadership failed to provide adequate food, shelter and medical care in the wake of Cyclone Nargis which struck the Irrawaddy Delta on May 2 last year, killing at least 140 000 people.

Around 3.4 million people were effected by the disaster, which swept away homes, farms, granaries, livestock and wells.

Researchers from Johns Hopkins University in America and an organisation of Burmese volunteers called the Emergency Assistance Team – Burma (EAT) have documented what happened in the following weeks.

Military checkpoints were set up across the delta as the regime treated the disaster not as a humanitarian emergency but as a security crisis.

The report claims some people who attempted to distribute private aid were arrested. It details allegations of aid being stolen and resold by the military authorities.

The researchers also claim the army used forced labour, including of children, in the aftermath of the disaster.

According to one survivor: "[The army] did not help us, they threatened us. Everyone in the village was required to work for five days, morning and evening, without compensation. Children were required to work too.

"A boy got injured in his leg and he got fever. After two or three days he was taken to Rangoon, but in a few [days] he died."

There were also anecdotal accounts of people dying in the aftermath of the cyclone due to the actions of the army.

But restrictions in the country mean no one has been able to estimate how many died in a supposed "second wave" of deaths in the period after the cyclone.

Under international law, creating conditions where the basic survival needs of civilians cannot be adequately met, "intentionally causing great suffering, or serious injury to body or to mental or physical health," is considered a crime against humanity.

The report concludes that the United Nations Security Council should refer the junta for investigation by the International Criminal Court.

READ MORE---> Burma cyclone response was 'crime against humanity'...

Ramos-Horta urges Obama to embrace Burma

(SMH) - US President Barack Obama should seize on his global popularity and reach out to Burma and Cuba, which are ready to change if sanctions are lifted, East Timor's leader Jose Ramos-Horta said Wednesday.

Ramos-Horta, who shared the 1996 Nobel Peace Prize for his peaceful leadership that eventually ended Indonesian rule over the tiny territory, said that Obama had unprecedented opportunities.

The United States "today is in a unique situation to really mobilise international goodwill", Ramos-Horta said on a visit to Washington.

"I do not recall when in history there has been such an inspiring president - maybe only comparable to John F Kennedy, whose name will still linger in some of the remotest villages in my home country."

Ramos-Horta said Obama should seize on the goodwill by ending the sweeping US sanctions on Burma and Cuba - both of which he said are eager to talk to the new US leader.

Ramos-Horta voiced optimism over Burma, saying that among the world's hot spots "it is one of the easiest" to resolve. (JEG's: that is why it has been ONLY 46 years so easy-far)

"I know that the junta in Burma is desperate for changes and this is a unique opportunity for the US to engage them," he said.

Burma's military regime has kept opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi under house arrest for most of the last 19 years. The US State Department in a report on Wednesday said the junta was "brutally" suppressing its people.

"When you look at the situation in Myanmar (Burma) or Cuba, when you punish a country for the perceived sin of the regime, the consequence is that you also have collateral damage among the people," Ramos-Horta said. (JEG's: what does Mr Ramos suggest we do then?... he points to a problem but the solution is? that is what we want to hear)

Ramos-Horta, a frequent visitor to Cuba, also said that the United States could heavily influence the communist island if it ended its nearly half-century trade embargo. (JEG's: No way Jose - only IF Cuba do not invite Russia and Chavez to the party)

"Cuba will change. It's inevitable. And better that it is a carefully managed change with US support," he said.

Obama has said he would talk with foreign leaders without conditions but has given few signals on what he will do with Cuba.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said the new administration is reviewing policy toward Burma to find ways to better influence the regime and help the people.

READ MORE---> Ramos-Horta urges Obama to embrace Burma...

Letter to ASEAN Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan

Burma's military government continues to deny its citizens' basic rights, including the rights to freedom of expression, association, and peaceful assembly. Repeated promises of democratic transition do not justify the subversion of these rights.

February 25, 2009

Dr. Surin Pitsuwan
Secretary General - ASEAN
70A Jalan Sisingamangaraja
Jakarta 12110
Indonesia

Via Facsimile: +62 21 739 8234

Dear Secretary General,

We write to urge you and ASEAN leaders to use the discussions during the summit meeting from February 27 to March 1 to address three crucial human rights concerns in the region.

First, ASEAN should set a new standard to address the human rights situation in Burma.

Secondly, the recent tragedy surrounding the perilous exodus of Burma's Rohingya minority reveals glaring failures of ASEAN and its member countries on the treatment of refugees and asylum-seekers.

Finally, the global economic downturn and the resulting impact on migrants' rights highlights how gaps in current labor and policy frameworks across the region have left millions of workers at high risk of mistreatment.

A test case for ASEAN's fledgling Human Rights Body

Burma's military government continues to deny its citizens' basic rights, including the rights to freedom of expression, association, and peaceful assembly. Repeated promises of democratic transition do not justify the subversion of these rights. The ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) regularly arbitrarily imprisons political activists, journalists, and human rights defenders-the number of political prisoners nearly doubled following the September 2007 crackdown to more than 2,150. The government's pardoning of thousands of prisoners in September 2008 and February 2009 has resulted in only a handful of political prisoners being released, while dozens or hundreds more are arrested and sentenced to lengthy prison terms for peaceful political activities.

The Burmese military continues to violate the rights of civilians in ethnic conflict areas by committing extrajudicial killings, forced labor, and land confiscation without due process both as part of military offensives and in preparation for mega-infrastructure projects of foreign companies. The military government also worsened economic hardship and humanitarian crises in many parts of Burma by obstructing international assistance, including the ASEAN-led international humanitarian efforts to assist more than two million people affected by the devastating Cyclone Nargis.

The continuing serious violations of human rights in Burma reflects in part ASEAN's failure to devise concrete measures for the SPDC to adopt to improve domestic situations and conform to the core values of the ASEAN Charter, which came into effect on December 15, 2008. The ASEAN Charter commits member states to protect human rights. At the summit, foreign ministers will discuss the terms of reference for the ASEAN human rights body and this is an important opportunity for ASEAN leaders to create an independent and effective mechanism.

We urge that Burma be a priority in the AHRB's assessment of human rights situations in member countries. Findings and recommendations should then be presented and discussed during the ASEAN Foreign Minister Meetings and the ASEAN Summits so that there will be collective action of ASEAN to respond to Burma's serious violations of international human rights law and human rights provisions in the ASEAN Charter. In addition, we urge ASEAN to use the AHRB's mandate to encourage Burma on the following issues:

* Ratifying and implementing human rights and international humanitarian law treaties.
* Timely and adequate reporting to the United Nations human rights treaty-monitoring bodies.
* Opening the country to the United Nations Special Procedures and providing them with full assistance and access.
* Implementing recommendations of the United Nations treaty bodies and Special Procedures.
* Establishing national human rights institutions in accordance with the United Nations Principles relating to the status of national institutions (the "Paris Principles").
* Ensuring that human rights defenders can carry out their work unhindered.

Asylum Seekers and Refugees in ASEAN Member States

Recent events, when hundreds of Rohingya refugees and asylum seekers were found perished at sea trying to reach the coastlines of Thailand and Indonesia, are a wake-up call for ASEAN to change its approach in dealing with the exodus of people from Burma. The Rohingya are among millions of Burman and ethnic minority populations inside Burma who have for decades sought refuge in neighboring countries, hoping to be protected from persecution and abuses committed by Burma's military government.

As more and more people try to escape from deteriorating conditions in Burma, ASEAN member countries cannot look the other way and close the door to those in need of assistance and protection. Horrific examples include the policy adopted by Thailand to use navy warships and maritime militias to block Rohingya boats from entering its territorial waters and tow those boats back to the high sea, and then failing to provide sufficient food and water.

The 14th ASEAN Summit may discuss short- and medium-term measures in recipient countries to provide the Rohingya fleeing Burma shelter and access to the protection mechanisms of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). But given the trajectory of repression and hardship in Burma, those measures, while necessary, will not be sufficient. At present, only two ASEAN countries have ratified the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol despite Southeast Asia's long history of both refugees and assistance for refugees. Countries like Malaysia and Thailand, have in the past assisted many refugees, but currently make no real distinction between undocumented migrants, asylum seekers and refugees, and have at times committed refoulement, the forced return of refugees to places where they face persecution, a fundamental violation of international law.

We urge ASEAN member states to:

* Ratify the 1951 Refugees Convention and its 1967 Protocol without delay.
* Incorporate the international refugee definition into domestic law and introduce asylum procedures consistent with international standards that will give asylum seekers a fair opportunity to present their claims and protect them while their refugee claims are pending. Grant rights to residence, documentation, and work.
* In the absence of a domestic asylum procedure that enables Burmese to challenge the grounds for their deportation, end the practice of deporting Burmese without an opportunity for UNHCR to screen them to determine if they are asylum seekers or refugees.

Migration, Forced Labor and Trafficking

Millions of men and women from Southeast Asia work as migrants in both Asia and the Middle East, typically in domestic work, construction, manufacturing and agriculture. While migrants' labor and their earnings play a pivotal role in the economies of both their countries of employment and origin, few protections exist to avoid their exploitation. ASEAN has a critical role to play to ensure that governments establish and enforce standards to ensure that recruitment, employment, and repatriation take place respecting international human rights norms.

Trafficking within and emanating from Southeast Asia remains a serious problem, and harsh immigration enforcement measures have served to fuel additional abuses in countries such as Malaysia and Thailand. Many migrants are deceived about their working conditions, cheated out of the rightful wages, abused by their employers, and deported without access to redress. In Thailand, migrants are vulnerable to arrest and extortion by corrupt officials, and risk exploitation, abuse and death. Migrants have told Human Rights Watch how police routinely "shake down" undocumented migrants, threatening to arrest them if they do not pay up. Decrees in Ranong, Rayong, and Phang Nga provinces have made it unlawful for migrants to go out at night, carry mobile phones or ride motorcycles.

While some ASEAN countries have begun to establish regulations for labor recruitment, these remain inadequate and poorly enforced. For example, migrants from Indonesia are regularly charged illegal and exorbitant fees, often incurring debts at usurious interest rates. Prospective domestic workers are often locked up in pre-departure "training" centers for months. Agents sometimes deceive prospective workers about the nature and conditions of work they will perform, their wages, and the country in which they will be employed.

Countries that employ migrant domestic workers, such as Singapore and Malaysia have failed to ensure that these workers enjoy protections such as provisions for one day off per week, overtime pay, limits on salary deductions, access to labor courts, annual leave, and other benefits. Establishing standard contracts or separate laws with weaker protections than those in existing labor laws are not a substitute for providing domestic workers equal protection under the law.

In many cases, bilateral cooperation between ASEAN countries has failed to establish adequate protection for vulnerable migrant populations. For example, a memorandum of understanding between Malaysia and Indonesia fails to protect migrant domestic workers ability to keep their passports or to establish minimum labor standards. Regional cooperation and leadership from ASEAN can help to ensure minimum standards across the region that will avoid an unhealthy race to the bottom, as countries compete for jobs in a volatile economic climate. Furthermore, ASEAN can play an important role in facilitating mechanisms for complaints that cross international borders. In many cases, migrants are repatriated or deported before they have the opportunity to complain to authorities about mistreatment or crimes.

Such cooperation is also critical in the fight against human trafficking. Both Malaysia and Thailand have failed to investigate allegations of collusion between government officials and trafficking gangs on the Malay-Thai border. In 2008, Burmese migrants told Human Rights Watch of being sold to criminal gangs, who charged those with money to smuggle them back into Malaysia and trafficked those who could not pay. Human Rights Watch has interviewed Burmese migrants in Thailand who confirm the trafficking allegations. They said that others working alongside them on fishing boats have been trafficked by gangs working on the Malaysian border. Other Burmese had been in Thai police lock-ups, but brokers had paid police to release them, and then sold them to fishing-boat captains.

Immigration enforcement measures have compounded these issues. In Malaysia, enforcement of the Immigration Act 2002 has involved mass immigration sweeps without proper screening of migrants to detect individuals in need of protection-such as refugees, trafficking victims, and workers who have been subject to abuse-and to ensure that they are not subject to penalties imposed under the Act. Malaysia has failed to address abuses against migrants by the People's Volunteer Corps (Ikatan Relawan Rakyat or RELA), the government-backed force that apprehends irregular migrants and provides security for Malaysia's immigration detention centers. In 2008, Human Rights Watch documented a pattern of abuse by members of RELA, including physical assault, intimidation, threats, humiliating treatment, forced entry into living quarters, extortion, and theft perpetrated against migrants, asylum seekers and refugees.

We urge ASEAN member states to:

* End the use of government-backed civilian corps to apprehend migrant workers.
* Ratify the International Covenant on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families and bring domestic law and policy into conformity with the convention.
* Extend equal protection of the labor laws to domestic workers and create mechanisms for enforcement.
* Institute screening procedures to identify and assist trafficking victims and abused migrant workers.
* Strengthen regulations governing recruitment agencies, with clear mechanisms to monitor and enforce these standards, independent monitoring, substantial penalties for violations, and clear standards for recruitment fees or their complete elimination.
* End unlawful restrictions imposed on migrant workers freedom of movement and freedom of association.
* Ensure migrants have access to justice and support services-Including international cooperation to file complaints from migrants who have been repatriated or deported.

While ASEAN has recently declared its intention to address some of these issues through the ASEAN Declaration on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Migrant Workers, ASEAN Declaration on Trafficking in Persons, Particularly Women and Children, and the Bali Process, concrete improvements on the ground are yet to be seen.

We look forward to your attention to these matters of concern.

Yours sincerely,

Elaine Pearson
Deputy Director
Asia Division
Nisha Varia
Deputy Director
Women's Rights Division

Original Source: HRW

READ MORE---> Letter to ASEAN Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan...

US lashes 'brutal' Myanmar rights record

(The Raw Story-AFP)- The United States lashed out at the Myanmar regime's human rights record Wednesday, saying the military was "brutally" suppressing its citizens and razing entire villages.

In an annual global report on human rights, the State Department said Myanmar's ruling junta carried out numerous extrajudicial killings along with rape and torture without punishing anyone responsible.

"The regime brutally suppressed dissent," it said, faulting the junta for "denying citizens the right to change their government and committing other severe human rights abuses."

Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, crushed a 2007 uprising led by Buddhist monks, killing at least 31 people, according to the UN. In May last year, a cyclone left 138,000 people dead or missing.

"The regime showed contempt for the welfare of its own citizens when it persisted in conducting a fraudulent referendum in the immediate aftermath" of the cyclone, the State Department said.

It said that Myanmar also "delayed international assistance that could have saved many lives."

The regime forcibly relocated people away from their homes, particularly in areas dominated by ethnic minorities, with troops then confiscating their property or looting their possessions, the report said.

"Thousands of civilians were displaced from their traditional villages -- which often were then burned to the ground -- and moved into settlements tightly controlled by government troops in strategic areas," the report said.

"In other cases villagers driven from their homes fled into the forest, frequently in heavily mined areas, without adequate food, security or basic medical care," it said.

The State Department also said that women and members of certain minority groups are completely absent in the government and the judiciary.

Myanmar's most famous woman, pro-democracy advocate and Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, has been under house arrest for most of the last 19 years.

READ MORE---> US lashes 'brutal' Myanmar rights record...

Rethinking Relations With Burma

(Voice of America) - President Barack Obama has held out his hand to world leaders seeking engagement, rather than confrontation to solve international disputes. This entails a review of the way the United States deals with specific countries, and such an effort is now under way regarding the government of Burma.

The U.S. government has long sought to encourage peaceful change in that Southeast Asian nation and has promoted genuine dialogue with opposition groups as necessary for transition to a representative government that responds to the will of its people. Since the 1960s, Burma has been controlled by a military junta that tolerates no opposition and keeps tight control of the nation's economy.

More than two thousand political prisoners languish in Burmese jails, a number that has doubled in the past 18 months, and democracy activist leader Aung San Suu Kyi, a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, has remained under house arrest for the majority of the past 19 years. In response, the U.S. has maintained economic sanctions and visa bans against members of the junta and its top supporters, but with no appreciable change in attitude by the generals in Rangoon.

On her recent visit to Asia, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the U.S. is looking at the best ways to influence the Burmese regime, acknowledging that neither sanctions nor engagement have worked. No decisions have been made, but there is a clear goal to develop a policy that ultimately benefits the Burmese people in their desire to shape the future of their own country.

In what the regime touts as a nod toward reform, the Burmese government has planned elections next year under a constitution approved in a referendum that was neither free nor fair, and conducted amid the turmoil following Cyclone Nargis, which devastated parts of the country. But it has a long way to go before achieving true representative government, since the military is guaranteed a quarter of the seats in both the upper and lower houses of parliament.

In its review of its approach to Burma,
U.S. leaders will have much to consider.

READ MORE---> Rethinking Relations With Burma...

Junta pressurizes KIO’s 4th brigade in northeast Shan State

(KNG) - The Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) is coming under increasing pressure from the Burmese military junta regarding the presence of its armed wing, the 4th Brigade of the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) in northeast Shan State, said KIO sources.

The KIA’s 4th Brigade is under pressure and has been given two options by the junta--- to shift all KIA bases and troops from northeast Shan State to Kachin State or to surrender its weapons to the regime and transform into a new Kachin militia group in the same places, according to KIA’s 4th Brigade sources.

The KIA’s 4th Brigade has been under mounting pressure to relocate or surrender by the ruling junta since it signed a ceasefire agreement with the junta in 1994, said KIA officers in the 4th Brigade.

Recently, the Lashio based junta’s Northeast of Shan State Military Command (Ya Ma Kha) commander Maj-Gen Soe Win pressurized the KIA’s 4th Brigade with the two options, added the KIA’s 4th Brigade sources.

Till now, the KIA’s 4th Brigade officials have been countering the junta’s pressure and they say they will neither surrender their weapons nor move to Kachin State, said KIA officials in Laiza headquarters on the Sino-Burma border in Kachin State.

Under the control of KIA’s 4th Brigade in northeast Shan State, the KIA battalion 2, 8 and 9 are currently based in its controlled areas. The Brigade has now over 1,500 men and women in uniform and is the strongest brigade among all five brigades of the KIA in Kachin and Shan States.

In the past after the ceasefire agreement, there were two big killings in the KIA’s 4th Brigade by the Burmese Army.

On January 2, 2006, five KIO servicemen including office staff and KIA soldiers in Muse Township Office were shot dead by Burmese troops. All the bodies were creamed by the Burmese Army.

There were similar atrocities in the KIA’s 4th Brigade, where nine KIA soldiers and two civilians in the KIA’s developing agricultural field were tortured and killed by the Burmese Army on March 22, 2001.

Despite the seriousness of the incidents, the KIO/KIA did not react strongly or threaten to break the ceasefire agreement between them. For this it was strongly condemned by its men and women in service and the Kachin people.

READ MORE---> Junta pressurizes KIO’s 4th brigade in northeast Shan State...

Forestry officials confiscate cattle from farmers

(DVB)–Forestry authorities confiscated 24 bulls and 46 bullock carts from farmers in Kyauktaga village in Daik-U township, Bago division, accusing the farmers of stealing timber and bamboo.

The incident occurred on 22 February when the farmers were out collecting the materials they needed for their farms, one farmer said.

"We went to collect wood and bamboo for the rainy season and people from the forestry department came and confiscated our carts near Baina reservoir," a farmer said.

"They came with elephants, fired shots and confiscated [our cattle and carts]."

The officials confiscated the animals and carts from the farmers, reportedly on the orders of the district forestry office, and demanded a fine, the farmer said.

"We went to see them at the school building as we were told. We were then told to go to the district office for negotiations,” the farmer said.

“We don’t know where to go and don’t know how to proceed,” the farmer said.

“We will have to pay them the amount they demand by selling off what we have."

Daik-U township forestry department could not be reached for comment.

Reporting by Ahunt Phone Myat

READ MORE---> Forestry officials confiscate cattle from farmers...

Asean Financial Gloom to Trump Rights Issues

By JOCELYN GECKER/ AP WRITER
The Irrawaddy News

BANGKOK — The prickly issue of human rights in Burma will take a back seat to the global financial meltdown as leaders of cash-strapped Southeast Asian countries meet this weekend for an annual summit.

Ducking the spotlight will be a relief for Burma's military junta, which has been busy locking up dissidents and has ignored UN demands to free its highest-profile political prisoner, the Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.

For the rest of the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the financial crisis offers an opportunity to avoid the perennial dilemma of confronting its most troublesome member and other sensitive topics.

Thailand, which currently holds Asean's rotating chairmanship and is hosting the summit, bills the meeting as a turning point for the bloc that has long been criticized as a talk shop that forges agreements by consensus and steers away from confrontation.

It is the first time leaders will meet since the group signed a landmark charter in December. The document made Asean a legal entity and moves it a step closer toward the goal of establishing a single market by 2015 and becoming a European Union-like community.

"This summit will mark a new chapter for Asean," Thailand's Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said recently. "We want to make Asean a more rule-based and effective organization according to the charter."

But the run-up to the summit has showcased some of the disarray in Asean, which groups more than 500 million people and includes fledgling democracies, a monarchy, a military dictatorship and two communist regimes.

Originally scheduled for December in Bangkok, the summit was postponed because of political upheaval in Thailand. Abhisit, who came to power that month on the back of protests, shifted the venue to the beach resort Hua Hin, 200 kilometers (120 miles) south of the capital, to escape lingering protests in Bangkok.

Senior officials start meeting on February 26 ahead of the weekend leaders' summit. Asean's 10 members include Brunei, Burma, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

In recent years, Asean summits have been followed by the so-called East Asia Summit, which includes the leaders of China, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand. But Beijing couldn't make the new Feb meeting, forcing Thailand to call a second summit in April.

Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen has decried the back-to-back meetings as "a waste of time," saying the absence this weekend of China, Japan and South Korea means Asean can't lobby Asia's economic powers for financial aid. The sharp-tongued Hun Sen has been particularly critical of Thailand since a border dispute last year sparked deadly clashes and brief concerns of war between the neighbors.

Philippine diplomats also say their interest in the summit has "really waned" without the three East Asian powers attending.

Southeast Asian countries are struggling to revive their export-driven economies amid rising employment and fears of recession. The economies of Thailand and Singapore have already shrunk while Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines are grappling with rapidly slowing growth.

Asian finance ministers agreed last weekend to form a $120 billion pool of foreign-exchange reserves to protect falling currencies. Asean members will provide 20% of funding, with 80% from China, Japan and South Korea.

Among the key documents to be signed at the meeting are a free trade agreement with Australia and New Zealand and a roadmap for turning Asean into an EU-style bloc by 2015, as outlined by the new charter.

One of the charter's key pledges is to set up a regional human rights body, though critics doubt that members like Burma would allow it to have much clout.

Meanwhile, specific human rights issues—including the plight of the stateless Rohingya boat people who flee Burma and have recently washed up on the shores of Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia—will be discussed on the sidelines but not as part of the summit's formal agenda.

Burma has come under vocal criticism by the United Nations for jailing hundreds of dissidents ahead of general elections promised for 2010—the first in 20 years. The junta holds more than 2,100 political detainees, including pro-democracy leader Suu Kyi. The 63-year-old Suu Kyi has spent 13 of the past 19 years in detention without trial.

But Asean has no intention of formally scolding Burma, Vitavas Srivihok, the director-general the Thai Foreign Ministry's Asean department told reporters earlier this week.

"We don't have any specific meetings regarding Myanmar (Burma) because it is sensitive," he said, "and we don't want to single out any country."

READ MORE---> Asean Financial Gloom to Trump Rights Issues...

Time for NLD to Step Up to the Plate

By YENI
The Irrawaddy News

Burma's military government last week announced it would release more than 6,300 prisoners, of whom just 23 were classified as political prisoners—including nine Buddhist monks. State-run television in Burma reported that the prisoners were being released for the "social consideration of their families" and to take part in the 2010 elections.

The statement coincided with a five-day visit to Burma by the United Nations’ human rights envoy, Tomás Ojea Quintana, and occurred at a time when the UN Security Council was meeting to hear a firsthand account from that other special envoy to Burma, Ibrahim Gambari, on his recent visit and meeting with detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and leaders of the military junta. The announcement was also timely in that it came just one week ahead of an Asean summit in Thailand.

Whatever cosmetic appearance the junta was trying to solicit, most observers agreed that the release of prisoners represented the regime’s rather futile attempt to prevent—or at least reduce—the international criticism on their poor human rights record which raises its ugly head any time regional or global bodies meet to discuss Burmese issues.

Meanwhile, global diplomacy has failed yet again in Burma by its inability to produce any movement on the key Burmese issues: opening dialogue between Suu Kyi and junta leader Snr-Gen Than Shwe; releasing her and some 2,200 other political prisoners; and ensuring that the elections scheduled for next year will include all opposition parties and minority groups.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, on a trip through Asia, lamented last week that neither US sanctions nor engagement by regional nations have convinced the junta. "It is an unfortunate fact that Burma seems impervious to influences from anyone," Clinton said. "The path we have taken in imposing sanctions hasn't influenced the Burmese junta, but ... reaching out and trying to engage them has not influenced them either."

The Burmese generals in Naypyidaw know only too well that the overseas criticisms are no more than the toothless growls of a paper tiger. Their unilateral decision to hold elections next year will be little more than a pantomime to rubber stamp the junta’s new constitution guaranteeing the military a quarter of the seats in both the upper and lower houses of parliament.

However, sitting on the sidelines, some so-called "experts" have naively come to believe that the election in 2010 could represent a major turning point in Burmese politics, opening a space from which the pro-democracy groups will take initiatives for gradual economic and political reform.

In fact, Than Shwe has still not approved the election law. Rumors are circulating in Rangoon that no consensus has been reached in Naypyidaw on which officers will be given parliamentary seats and which will continue in military service.

If we compare the situation to Zimbabwe, we see that—like it or not—the grip of the African nation’s strongman Robert Mugabe and his ruling Zanu-PF party has not weakened because of any international or regional pressure, but due to the effects of drought, HIV/AIDS and economic meltdown.

After months of deadlock, Mugabe has finally been forced to confront the division of ministries in a planned national unity government with the opposition. In the wake of Zimbabwe's economic collapse and spiraling humanitarian crisis, opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai was sworn in as prime minister with Mugabe remaining president, despite Western leaders calling on Mugabe to step down.

Likewise in Burma, after 20 years of struggle for national reconciliation and talk of rebuilding the failed nation, political leaders and policymakers in Burma must come up with more effective and pragmatic ways to deal with Burmese armed forces, or Tatmadaw.

To persuade the military to engage, the Burmese opposition should focus not only on its demand to free political prisoners, but to exploit the stagnation of the domestic economy and the humanitarian crisis. The NLD, in particular, has to date been too slow to react and has tiptoed around the issues. It needs to let the people know that it is capable of tackling the economic challenges that Burma will face in a post-dictatorial world.

READ MORE---> Time for NLD to Step Up to the Plate...

Lack of Proper Equipment Hampers Burma’s Firefighters

The Irrawaddy News

Lack of money and effective equipment is hampering Burmese local authorities tackle an increasing number of dry season fires.

The official government newspaper The New Light of Myanmar reported a total of 96 serious fires had broken out in Burma in January.

Fires so far in February include a blaze on Tuesday that destroyed a plastics factory in Rangoon’s Dawbon Township and a disastrous one on February 22 that swept through Kyaut Oe village in Sagaing Division, destroying 85 homes. The 649 villagers left homeless by the blaze are being sheltered at the local monastery.

A forest fire that began last week in a northeastern border region of Burma has spread into neighboring Chinese Yunnan Province, according to China's official Xinhua news agency. More than 200 hectares were ablaze, the agency said.

More than 3,000 soldiers, armed police and villagers were marshaled to fight the fire in the border county of Tengchong. The firefighters dug a 10,000-meter ditch on Sunday to keep the blaze from spreading, but a combination of strong gales, dry weather and mountainous terrain made their work difficult, Xinhua said.

Of the 96 serious fires registered in January, 74 were caused by kitchen accidents and negligence, 14 by electrical short circuits and six by arson. There was one forest fire.

The New Light of Myanmar report did not say whether there had been casualties.

In 2008, more than 5,000 houses, 15 factories and workshops and 30 warehouses were destroyed by fire, according to official statistics. More than 17,000 people were made homeless.

Firefighters in Burma are hampered by a lack of such essential equipment as extension ladders and fireproof clothing, according to fire department officials.

The country has 217 fire stations. There are an additional 328 auxiliary fire stations, which rely on donations from local communities. “If you want the firemen to put out the fire, you have to give them money”, said one source.

READ MORE---> Lack of Proper Equipment Hampers Burma’s Firefighters...

Two ABFSU leaders transferred to remote prisons

(DVB)–Two All Burma Federation of Student Unions leaders who were recently sentenced to three years’ imprisonment each have been transferred to remote prisons, according to their families.

ABFSU leaders Kyaw Ko Ko and Nyan Linn Aung were sentenced to three years in prison by Mingalar Taung Nyunt township court in Rangoon earlier this month under video laws.

Kyaw Ko Ko was among the political prisoners who met UN special rapporteur Tomas Ojea Quintana during his recent visit to Burma.

Kyaw Ko Ko’s father Kyaw Aye said he had not been able to see his son since the visit because political inmates are only allowed family visits once every two weeks.

“My son met with Mr Quintana on the 16th but I couldn’t go and visit him as I had just seen him on the 13th,” said Kyaw Aye. Kyaw Aye said he found out his son and Nyan Linn Aung had been moved from Insein to other remote prisons early on Saturday morning, but had not yet been able to confirm where they have been sent.

“I went to a court in Tamwe [on 23 February] to show support for some political activists on trial there,” he said.

“They told me that my son and his colleague were no longer in Insein prison ward 5 where they were previously detained.”

Kyaw Aye said he immediately went to Insein prison and was told by an official there that Kyaw Ko Ko had been transferred to Taunggyi prison in Shan state while Nyan Linn Aung was sent to Bhamo prison in Kachin state.

“I made a phone call to Taunggyi prison to confirm the news but they told me Kyaw Ko Ko had not yet arrived,” Kyaw Aye said.

Reporting by Nan Kham Kaew

READ MORE---> Two ABFSU leaders transferred to remote prisons...

Changing patterns in Burma's media

By Htet Aung Kyaw

(DVB)–With one of the most strictly-controlled media environments in the world, Burmese journalists who oppose the military government are forced to work in secret, with the prospect of lengthy imprisonment an everyday threat.

Exiled news organizations in countries such as Thailand and India work covertly with networks of journalists inside Burma, receiving and publishing articles and commentary on political developments inside the country.

The last few years have also seen a rise in internet bloggers, and subsequently a fierce crackdown by the regime. In 2008, two bloggers were jailed for 20 years each for publishing critical material of General Than Shwe.

DVB spoke to a number of journalists and media experts, both Burmese and foreign, to discuss the current media environment within Burma, and to highlight the differences for media inside and outside the country.

Maung Maung Myint is chair of the Burmese Media Association, Kyaw Zwa Moe is deputy editor of The Irrawaddy, and Larry Jagan is a freelance journalist with a focus on Burma.

DVB began by asking what the current situation is like for media freedom in Burma.

Maung Maung Myint: "It's obvious that Burmese government's pressure on the media inside the country has been more intensified since after the 2007 September uprisings – there has been sentencing of journalists and media right activists to long prison terms throughout this time.

"The situation on the Burmese media freedom is not good and we think it will be the same until 2010. After that, if we are unlucky, things will even get worse."

Kyaw Zwa Moe: "In Burma, now we have more journalists than we had 20 years ago. Despite various difficulties, the censor laws and the pressure from the government, they are doing what they can with an increased capacity."

"And we see that they are trying their best to reach their message and information to the audience."

Larry Jagan: “Twenty years ago the Burmese media was completely government-controlled and no dissident or different opinions were allowed.

“Now we see, particularly in the print media, a proliferation of magazines and newspapers, none of which are necessarily anti-government but many of which have pushed the boundaries of journalism, particularly on issues like HIV/Aids, the environment, and the economy.”

DVB: What is the significance of the outside media? Are exiled journalists affected by bias, and do foreign journalists have adequate expertise?

Kyaw Zaw Moe: "It is important for the journalists to be independent. There is always a factor about self-censorship, such as not criticising the democratic movement even when there is something wrong with it because the journalist himself/herself has is from the movement.

“This depends on how much they believe, understand and how much ethics they follow in their journalist profession."

Maung Maung Myint: "I don't see that the Burmese youths who became journalists out of the 1988 uprising and the other movements are holding bias thoughts just because they came from that path.

“They have their brain, and their own ability to see and hear things and they have their common sense to differentiate what is right or wrong. If one values his or her own status of being a journalist, then he or she will also value the quality of the news which is measured by truthfulness.

“A journalist who respects this will stand on the same side with the truth."

Kyaw Zaw Moe: "Another issue we are having with the media outside is that, we always emphasise on being the first to publish a news without trying to verify whether the information in it real or not, because the competition among the organisations here is big."

DVB: How much confidence can we can have in the outside media (with non-independent journalists and organisations worried about funding) and the inside media (with issues of oppression and self-censorship)?

Kyaw Zwa Moe: "I am positive about this. Despite increasing pressure from the government, we are having more committed journalists who aim for a more successful, independent media society in Burma.

“To have a say what will happen in next five years, it depends a lot on how much we, the media both inside and outside Burma, have in our mind to learn, devote and follow the media ethics."

Maung Maung Myint: "As long as there are people inside Burma who are fighting for the media freedom with a great sacrifice, the future light of the Burmese media will never go dim.

“At the same time, the media people inside Burma need to have an active communication with the media people outside. In that way, we will have more understanding towards each other and a better channel of information flow which will profit the people of Burma to get more knowledge and information.

“This is an achievement we have already gained to some level, but I have to admit that, we, the media people, have to do more than this as our people are not living in freedom like people in other countries."

Larry Jagan: “What I would say is that my experience is that Burmese journalists inside the country are very courageous. They try to push the boundaries quietly in their own way. They know far more than they are ever able to get into print.

“In the last five years or so there has been some very good training of Burmese journalists but what they all tell me is that we are waiting for the day when democracy comes so that we can be real journalists because there’s no way we can be journalists under the military regime.”

READ MORE---> Changing patterns in Burma's media...

Nargis accused to receive legal help

(DVB)–Six members of the All Burma Federation of Student Unions who were arrested last year after helping victims of cyclone Nargis have been granted permission to have legal representation in their ongoing trial.

The trial is being held in Insein prison special court, where Dr. Newin and his daughter Phyo Phyo Aung, Aung Kyaw San, Phone Pyi Kywe, Shane Yazar Htun and Aung Thant Zin Oo (aka James) are defending government allegations of sedition and the unlawful association acts.

They were arrested for collecting and burying rotting corpses in the aftermath of the cyclone.

Central court lawyer Khin Maung Myint, who has been representing the six since they were arrested, said he was allowed to enter the courtroom during a hearing session on yesterday.

“I was allowed to meet them at the trial [on Tuesday] and I had a talk with them – all of them seemed to be in good health,” he said.

“The next hearing is on 3 March and then I will have to present some necessary documents at the court to get permission to talk on behalf of them at the trial.”

Reporting by Nan Kham Kaew

READ MORE---> Nargis accused to receive legal help...

Democracy plan fuels war in Myanmar

By Brian McCartan

MAE SOT, Thailand (Asia Times) - At a November meeting of ethnic minority and pro-democracy groups in the northern Thai town of Chiang Mai, a representative of the Danish government development agency DANIDA called on the dissident participants to take part in the political process inside Myanmar, including support for the upcoming 2010 elections, or face funding cuts.

Those behind-closed-door remarks were followed in January by a visit to Myanmar of Danish Development Minister Ulla Toraes and Norwegian minister Erik Solheim. While officially presented as a visit to observe Cyclone Nargis relief efforts, several Myanmar watchers questioned whether the delegation breached a European

Union prohibition on high-level visits to Myanmar.

Meanwhile, the United Nations has been wishy-washy on its stance towards the elections, with Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and Special Envoy to Myanmar Ibrahim Gambari simply requesting that the ruling generals ensure that the elections are free and fair. Amid growing calls for Ban to make another visit to Myanmar, the UN has said little concerning what would make the elections internationally acceptable or what actions the international community should take if they are not.

Behind the silence is a growing notion among certain Western governments and international aid agencies that the junta's controversial planned elections will usher in a new era of stability to Myanmar. The reality is that the junta's push to legitimize its electoral process is already causing greater instability, especially along Myanmar's borders with Thailand and China. Myanmar's various ethnic-based ceasefire organizations are making moves to secure their power bases and territory in order to either maintain their bargaining positions whatever government results from the elections or, if push comes to shove, go back to war.

The elections represent the fifth step on the military regime's seven-step "roadmap to democracy". The generals have said that before the elections can take place the various ethnic insurgent ceasefire groups along the country's border areas must disarm and become legal political parties. Only once a "discipline flourishing democracy" has been established, says the government, will the concerns of the various ethnic groups be addressed.

With a year to go before the polls, ethnic insurgent organizations are being forced to decide whether to carry on the struggle or become state-controlled militias. Although Gambari was able to meet with certain ethnic Shan politicians on his visit in early February, and UN Human Rights Envoy Tomas Ojea Quintana met last week with members of the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA), it is unlikely that these staged meetings would have given either envoy a real sense of the dilemma facing many of the ethnic organizations.

For many Myanmar analysts and ethnic leaders there is a real worry that a military showdown is brewing between the generals and the ethnic groups that could tilt the region towards fighting on a scale not seen in over 20 years. Increased government pressure to disarm has already resulted in increased fighting along the Thai-Myanmar border as a Karen insurgent group allied with the junta tries to create more space for itself.

With little faith in the central government and its post-election promises, many other ceasefire groups say they will retain rather than give up their arms. Since the first ceasefires were signed in 1989, ethnic armies have resisted handing over their arms because they believe without them it would be impossible to negotiate a final settlement on equal terms or protect their people from a regime renowned for its gross human rights abuses.

The junta's disregard for ethnic group representatives at the National Convention to draft a new constitution, which was completed in 2007, and the forced disarmament of several smaller groups has only intensified ethnic distrust of the generals. Initial pressure to disarm, or at least to become militias or border guards under the control of Myanmar's armed forces, began prior to the completion of the National Convention.

That pressure intensified after the controversial national referendum held in May that approved a new constitution, which paved the way for next year's elections. The generals contend that under democracy there will be no need for ethnic organizations to retain their arms and instead that they should form political parties to represent their minority interests.

Electoral dilemma
Ethnic political organizations are caught on the horns of an electoral dilemma: if they boycott the polls, their grounds for criticizing the results will be weakened; by contesting, they will seemingly condone a process which most observers, including several ethnic leaders, view as a sham. Different groups are taking different approaches, though all have a common thread: the retention of arms.

The largest ceasefire groups are based in northern Myanmar, along the border with China. They include the United Wa State Army (UWSA) with an estimated 15,000-20,000 fighters, the National Democratic Alliance Army-Eastern Shan State (NDAA-ESS) with around 2,500 and the Shan State Army-North (SSA-N) with up to 10,000 men, and the Kachin Independence Organization/Army (KIO/A) with between 3,000 and 5,000 soldiers in Kachin State. The UWSA, NDAA and SSA-N all agreed to ceasefires in 1989, while the KIO signed on in 1994.

With a large and well-equipped army, wealth derived through legitimate business as well as drug trafficking, and support from China, the UWSA has historically played hard ball with the junta. In a move which observers see as a test of the generals' commitment to their new constitution, the UWSA has recently started stamping official documents as "Government of Wa State, Special Autonomous Region, Union of Myanmar" and changed its official office signs to read the same.

The constitution sets out a "Self-Administered Division" for the Wa and the UWSA is in effect declaring its rule over the area. The move comes amid increased tensions following a December meeting between UWSA officers and Major General Kyaw Pyoe from the Golden Triangle Command based in eastern Shan State. The general ordered the UWSA to disarm and reform into a government-controlled militia, a request that was rejected out-of-hand by the UWSA.

Underscoring that authority, a 30-man government delegation led by Lieutenant General Ye Myint, chief of Military Affairs Security, or Myanmar's military intelligence agency, was forced on January 19 to disarm when it crossed into Wa-controlled territory. Ye Myint's main mission, to discuss the upcoming elections, was instead limited to economic matters. The UWSA has yet to comment on whether it will participate in the polls, but recent moves to establish a factory for the production of small arms and ammunition, suggest that the UWSA is instead readying for a fight.

The NDAA, which is closely allied with the UWSA, has also resisted government calls to disarm and tensions have since grown with the Myanmar army. Meanwhile, the arrest in February 2005 and continued detention of SSA-N chairman Major General Hso Ten, along with several other Shan leaders, has soured relations and SSA-N troops have since joined the non-ceasefire Shan State Army-South along the border with Thailand. Both groups are expected to resist rather than allow themselves to be disarmed and become government-led militias.

In Kachin State, the KIO has declared it will not participate in the elections, but recently gave its approval to civilians who wish to set up a Kachin political party to contest the polls. The group has said that it hopes to enter into a dialogue with a new democratic government. And in the southern Myanmar areas of Mon State and Tenasserim Division, the New Mon State Party (NMSP) declared after a recent congress that it will not participate in the elections and would not disarm. The NMSP has been a consistent thorn in the regime's election plans, including its move to walk out of the National Convention in protest over lack of consideration of ethnic issues and a March 2008 statement stating its opposition to the national referendum.

Several ceasefire group leaders have remained coy about their preparations for possible hostilities. On the ground, observers describe military preparations including trainings and increased recruitment, as well as growing apprehension among the civilian populace. The junta, too, appears to be preparing for armed showdowns. It has for years increased troop numbers in areas near ceasefire groups and recent reports suggest that these troops are being reinforced with heavy weapons, including 76mm and 105mm artillery and with specialized troops, including Light Infantry Divisions 66 and 88.

With those movements, reports are spreading along border areas that the regime may move to rehabilitate various middle and senior ranking members of the now defunct Directorate of Defense Services Intelligence (DDSI), including former prime minister and DDSI head General Khin Nyunt. The DDSI was responsible for brokering many of the ceasefires, but was dismantled amid corruption allegations in 2004 which most observers saw as an intra-junta purge against the increasingly powerful Khin Nyunt and his followers. The former top-ranking junta member is has been sentenced to 44 years and is now under house arrest.

Insurgent officers say Khin Nyunt's rapport with the ethnic groups has not been equaled by the Military Affairs Security, which replaced DDSI. According to one insurgent official, Myanmar
army commanders have realized that Khin Nyunt's men knew how to handle the ceasefire groups and have even recently begun seeking out their opinions on how to bring ethnic groups into the election process.

Their inclusion is necessary to give the elections legitimacy among the international community and more importantly to bring all of the country's territories under the generals' nominal control. Yet the only major group which has so far agreed to the border guard arrangement is the government-aligned Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA), which controls territories in Myanmar's eastern Karen and Mon States.

Economic lures
Viewed by some as a test case for how ceasefire groups may evolve under Myanmar's new democracy, the outlook so far is not good for stability. The DKBA was told at a meeting in the capital Naypyidaw in December that under the new constitution they were to become a border guard force. Under the terms of the agreement, which has so far not been made public, the DKBA was promised control over border tax checkpoints and continued concessions for transportation, logging and other businesses.

Sources close to the DKBA say the move was unpopular because it means handing over political power over to a Myanmar-dominated regime - a concession which goes against the founding principles of the Karen's long struggle - and several officers threatened to resign as a result.

Rather than release statements or make a show of force, the group has instead concentrated on seizing new territories particularly former Karen National Union-controlled areas near Myawaddy and Kayin Seikgyi townships across from Tak Province in Thailand, to gain administrative control over lucrative border trades, including mining operations and cross-border agribusiness projects, in the new democratic era.

For all its statements of representing the cause of self determination and equality for the ethnic Karen people, the armed group is believed by many to be motivated more by business opportunities, including drug trafficking, it needs guns to maintain. The DKBA has so far not made any statements about whether or how it will contest the 2010 elections. Three Karen political parties currently exist, but none have any connection with the DKBA and only one, the Karen State National Organization, won any seats in the 1990 election. The election itself, according to rival KNU vice president Saw David Thakabaw, may split the DKBA into competitive, business-driven factions.

By playing ceasefire groups-cum-militias against other insurgent groups, the junta could bid to keep ethnic groups weak and divided while building its new nominally democratic power structure through elections. Concessions such as the tax checkpoints promised to the DKBA provide some incentive for joining the border guard scheme as opposed to renewed fighting. These could yet be strong economic lures for some of the ceasefire groups, particularly in relation to tentative deals with neighboring and considerably wealthier Thailand.

Thai Army commander General Anupong Paochinda paid a two day visit to Myanmar in mid-February where he met with junta leader Senior General Than Shwe, Defense Minister Thura Shwe Mann and Foreign Minster Nyan Win. It is perhaps significant that Anupong, rather than Thai Foreign Minster Kasit Piromya, handled the meeting where border issues were on the agenda.

Several cross-border business schemes are in the works, but have not been completed due to instability. For instance, an agreement was reached in May 2007 for Thai agribusinesses to cultivate tax-free over seven million hectares of land in Myanmar border areas. The agreement includes four areas of Mon and Karen States designated for contract farming, totaling some 300,000 hectares. Myanmar farmers were to grow under contract cassava, rubber, oil palm, sugarcane, beans and corn for export to Thailand.

The project appears to have stalled however due to complaints by Thai investors over taxes levied by Myanmar government officials, as well as the DKBA and KNU. Conflict over taxes on the corn harvest resulted in fighting between the KNU and DKBA south of Mae Sot in October and November, sources say. The fighting spilled over into Thailand on several occasions resulting in the shooting up of villages, burning of food storage barns, and at least one shootout between DKBA and Thai soldiers. One Thai soldier was injured by a landmine in the skirmish.

Still the DKBA has been working on new roads leading north and south of Myawaddy to service the plantations and commercial agriculture projects along the border. Other cross-border projects envisioned include a border trade zone at the border town of Myawaddy and industrial zones in Pa'an and Moulmein. The projects, financed though loans and grants from Bangkok, are designed to curb the mounting influx of Myanmar migrant workers into Thailand, now estimated at over 2 million people.

But while the DKBA is angling for business opportunities, the rival KNU has resisted Thai incentives to end fighting against the Myanmar army. That's inhibited the group's armed wing, the Karen National Liberation Army, ability to fight along the border and allowed the DKBA to seize several of the areas it formerly controlled. A KNU official told Asia Times Online his group had no plans for ceasefire talks and that it would not participate in the 2010 elections. That means democracy is just as likely to bring more, not less, instability to Myanmar's contested border areas.

Brian McCartan is a Chiang Mai-based freelance journalist. He may be reached at brianpm@comcast.net.

READ MORE---> Democracy plan fuels war in Myanmar...

Burma releases 113 prisoners from Buthidaung jail

(Kaladan Press) - Buthidaung, Arakan State: Burma has released 113 prisoners including Rakhine and Rohingya from Buthidaung jail in Arakan State on February 22 night. Among the freed were 22 Rakhine and the rest were Rohingya prisoners, said a relative one of the released prisoners on condition of anonymity.

Burma announced the release of over 6,000 prisoners including 11 political prisoners, five monks, six NLD members and other prisoners, from prisons across the country on February 22, according to State television and radio.

The Burmese ruling junta has persistently denied the presence of political prisoners in the country’s jail. People believe that about 2,162 political prisoners and some religious persons are still in detention in various jails. They were arrested in 2003, but military junta persistently denies it. They (junta) claimed that they all are criminals, sources said.

The junta released the prisoners to participate in the general election to be held in 2010, for ushering in democracy in keeping with the regime’s seven-point road-map.

The announcement came a day after UN human rights envoy Tomas Ojea Quintana wrapped up a six-day visit to Burma on February 19. This was his second trip to Burma since he assumed office in May 2008. He first visited Burma in August 2008.

Quintana was scheduled to visit Arakan and Kachin States where local opposition complain of repeated harassment by the authorities. People of Arakan hoped to meet the UN envoy and they would have apprised him of the difficulties they have been facing in Arakan. But the wish was not fulfilled as the UN envoy was not allowed to come to Arakan State. Local authorities had selected local villagers to meet the UN envoy, to provide pro-government statements, said a businessman who declined to be named.

A schoolteacher said that the Burmese ruling military had earlier also released prisoners after or before a UN envoys visited Burma to save face.

READ MORE---> Burma releases 113 prisoners from Buthidaung jail...

Christians forced to donate for Buddhist pagoda festival in Putao

(KNG) - Burmese government employees in Putao district in northern Kachin State had to contend with a forcible cut in their January salaries as contribution for a local Buddhist pagoda festival. The cut was enforced by the Putao district military authorities two weeks ago, said local people.

Local government personnel said the junta’s District and Township Peace and Development Councils (Kha Ya Ka and Ma Ya Ka) forcibly cut between 700 Kyat to 1,000 Kyat (about US $1) from the January salaries of about 400 personnel in Putao and Machyangbaw townships in the district for the Kong Muq Lung Buddhist Pagoda Festival held from February 7 to 10.

Most government employees in the two townships are Christians but they dared not refuse to donate from their salaries for the Buddhist religious festival which has nothing to do with Christian practices, sources said.

Besides, the junta’s military strategic command commander of Putao summoned a meeting of middle-class civilians (who have less money than others) from Christian communities and collected funds for the Kong Muq Lung Buddhist Pagoda Festival, according to Christian sources in the district.

A local Christian who donated for the Buddhist festival said, “We do donate for any social cause. But we cannot donate to other religious functions. It is because of the junta’s order we were forced to donate for the Pagoda Festival.”

On the night of the last day of the pagoda festival while the stage show was being held, the temporary bamboo-bridge on Mali River which joins Kong Muq Lung village where the pagoda is situated on the east of the river bank and Htawa Dam village on the west of the river bank, collapsed due to overcrowding but the number of causalities are yet to be reported, added local people.

The festival of Kong Muq Lung pagoda is held every year and the junta’s Northern Military Command (Ma Pa Kha) commander Maj-Gen Soe Win also joined the festival, said locals.

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EU Calls for Political Reform in Burma

By WAI MOE
The Irrawaddy News

In a statement on Monday, the European Union (EU)’s current presidency called for dialogue between the Burmese junta and the opposition, the release of political prisoners and the lifting of restrictions on political parties.

“The Presidency of the EU strongly calls for an immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners and detainees, including Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, lifting all restrictions on political parties, and all-inclusive dialogue between the authorities and the democratic forces, including ethnic groups,” the statement said.

From January to June 2009, the Czech Republic holds the presidency of the EU, followed by Sweden in the second half of the year. The Czech Republic is known to be sympathetic toward Burma’s pro-democracy movement. Its former president, Václav Havel, nominated Burma’s pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi for the Nobel Peace Prize, which she won in 1991.

The EU Presidency recalled the United Nations General Assembly’s resolution which said the political process in Burma is “not transparent, inclusive, [or] free and fair; and that the procedures established for the drafting of the constitution resulted in the de facto exclusion of the opposition from the process.”

The EU Presidency also said that it shared the view by UN Special Envoy to Burma Ibrahim Gambari, saying now is the time for the Burmese junta to demonstrate its commitment to addressing concretely the issues of concern to the international community.

Since 1996, the EU has had a common position on Burma. This includes economic sanctions, an arms embargo and visa bans on Burmese military officials and their family members, as well as restricting visits to Burma by high-level officials from EU member states. It tightened its sanctions on Burma following the junta’s crackdown on monk-led demonstrators in September 2007.

Although the EU still retains sanctions against the Burmese junta, the European Commission provided Euro 39 million (US $50 million) for the initial Cyclone Nargis recovery project in 2008.

The European Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner previously addressed a Burma conference in October 2008 saying, “Some positive political signals [in Burma] can be perceived, such as the continuation of the political process—the ‘Road Map.’ However, much more needs to be achieved.”

Observers say the “Road Map” is the Burmese junta’s plan to enshrine military rule in Burma rather than encourage a process of democratization.

Ferrero-Waldner said Burma is in “dire need” of democratic reforms, release of political prisoners and good governance. She also said that the EU, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the UN had taken an “active role in fostering a dialogue on political reforms” in the country.

Last week, Burma’s main opposition party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), called for political dialogue without preconditions between the junta head Snr-Gen Than Shwe and the NLD leader, Suu Kyi.

READ MORE---> EU Calls for Political Reform in Burma...

Gas Discovery Reported Near Rangoon

By MIN LWIN
The Irrawaddy News

The Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE) has located an inland gas deposit in Dagon Myothit Eastern Township near Rangoon, according to residents in the exploration area.

MOGE started drilling a test well on February 12 on land owned by a local farmer, Than Tun, near Laydaungkan Village, said a local farmer.

“The exploration group came into the bean fields to conduct seismic surveys in search of gas,” he said. He said drilling tests proved successful on February 14.

Another farmer from Laydaungkan Village said, “They destroyed the crops planted by Than Tun without compensation.” Than Tun was hospitalized because of stress associated with the drilling, he said.

MOGE, which operates under the Ministry of Energy, would not respond to queries from The Irrawaddy about the reported gas discovery. MOGE is the government’s exploration and production department for oil and gas in Burma.

At least 21 multinational oil and gas companies from China, Singapore, South Korea, India, Russia, Malaysia, Thailand, the United States, France, Japan and Australia have long-term contracts with MOGE. The Burmese military government began to allow foreign investments in energy production in 1988.

The military government has signed gas and oil contracts with multinationals such as Total of France; CNOOC and SNPC of China; Daewoo of South Korea; onGC of India; Danford Equities of Australia and PTTEP of Thailand.

According to the Rangoon-based Myanmar Times weekly journal, the Burmese energy sector, including hydropower, oil and gas, comprises 65 percent of Foreign Direct Investment, which is made up of 12 economic sectors that include power, energy, mining, manufacturing, hotels and tourism, livestock and fisheries, transportation and telecommunications.

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Political prisoners set free in Myanmar

Ma Khin Khin Leh, pictured with her husband Kyaw Wunna -© Private

(Amnesty Org) - Twenty-four political prisoners were set free in Myanmar on Saturday after the government announced that it would release 6,313 prisoners.

One of those released is prisoner of conscience Ma Khin Khin Leh, who has been the subject of Amnesty International campaigns since her arrest in July 1999. The authorities detained her because they could not find her husband, Kyaw Wunna, who was connected to a pro-democracy march expected to take place that month.

Of the other released political prisoners, there were nine Buddhist monks and one nun. Some were members of Myanmar’s opposition party, the National League for Democracy. These included Dr. Zaw Myint Maung, a MP-elect who had been in prison since 1990.

Another man, Zaw Naing Htwe, was released from a labour camp. Zaw Naing Htwe was sentenced to nine years in prison in December 2008 because he had received a letter from his elder brother, who was one of the imprisoned 88 Generation Students group leaders.

"There are still more than 2,100 political prisoners behind bars in Myanmar. Many of them are in poor health, partly as a result of harsh prison conditions," said Donna Guest, Asia Pacific Deputy Director.

“While the release of these prisoners is welcome, the Myanmar government must release all other prisoners of conscience immediately and unconditionally."

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Myanmar political prisoners released

(CNN) -- Nineteen political prisoners were released by the government of Myanmar over the weekend, the human rights group Amnesty International reported Tuesday.

Among those released was Ma Khin Khin Leh, who was serving a life sentence because her husband, a student activist, had helped plan a protest demonstration in Bago in July 1999, according to Amnesty International USA's Web blog

Authorities prevented the demonstration from taking place, but took the woman and her three-year-old daughter into custody after failing to find her husband, Amnesty International said.

The child was released after five days but her mom, a 33-year-old school teacher, was sentenced to life in prison.

"Even by the normally harsh standards of 'justice' meted out by Myanmar's military government, the life sentence given to Ma Khin Khin Leh was extreme," the human rights organization said.

She was designated one of Amnesty International USA's priority cases. She was released with 18 others "widely considered to be political prisoners," Amnesty International said.

Myanmar's military rulers have been widely condemned for their alleged human rights abuses.

Pro-democracy leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi has been confined in her home for 12 of the past 18 years. Her last house arrest began in 2003 and has been periodically renewed.

In October 2007, clashes erupted between pro-democracy demonstrators and government security forces. As many as 110 people are believed to have been killed in that crackdown, including 40 Buddhist monks.

The protests were sparked by a huge fuel price increase imposed by the military government, and quickly escalated. Myanmar's military junta said in mid-October that it had detained more than 2,900 people amid the clashes.

In September 2008, Amnesty International reported that Myanmar, also called Burma, had released seven dissidents, among them U Win Tin, a journalist and senior official in the opposition National League for Democracy who had been imprisoned for 19 years.

READ MORE---> Myanmar political prisoners released...