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BURMA RELATED NEWS - MARCH 13, 2008
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HEADLINES
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AP - Myanmar security tight for anniversary
Reuters - Gold has grip on Myanmar - in more ways than one
Reuters - Myanmar's courts stretch laws -- and credibility
Reuters - Trade, not democracy, focus of Thai trip to Myanmar
AFP - Rice defends dropping China from rights blacklist
CSM - Who's buying Burma's gems?
MCOT - PM Samak to visit Myanmar for energy cooperation
Straits Times - Hundreds in Japan demonstrate against Myanmar junta
TVNZ - Chinese presence in Myanmar uneasy
The Inquirer - Online Free Expression Day looms
ANN - No hope in Myanmar
UCLA - Blind Eye in Burma
Bkk Post - Gambari leaves Burma empty-handed but undeterred
The Nation - PM looks to jump-start burma engagement policy
The Nation - Going nowhere in burma
Mizzima News - Burmese activists disappear mysteriously
Mizzima News - Detained Burmese veteran urges to convene Parliament
DVB News - Political detainee collapses at court hearing
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Myanmar security tight for anniversary
AP 2 hours, 22 minutes ago
YANGON, Myanmar (AP) - Authorities in military-ruled Myanmar stepped
up security in the country's biggest city Thursday on the anniversary
of a police killing
that led to major anti-government protests 20 years ago.
Truckloads of riot police with batons, ****elds and tear gas guns were
stationed near large markets and im****tant intersections in Yangon in
an apparent effort to forestall any protests, witnesses said.
Plainclothes police and civilian thugs employed by the junta also had
a large visible presence.
Anti-government leaflets have been dropped in several places in the
city since the government announced last month it will hold a
constitutional referendum in May and general elections in 2010.
Dissidents, diplomats and human rights groups have widely dismissed
the government's plan as a sham designed to perpetuate military rule.
Security had already been beefed up after three bombs exploded in
January at railway stations in Yangon and the new capital, Naypyitaw,
as well as at a circus in a provincial area.
Two people were killed and five wounded by the blasts. The junta told
the public that internal and external groups had sent trained
saboteurs to explode bombs in busy places to cause panic.
The March 13, 1988, killing by riot police of 23-year-old engineering
student Phone Maw sparked political turmoil that led to the eventual
downfall of the 26-year-old socialist regime of military dictator Ne
Win.
In the following months, long-standing dissatisfaction with the Ne Win
government fueled a series of growing pro-democracy demonstrations
that encompassed much of the country.
The events saw the political debut of Aung San Suu Kyi, the daughter
of the country's martyred independence hero, Aung San. She helped
found the National League for Democracy party at the time.
The popular uprising for democracy was shattered when the military,
citing fears of disorder, stepped in, killing at least hundreds of
people nationwide.
Politics in Myanmar has remained unsettled since the military staged
general elections in 1990 but refused to give up power when Suu Kyi's
party won.
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Gold has grip on Myanmar - in more ways than one
By Ed Cropley
Wed Mar 12, 8:18 PM ET
YANGON (Reuters) - There is an old joke in Myanmar that the country's
problems stem from two sources, and they are both called Shwe: junta
supremo Than Shwe, and Aung Shwe, chairman of the opposition National
League for Democracy (NLD).
Anger at 75-year-old Senior General Than Shwe is easy to grasp -- he
sits at the top of a military machine that has run the former Burma
with a mixture of brutality and incompetence for the last 46 years.
That "shwe" means "gold" in Burmese only sweetens the pun.
But the dig at Aung Shwe, a retired brigadier-general who will be 90
in May, reflects growing disillusionment with the top ranks of the NLD
since last year's monk-led protests against the junta and its handling
of the economy.
With NLD figurehead Aung San Suu Kyi under house arrest and
incommunicado for 12 of the last 18 years, the party that won an
election landslide in 1990 has been in the hands of a grey-haired
executive committee known semi-affectionately as "the uncles."
As with Aung Shwe, who was purged from the army in 1961 before going
into the diplomatic corps, many have a past in the military or as
ministers in previous military governments.
They see themselves as caretakers in Suu Kyi's absence, but diplomats
and non-NLD activists say they are more an autocratic cabal that has
suppressed new blood or ideas and that appears unable or unwilling to
challenge the status quo of army rule.
"There's tremendous frustration with the uncles. The younger ranks of
the party want to do more but the uncles won't approve it," one Yangon-
based diplomat said.
"I would love to see them as some kind of solution to Burma's ills,
but they're not."
Exasperated by rules such as a ban on party members under 35 making
policy suggestions, its lower ranks are defecting into a proliferation
of splinter groups, non-NLD activists say.
"Most of the politically active people in the NLD, those who are
politically interesting, have no power," one leading member of the pro-
democracy underground in Yangon told Reuters.
NLD spokesman Nyan Win denied any rifts, saying all party members
respected the uncles, whom he described as "experienced."
"The young members are very emotional," he said. "But we all
understand the situation so there are not too many differences."
"SMALL PROTESTS?"
The uncles' shortcomings were exposed most starkly in the fuel price
protests last year that evolved into the biggest challenge to the
junta since a 1988 student-led uprising.
In a radio interview in their early stages in late August, NLD
secretary U Lwin -- a former deputy prime minister now well into his
80s -- highlighted how small the demonstrations were and declared they
were no way to solve Myanmar's problems.
His comments, and the NLD leader****p's refusal to take part even as
its rank and file organized rallies in the provinces, sparked rare
criticism from the usually sup****tive exile community.
"It's odd and sad to hear negative and discouraging comments from the
leader****p of the NLD, which committed itself to restore democracy and
work for the welfare of the people," the Thailand-based Irrawaddy
magazine wrote in an August 29 editorial.
"Most of them are in their 70s and 80s. They have strong commitment to
the movement. But to be frank, this does not qualify them to be seen
as leaders of the party," it said.
The magazine even broached the taboo of suggesting the party was
nothing without Suu Kyi -- a Nobel peace laureate and, more im****tant,
daughter of independence hero General Aung San.
MONOPOLY ON OPPOSITION
Despite constant junta harassment, the uncles like to see themselves
as having a monopoly on opposition, as shown by the cool reception
they gave "88 Generation Students" leader Min Ko Naing on his release
from 15 years in prison in 2004.
The party's response to the junta's surprise announcement in February
of a referendum and election timetable also stood in stark contrast to
that of the "88 Generation," named after the brutally crushed 1988
uprising.
Even though most of its leaders are in jail, hiding or exile, the "88
Generation" managed to issue a call for a "no" vote in May's
constitutional referendum within 24 hours of its announcement.
By its own admission, the NLD was caught flat-footed and when Aung
Shwe gave a big party speech two days afterwards he studiously avoided
the subject.
NLD rank and file had to wait a full week for the uncles' first formal
response, and even then they failed to indicate clearly how people
should vote in the referendum.
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Myanmar's courts stretch laws -- and credibility
From RTR on 2008-03-13 08:15:23 (posted on 2008-03-13 08:15:23)
By Ed Cropley
YANGON, March 13 (Reuters) - Not many people know that the law in
military-ruled Myanmar enshrines the individual's right to criticise
the government.
The only problem is, mention Section 124A of the penal code in your
defence in court and you are likely to be arrested, lawyers who have
suffered that very fate say.
It is just one of the many absurdities in the former Burma's court
system being taken up by a small but growing number of activist
lawyers in the wake of last September's monk-led pro-democracy
protests.
"The monks have played their role, the actors and celebrities have
played their role, and now we're playing ours," one of the lawyers,
who asked not to be named for their own security, told Reuters at a
safe location in the old capital, Yangon.
By their own admission, the role of defence attorney is limited in a
country that has been under military rule for 46 years and which held
1,100 political prisoners, according to the United Nations, even
before last year's mass arrests.
In another contravention of rights accorded to ordinary criminal
suspects, lawyers for political prisoners cannot plead guilt or
innocence before the court and cannot challenge any issue of law, the
lawyers said.
Judgements are often handed down the same day by civilian magistrates
who are "just following orders", another of the lawyers said, of a
junta which appears to have inherited an obsession with rules and
regulations from British colonial times.
Lawyers are also denied access to their clients in prison, meaning the
only time they can see them is in the courtroom itself during a
hearing. As a result, nearly all communication with prisoners has to
go through family members.
"The biggest problem for us is just finding out when the hearings
are," another of the lawyers said. "The authorities keep it secret
about when people are going to appear in court."
SPIES EVERYWHERE
Even if they do manage to track down the right court on the right day,
government spooks are on hand to listen in and note down every word
that p***** between lawyer and prisoner -- again in breach of the
supposed right to confidentiality.
Between them, the lawyers, who cannot call themselves a "group"
without breaking laws against freedom of association, are defending 67
political cases, including several top monks and former student
activists picked up in September's protests.
They offer their services free of charge to political prisoners, using
their commercial and criminal caseload to pay the bills -- although
this is becoming harder as ordinary clients are increasingly avoiding
lawyers seen as political.
Despite this, the lawyers see it as their duty to expose an "Alice in
Wonderland" justice system happy to describe a photograph of a
political satirist as an "offensive weapon" and sentence two comedians
to seven years hard labour for cracking a joke.
"In reality, all we can do is witness and record the violations of law
by the courts," one of them said.
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Trade, not democracy, focus of Thai trip to Myanmar
13 Mar 2008 10:45:14 GMT
BANGKOK, March 13 (Reuters) - Bilateral trade, not democracy, will top
the agenda of Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej's one-day trip to
military-ruled neighbouring Myanmar on Friday, a government spokesman
said.
"It is not on the agenda," spokesman Wichianchot Sukchotrat told
re****ters who asked if Samak planned to discuss democratisation plans
in the former Burma, ruled by the military since 1962.
Samak's coalition government, which took office last month, had said
there would be no change of Thai policy of not interfering in Myanmar
despite new U.S. and European sanctions on the junta imposed after a
bloody crackdown in September. Samak would ask Prime Minister General
Thein Sein to help facilitate Thai investment, Wichianchot said on
Thursday.
Samak planned to ask Thein Sein to help a Thai construction firm keep
its 40 percent stake in the $6.3 billion Ta Sang hydropower project
after Myanmar officials said they wanted to cut it to 24 percent,
Wichianchot said.
"We would like to ask the Myanmar government retain the stake that
they have promised us. Our discussion will focus on how to protect our
country's interests," he said.
The Myanmar plan was to raise the government's stake and that of a
Chinese firm in the dam to be built on the Salwaeen River in southern
Shan State which has drawn opposition from environmentalists.
The Myanmar government wants to raise its stake in the 7,000 megawatt
hydropower project to 25 percent from 10 percent and the Chinese stake
to 51 percent from 45 percent, Wichianchot said.
Thailand says democracy and human rights are internal affairs of
Myanmar -- the focus of international opprobrium since troops and
police killed at least 31 people in a crackdown on pro-democracy
protesters in September.
Despite international pressure on Myanmar and its neighbours not to do
business with the junta, Thailand remained the sole im****ter of
Myanmar gas in 2007, buying 55 percent more than it did a year
earlier.
Other bilateral issues Samak will raise include cooperation on
tackling drug trafficking and hundreds of thousands of illegal migrant
workers in Thailand, which shares a 2,400-km (1,500-mile) border with
Myanmar, his spokesman said.
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Rice defends dropping China from rights blacklist
From AFP on 2008-03-12 18:01:09 (posted on 2008-03-12 18:01:09)
WA****NGTON, March 12, 2008 (AFP) - US Secretary of State Condoleezza
Rice on Wednesday defended removing China from the State Department's
list of top human rights violators, citing renewed dialogue with
Beijing on such issues.
"We just got China to renew or to begin again the human rights
dialogue that had been in limbo for some time," Rice told re****ters.
In the State Department's annual re****t on human rights released
Tuesday, China was dropped from the list of the world's worst human
rights abusers, but was classified as an authoritarian country
undergoing economic reform and rapid social change that has "not
undertaken democratic political reform."
"The only purpose here was to call out that there are some countries
that are so closed, the Burmas (Myanmars) of the world, that you have
a different kind of problem when you have a country that is in many
ways completely closed off to the world," Rice said.
"But it is by no means suggesting that there is not significant
emphasis on human right problems in China," she added, amid rights
groups' concerns that the move was linked to Beijing's hosting of the
Olympic Games in August.
"If you read the re****t on China, it is quite harsh, and properly so,
about human rights problems in China," Rice added.
The re****t stressed that China's "overall human rights record remained
poor" in 2007, citing tightened controls on religious freedom against
Buddhists in Tibet and in Muslims in northwestern Xinjiang.
"The government also continued to monitor, harass, detain, arrest, and
imprison activists, writers, journalists, and defense lawyers and
their families, many of whom were seeking to exercise their rights
under the law."
Although there had been some progress in the legal system "efforts to
reform or abolish the reeducation-through-labor system remained
stalled," it said.
China had been fingered as one of the worst violators in the
Department's 2006 and 2005 re****ts.
This year North Korea and Myanmar were ranked among the world's worst
violators of human rights, while the State Department also took other
Asian countries to task for alleged abuses.
Christopher Hill, assistant secretary of state for East Asian and
Pacific affairs, meanwhile Wednesday credited Vietnam with making
great strides in economic and social reforms.
"But in human rights this is clearly a work in progress," he told a
Senate committee hearing, after returning from an Asian trip this
month that included talks in Hanoi.
"Social freedoms have increased. But there is no question that serious
deficiencies remain in political and civil liberties," he said, citing
a crackdown late last year that netted prominent Vietnamese
dissidents.
In his Hanoi meetings, Hill said he pressed Vietnamese officials for
the immediate release of the jailed dissidents, including Catholic
priest Nguyen Van Ly and a Vietnamese-American, Nguyen Quoc Quan.
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The Christian Science Monitor
Who's buying Burma's gems?
By Danna Harman
Tue Mar 11, 4:00 AM ET
Rangoon, Burma - It's the last hour of the last day of the gems
auction in Rangoon, and tired buyers are fanning themselves with worn
auction catalogs, and making their final bids.
Over the past five days, jade, rubies, sapphires, and close to $150
million have passed hands here, according to the Union of Myanmar
Economic Holdings Ltd., the consortium that dominates Burma's gemstone
trade and is owned by the defense ministry and a clutch of military
officers.
Who's buying? China, India, Singa****e, and Thailand are scooping up
Burma's stones. US first lady Laura Bush's efforts at a global boycott
of Burma's gems seem to have done little to reduce China's appetite
for Burmese jade to make trinkets and souvenirs to sell at the Summer
Olympics.
At this recent auction, 281 foreigners attended, leaving behind much-
needed foreign currency and generally turning the auction into a
resounding success, according to the state-run New Light of Myanmar
newspaper.
Mrs. Bush - and human rights campaigners - would not be pleased.
The first lady has taken on the military regime in Burma (Myanmar),
urging jewelers not to buy gems from a country where the undemocratic
rulers and their cronies amass fortunes selling off the country's
stones, as well as many of the county's other natural resources - such
as minerals, timber, gold, oil, and gas - but keep Burma's citizens in
abject poverty.
She has urged UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon to act more forcibly on
Burma and stood beside President Bush on several occasions recently as
he announced the growing list of US sanctions on the country. And, on
International Human Right's Day this past December, Mrs. Bush added
her voice to those seeking a global boycott on gems from Burma.
"Consumers throughout the world should consider the implications of
their purchase of Burmese gems," she said in a statement from the
White House. "Every Burmese stone bought, cut, polished, and sold
sustains an illegitimate, repressive regime."
According to Human Right's Watch (HRW), Burma's junta owns a majority
stake in each of the country's mines - many of them sitting on land
confiscated from local communities - sanctioning both unsafe working
conditions and forced and child labor. The European Union passed rules
in November banning im****ts of Burmese rubies and jade, and Canada and
the US Senate followed suit in December.
Worried about being associated with the junta's practices, some of the
world's biggest names in precious stones - including Frances' Cartier,
Italy's Bulgari, and the US-based Tiffany & Co., and Leber Jeweler
Inc. - have announced their own bans on Burma's gems.
But, clearly, not everyone has joined the bandwagon. At this January's
auction in Rangoon, according to the New Light of Myanmar, 600 lots of
jade were sold - a third more than at the last auction held in
November. By some estimates, jade alone now accounts for about 10
percent of Burma's yearly ex****t earnings. Rubies, in turn, remain
Burma's gem of choice; the country is re****tedly the source of close
to 90 percent of the world's supply. And Burma also ex****ts diamonds,
cat's- eyes, emeralds, topaz, pearls, sapphires, coral, and yellow
garnet.
The government's Myanmar Gem Enterprise - Burma's third largest ex****t
company after the state-run oil and timber companies - has said gem
sales have increased by 45 percent every year for the past three. The
gem auctions, held once or twice a year since 1964, are becoming more
frequent. All told, the official trade in Burma's gems, according HRW,
was valued at $297 million in fiscal year 2006-2007, but is estimated
to actually be much higher when factoring in unofficial sales.
Why haven't Western sanctions on Burma's gems - and the country's
other products - been more effective, even after so many years?
"The only sanctions that would work would be Chinese," asserts Robert
Rotberg, a professor of public policy at Harvard University's Kennedy
School. "The Chinese ... supply all the weapons and much of the
investment [to Burma]."
And, while gems are clearly a part of the problem, stresses Mr.
Rotberg, they are only the very tip of the iceberg. "The role of gems
is not huge ... compared with oil and gas, and opium smuggling," he
says. Overall, China, Thailand, and India re****tedly spend about $2
billion a year here on electricity, natural gas, oil and timber.
"China is the culprit here," explains Thai social critic and frequent
Burma commentator Acharn Sulak Sivaraksa. "Burma is sup****ted by
China. End of story. We need to liberate that country not only from
its own military junta but also from the imperialist Chinese."
Pressure on China - and to a smaller extent on India and Thailand - to
assume a more constructive role in Burma is mounting.
"It is in all our interests to address the poor governance that can
give birth to conflict and instability," British Foreign Secretary
David Miliband told students at the elite Peking University on a trip
to China last month. "When the incentives of global engagement do not
work, there will be cases for applying pressure," he said.
"Burma is on your border. You know it well," and outlined Britain's
view that Burma's military government is "brutal."
His carefully chosen words echoed those of Mrs. Bush: "President Bush
and I call on all nations - especially Burma's neighbors - to use
their influence to help bring about a democratic transition," she
said, addressing China in a December teleconference.
Recently, several Burmese human rights and opposition groups have
begun linking China's Burma policy to the upcoming Olympics - a
particularly unwanted development for Beijing. The Burmese "88
Students Generation" group issued a call two weeks ago appealing to
people around the world not to watch the s****ts events on TV, and the
Wa****ngton-based US Campaign for Burma has called on athletes to
boycott the games.
Linkage between Burma policy and the Olympics would be "inappropriate
and unpopular," responded Liu Jingmin, vice president of the Beijing
Olympics organizing committee, at an October press conference.
But whether or not it's the specter of the Burma issue mushrooming
into a rallying call of similar pro****tions to that the campaign
linking China's role in Sudan's Darfur region to the Olympics - such
pressure on China seems to be having some effect.
While there is no indication China will sanction Burma or even
dramatically change its basic working relation****p with the country -
China is famously averse to interfering in other country's internal
affairs - there are nonetheless small signs that Beijing's patience
with the military junta next door is waning and an eventual policy
****ft is possible.
"We sense China is changing its attitude," says U Han Than, a
spokesman for the Burmese opposition National League for Democracy
(NLD). "We have heard that high-ranking Chinese officials were here
and told the military generals they are not happy."
China's official news service did re****t, in November, that a special
envoy, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi, had been in Burma and
asked the military "to resolve the pending issues through
consultations so as to speed up the democratization process."
"China is trying harder to be constructive," says a Western diplomat
in Rangoon, speaking on condition of anonymity. "They don't care about
democracy or a political opening up, but they care about their
investments and the Olympics and don't want the sort of instability
that resulted from the September blunders of the government. They want
an economic opening up, which is not a bad start."
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MCOT - English News By Thai News Agency
PM Samak to visit Myanmar for energy cooperation
BANGKOK, March 13 (TNA) - Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej will pay an
official visit to Myanmar on Friday to boost cooperation in natural
gas and hydropower resources, denying that he would raise the issues
of democracy and minorities there.
Government Spokesman Pol.Lt-Gen. Wichienchote Sukchoterat said the
Prime Minister and his delegation will leave for Myanmar's new capital
of Naypyidaw.
His Myanmar counterpart Thein Sein will welcome Mr. Samak, who will
later officially meet junta chief Gen. Than Shwe.
Mr. Samak will also go to Yangon to preside over the opening of a new
Thai embassy, before visiting the Shwedagon Pagoda and returning to
Bangkok on Friday evening.
The Premier's trip is designed to allow him to introduce himself and
discuss bilateral cooperation in natural gas and hydropower resources,
said the spokesman.
Mr. Samak won't raise the issue of political developments in Myanmar
because it's a sensitive issue but it is expected to be raised during
the coming ASEAN summit.
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The Straits Times - March 13, 2008
Hundreds in Japan demonstrate against Myanmar junta
TOKYO - HUNDREDS of Myanmar nationals marched through Tokyo on
Thursday demanding the release of political detainees including
opposition democratic leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Activists called demonstrations in Tokyo and other major cities around
the world to mark the 20th anniversary of the incident that set off a
1988 uprising, which the military crushed killing more than 3,000
people.
Some 400 protesters, mostly those who fled junta-ruled Myanmar,
marched to Yangon's embassy in Tokyo where they held ****traits of
leaders including Aung San Suu Kyi, who has spent 12 of the last 18
years under house arrest.
Demonstrators held up banners reading: 'Myanmar needs a binding
resolution' and 'The Japanese government must put more pressure on the
junta.'
The military regime in September again broke up major anti-government
protests in which the United Nations estimates at least 31 people were
killed.
Myanmar has since announced plans for a constitutional referendum in
May designed to pave the way for elections in 2010.
While China, Russia and some South-east Asian nations call the
referendum a step in the right direction, the United States and other
Western countries say it aims to entrench the military's role.
The constitution would bar Aung San Suu Kyi from elections because she
was married to a foreigner, while a new law limits her party's ability
to campaign by criminalising public speeches and leaflets about the
referendum.
'We are against the constitution,' said Phone Myint Tun, a
demonstrator and refugee from Myanmar.
'It is a constitution to select people and make laws favoured by the
junta government.'
'We want to see the Japanese government cut down its economic and
political aid to the military government further,' he said.
Japan maintains aid and cordial diplomatic ties with Myanmar, in a
rare break from its Western allies, which are pressing for further
punishment of the regime.
But Japan cancelled nearly five million dollars (S$6.9 million) in
grants as a protest after September's crackdown in which a Japanese
journalist was shot dead in Yangon.
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TVNZ, New Zealand
Chinese presence in Myanmar uneasy
Mar 12, 2008 4:57 PM
Few people can claim justifiably to understand the relation****p
between Myanmar's secretive military rulers and China, their key
trading partner, arms supplier and diplomatic ally.
But if the man on the street in Mandalay is anything to go by, it will
be one ranging from mistrust to resentment to outright loathing,
suggesting Beijing's much-vaunted "influence" over its pariah
neighbour may be smaller than imagined.
Even though the former Burma's second city is one of the few places
where the economy appears to be going somewhere, thanks mainly to
Chinese capital and enterprise, most locals feel they are on the wrong
side of a deeply exploitative equation.
"The Chinese give us plastic, and they take our teak and gems," one
senior Buddhist monk in Sagaing, a town 20 km west of Mandalay, told
Reuters. "They give us one thing, but then take two."
Lu Maw, one of Mandalay's famed "Moustache Brothers" comedy trio,
reflects the views of many when he says the city, now home to as many
nondescript Chinese hotels as ancient Buddhist monasteries, should be
renamed "Capital of Yunnan", China's nearest province.
"I don't want to discriminate against the Chinese, but..." he says,
before launching into a series of jokes accusing businessmen from
southwest China of making millions selling heroin or doing dodgy deals
with even dodgier Burmese generals.
General xenophobia?
Whether street-level xenophobia translates into official outlook and
policy is, of course, a moot point, especially when it comes to
reading the minds of Myanmar's military junta, one of the world's most
closed regimes.
The only clues are hearsay and anecdote, such as that of the junta's
number two man Maung Aye, who has spent much of his military career
fighting Beijing-backed communists, ordering shop signs to be taken
down if Chinese lettering appeared above the Burmese.
But the question of anti-Chinese sentiment is an im****tant one, given
the West's almost total reliance on Beijing since September's anti-
junta protests to coax the generals towards political and economic
reform after 46 years of military rule.
Beijing is also acutely aware of the issue as it tries to buy billions
of dollars of Myanmar natural gas - gas that most of its 53 million
people think should be used to address the chronic energy shortages
that sat at the heart of last year's protests.
An acquiescent and stable Myanmar is also strategically vital to
Beijing's plans for an oil pipeline running from the Andaman Sea via
Mandalay to Yunnan to mitigate China's reliance on crude ****pments
through the Strait of Malacca.
"Our policy is to encourage Chinese companies to 'go out', whether
it's to Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar or wherever," Yunnan Communist Party
chief Bai Enpei told Reuters on the sidelines of China's annual
parliament meeting this month.
"Historically in Southeast Asia there has been a problem in places
where there are a lot of ethnic Chinese. But relations are gradually
getting better," he said.
"We cannot just go in and earn other people's money, selling stuff and
taking over projects. It must be win-win."
Kept in dark
At the height of September's crackdown, Yangon-based diplomats say
China did indeed pull out all the stops to get United Nations special
envoy Ibrahim Gambari into the country.
Beyond that, the amount of pressure Beijing can bring to bear on
Myanmar's recalcitrant generals is open to question.
China's curious admission last May that it had been kept in the dark
about the junta's 2005 move to a new capital - and its distinctly
unflattering account of the place - fuelled speculation that Beijing
may not enjoy privileged access.
Some diplomats also dispute the argument that the generals should or
could use the Chinese Communist Party's establishment of a free market
without ceding any political control as a blueprint for reform.
"The ability of China to influence the junta is way overplayed," one
Yangon-based diplomat said. "People say they should get the generals
to 'do a China or a Vietnam' and relax their grip over the economy
without ceding any political power.
"But they forget that it's the junta's stranglehold over every single
money-making enterprise in the country which is their power," said the
diplomat, who asked not to be named.
"They control everything, right down to the number of cars im****ted
each year."
********************************************************
The Inquirer
Online Free Expression Day looms
By Sylvie Barak: Wednesday, 12 March 2008, 3:20 PM
RE****TERS SANS FRONTIERES (RSF) has declared March 12th to be Online
free expression day and is asking people around the world to rally
around and join them in condemning cyber-censor****p.
The group has opened nine different virtual protest areas, which, in
the real world, protesters are banned from using to express their
views.
These include Cuba's Revolution Square, the streets of Rangoon in
Burma, Beijing's Tiananmen Square, Kim Il-Sung Square in Pyongyang,
North Korea, One Party State Square in Vietnam, People's Square in
Turkmenistan, Ben Ali Square in Tunisia, Prison Square in Eritrea, and
Hosni Mubarak Square in Egypt.
Mageek Square in Harrow somehow escapes approbation.
The RSF says, "We are giving all Internet users the op****tunity to
demonstrate in places were protests are not normally possible" and
reckons, "A response of this kind is needed to the growing tendency to
crack down on bloggers and to close websites".
Upon entering the site, users can create their own Avatars and make
themselves banners with slogans emblazoned across them. They can then
virtually march in any of the virtual arenas provided, without fear of
being run over by tanks, hit with rubber bullets or forced to recite
passages from The Rogister.
According to the RSF press release, over 2600 websites, blogs, or
forums were closed down and blocked by repressive governments last
year. It also claims that 62 people have been jailed for using the
Internet to voice their views.
As re****ted on several occasions by the Inq, governments often censor
sites and search results for various reasons. Video site YouTube is
blocked by one country or another every Tuesday and Thursday at least.
Online free expression day protests are running for 24 hours, until
10.00 GMT on March 13th, after which time repressive regimes are
presumably free to resume normal repression.
In addition to the nine countries singled out as virtual protest
venues, the group has also blacklisted a host of other countries for
their evil Internet restricting ways.
Zimbabwe and Ethiopia have been newly elevated to 'Internet Enemy'
status, where they join the ranks of Belarus, Burma, China, Cuba,
Egypt, Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, Turkmenistan,
Uzbekistan and Vietnam.
The group also warned that it was keeping a close eye on a further 11
countries, including Bahrain, Eritrea, Gambia, Jordan, Libya,
Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Thailand, United Arab Emirates and
Yemen.
The RSF is making a Handbook for Bloggers and Cyber-Dissidents
available in French and English on its website.
********************************************************
ASIA NEWS NETWORK
The Statesman - Publication Date: 13-03-2008
No hope in Myanmar
By Salman Haidar
Persistent efforts by UN envoy Ibrahim Gambari to encourage political
change in Myanmar seem to have had some impact but the further outcome
still remains uncertain. Over the last few months, Mr Gambari has been
three times to Myanmar to try to persuade the ruling junta to show
some flexibility towards their famous prisoner Daw Aung San Suu Kyi
and thereby open the road to democratic restoration.
The generals, who have reigned for a couple of decades with surly
disregard for internal protest and international criticism, were
jolted by last year's street protests led by Buddhist monks which
spread uncontrollably across the country and could only be suppressed
with difficulty and at heavy cost of life. The world was shocked and
alarmed, the UN Security Council came into the picture, and demands
for action against Myanmar's rulers were raised.
Human rights
Though no concerted action proved possible, the UN decided to send an
Envoy to Myanmar to try to improve human rights practices and
encourage advance towards democratic restoration. This is no easy
task: an earlier UN Envoy with much the same mission persevered for
some years but failed to get very far, the junta playing cat-and-mouse
with him, alternately encouraging and then shutting him out. However,
in the changed cir***stances and with stronger international backing,
Mr Gambari seems to have been able to make greater headway. He has had
a few meetings with the significant personalities of Myanmar,
including the military leaders and the incarcerated Suu Kyi.
At his urging, a Minister of Relations has been appointed, Aung Kyi,
regarded as a moderate, with the responsibility of seeking
reconciliation between the junta and its democratic opponents.
Suu Kyi herself has been sufficiently encouraged by these developments
to make hopeful statements over the last few months and has expressed
willingness to cooperate with the regime for the benefit of the
country. Most recently, Mr Gambari was once more in Myanmar a few days
ago where he again met the top personalities. Thus something seems to
be stirring.
Yet these hopeful signs are balanced by discouraging ones. For one, on
his latest visit Mr Gambari was unable to meet the chairman of the
junta Senior General Than Shwe. Nor did he succeed in persuading the
regime to permit a three-sided meeting between himself, Suu Kyi and a
representative of the regime. This proposal was dismissed as
"interference" and rejected with the usual rhetoric about upholding
national prerogative and refusing to bow to external pressure. Myanmar
is well practised in stonewalling attempts by the UN and other
international bodies to persuade it to modify its uncompromising way
of dealing with political opposition at home.
Thus Senior General Than Shwe announced not long ago that he was ready
to meet Suu Kyi, but what might have been an encouraging new
development was rendered practically worthless by tagging on the
condition that the meeting would be possible only if she stopped
opposing his regime.
As a result, some observers close to the scene are inclined to believe
that the small signs of flexibility extracted by Mr Gambari are
essentially intended to head off the tough sanctions that the UN
Security Council could well decide to impose. In this view, there is
no change of intent on the part of the junta, only an adjustment of
tactics to deal with an immediate problem.
In these cir***stances, there is at present little expectation that
the referendum on the new constitution for Myanmar called for May this
year will make any real difference. Mr Gambari had asked for
international observers to be permitted to oversee the referendum when
it takes place. That request has been dismissed amidst rhetorical
assertions of national prerogative, the request for observers being
treated as an infringement of Myanmar's sovereign rights.
For more than two decades, the junta has been able to maintain its
defiance of international opinion without taking any particular harm.
In this period Myanmar has expanded its reach by obtaining entry into
ASEAN, a body that is always reluctant to criticize the internal
policies of its member states, preferring to wean away transgressors
through quiet dialogue and persuasion.
Its human rights record and lapses from democratic form have often
been under scrutiny and criticism within ASEAN and elsewhere but
Myanmar has been impervious to the concerted voices arrayed against
it. There are enough divergences within the international community to
prevent a smooth and solid front taking shape against Myanmar, so that
the junta has been able to find ways of surviving, even prospering,
despite the offence it has provoked.
The USA has only recently renewed its economic sanctions for another
year, so that the total ban it has imposed on accepting any im****ts
from Myanmar remains in place. But there are others to take up the
slack, with the result that Myanmar is able to obtain all the goods it
needs from abroad, including the lethal weaponry it needs to help
perpetuate its rule. From the start, the principal supplier of goods
from abroad, including weapons, has been China whose policy of
engagement has never been deflected by international pressures.
The rapid growth of trade and communication links has underpinned a
well-established and expanding relation****p between the two countries.
In the neighbourhood, ASEAN has remained cautious in expressing and
acting upon its disapproval of Myanmar's policies. Thus for all the
international admiration showered on her, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's
incarceration has made no decisive difference thus far that would
compel the junta to adjust its ways.
India's dilemma
India's dilemma in dealing with Myanmar shows no sign of easing. Over
the years, Indian policy has become more accommodating of the reality
of Myanmar and a more pragmatic way of dealing with this neighbour has
taken shape, concerns about human rights and democracy
notwithstanding. Security considerations have been an im****tant
factor, for India's security concerns along its border with Myanmar
are real and cannot be set aside. Cooperation between the two is
necessary if militant groups that threaten both sides are to be
restrained.
The Home Secretaries of the two countries have just concluded a
successful meeting which will strengthen the cooperation between the
two sides in border areas. On a broader canvas, India finds it
necessary to respond to the growing strategic ties between Myanmar and
China which could take Myanmar into an orbit that India would find
uncomfortable. Hence India has felt impelled to take counterbalancing
initiatives of its own.
To be taken into consideration, too, is India's economic interest in
Myanmar's valuable reserves of natural gas which would be im****tant to
help sustain its headlong economic progress. Thus there is much that
drives India closer to its eastern neighbour, despite its sympathy for
Suu Kyi and uneasiness about the nature of the generals' regime.
The writer is India's former Foreign Secretary.
********************************************************
UCLA International Institute
Blind Eye in Burma
Multinational cor****ations that partner with the Burmese military and
military-led government share the responsibility for human rights
abuses, argue two representatives of EarthRights International at
UCLA.
By Barbara Gaerlan
Violence can escalate, as villagers gradually rebel and the military
retaliates.
While the energy industry has performed a remarkable feat in
delivering energy to a large percentage of humankind in a relatively
short period of time, the benefits of resource production often evade
the least advantaged actors, who bear the brunt of the negative
impacts. In Burma, also referred to as Myanmar, large-scale natural
gas projects have directly and indirectly led to violations of basic
human rights through the complicity of multinational cor****ate actors.
These abuses are ongoing.
This topic was the focus of a colloquium sponsored by the UCLA Center
for Southeast Asian Studies on March 11, 2008, which featured two
representatives from the Thailand office of EarthRights International,
Naing Htoo and Matthew Smith. Entitled "Energy Security: Security for
Whom?", the presentation *****sed the past, present, and future human
rights impacts of large-scale natural gas extraction in military-ruled
Burma, and the implications of these impacts for cor****ate
responsibility.
Specifically, the presentation focused on the ongoing human rights
abuses associated with the Yadana gas project in Burma operated by
cor****ations Chevron (USA), Total (France), and PTT (Thailand), and
the threat of future human rights impacts of the Shwe gas project in
Burma being funded by Daewoo International (South Korea).
EarthRights International does not claim that the cor****ations are
engaging in human rights violations themselves, but rather that they
partner with the repressive Burmese military regime. It is the Burmese
military, in its capacity as contractor for the big energy projects,
that commits the serious human rights abuses. The energy companies are
aware of the gravity of the problem--for example, Unocal settled a
lawsuit on the matter in 2005--but continue to do business with the
military.
The Yadana project involves offshore natural gas drilling and a series
of pipelines to ****p the gas across Burma primarily to Thailand, the
principal consumer. It was begun in the mid-1990s, and has been
accompanied by a litany of human rights abuses, following the military
coup in Burma in 1988.
Specifically, the Burmese military is accused of abusing ethnic
minority villagers in the areas through which the pipeline runs. The
government confiscated families' land for the pipeline project. People
were forcibly relocated from their traditional villages. Villagers
were conscripted to provide forced labor for clearing forests,
building roads and infrastructure such as army camps, and providing
pipeline security.
According to Smith and Htoo, even when major construction ended in
1998, the villagers' problems did not end. Construction is ongoing,
and security is often cited by the military as an excuse to harass
villagers trying to engage in their traditional livelihood activities
of farming and gathering. Villagers are also forced into trans****ting
material through the forest and doing road maintenance for the
military or the gas companies on an ongoing basis. Even on the rare
occasions when the oil companies pay villagers for their labor,
soldiers quickly extort the money from the payees and take it for
themselves.
Since this situation has been continuing for close to two decades,
violence can escalate, as villagers gradually rebel and the military
retaliates. Even more serious human rights violations have been
do***ented, such as torture, rape, and extrajudicial killings.
The large U.S. cor****ation involved in the Yadana project was
originally Unocal. Unocal was purchased by Chevron in 2005. It now
controls 28.6% of the Yadana project, in partner****p with French,
Thai, and Burmese cor****ations. In their public statements, the
companies in partner****p with this oppressive government do not
acknowledge any complicity in this worsening human rights situation.
On the contrary, following the large-scale protests violently put down
by the Burmese military last year, Chevron issued a statement saying,
"Our community development program[s] . . . help improve the lives of
the people they touch and thereby communicate our values, including
respect for human rights."
With the discovery of another large natural gas field offshore in
Burma in 2004, and the developing Shwe project that would construct
new pipelines in additional areas of Burma to send natural gas to both
China and India, EarthRights International and other concerned groups
are expressing alarm about the potential for further violations.
********************************************************
Bangkok Post - Thursday March 13, 2008
BURMESE POLITICS
Gambari leaves Burma empty-handed but undeterred
LARRY JAGAN
The UN's special adviser to Burma Ibrahim Gambari left Rangoon empty-
handed earlier this week.
"There has been no progress on any of the substantive issues raised by
the envoy," a western diplomat in Rangoon said. "There is no other
interpretation possible. This visit was an abject failure."
Mr Gambari immediately flew to Senegal to brief UN Secretary-General
Ban Ki-moon.
The fact he went directly to see the UN chief certainly suggests the
mission is in trouble.
"This probably means the end of Mr Gambari's efforts to mediate in
Burma's reconciliation process," a diplomat said.
But Mr Ban has already tried to counter this obvious conclusion.
"There was some progress but we have not been able to achieve as much
we had hoped," he said.
His departure has also left the UN and international community in a
quandary over how to deal with the junta.
The UN envoy arrived in Burma with hopes of discussing the military
regime's proposed plans for political change and encouraging them to
be more inclusive. But he was brutally rebuffed.
Mr Gambari was only allowed to meet relatively junior ministers in the
regime.
Information Minister Kyaw Hsan was the highest in the hierarchy to
greet him. He was, though, permitted to meet pro-democracy leader Aung
San Suu Kyi twice during his visit.
The fact Mr Gambari did not see any of the top generals, including
Than Shwe, speaks for itself. All his meetings this time were confined
to Rangoon and not the new capital Naypyidaw.
Mr Gambari's top priority on this trip was to press the regime to
include Mrs Suu Kyi and the pro-democracy opposition in the political
process.
"I will continue to press the [Burmese] government to engage with Aung
San Suu Kyi in a substantive dialogue in order to produce a positive
outcome that will promote an all-inclusive and transparent process,"
he said.
The envoy's trip followed the Burmese government's completion of the
country's new constitution and its announcement that it planned to
hold a referendum in May and new multi-party elections in 2010.
"Than Shwe's decision to set a time-table for the road map was a
strategic move to block both Maung Aye, his deputy, and the
international community, especially Gambari, from playing a role in
the process," said the diplomat.
The UN envoy knew he faced a daunting task trying to persuade the
regime to heed the international community's concerns, but remained
undeterred when he spoke on the eve of his visit.
"I will continue my consultations in Burma and follow up on a number
of recommendations I left with the government during my last trip in
November 2007," he said. "These include immediate steps to address the
human rights situation, progress on time-bound dialogue between the
government and Aung San Suu Kyi, the forthcoming referendum and the
electoral process, economic and humanitarian issues and a more
regularised process of engagement with [Mr Ban's] good offices," he
explained.
Among the recommendations he made last time he was in Rangoon was the
appointment of a government liaison minister to meet regularly with
Mrs Suu Kyi to be allowed to meet other members of her National League
for Democracy (NLD) party, especially the central executive committee.
These suggestions were virtually ignored, though Labour Minister Aung
Kyi was appointed to meet the opposition leader. There have been few
meetings between the two and only two meetings between Mrs Suu Kyi and
other NLD leaders since Mr Gambari's last visit.
Mr Gambari had also asked the junta for permission to set up an office
in Rangoon with regular contact with Mrs Suu Kyi.
But instead of Mr Gambari making any fresh headway on these issues, he
found the regime totally intransigent and unprepared to listen to him,
let alone make any concessions.
In two meetings with the government spokesman, General Kyaw Hsan
effectively humiliated the envoy.
In the first meeting the minister chided him for not being impartial
and being a stooge of the west.
At the same time he dismissed the envoy's recommendations as pointless
and unnecessary, especially the need for the UN to have its own
liaison office in Rangoon.
********************************************************
The Nation
PM looks to jump-start burma engagement policy
Supalak Ganja****hundee
Published on Mar 14, 2008
Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej hopes to jump-start the "neighbourly
engagement" policy toward military-ruled Burma during his one-day
visit to the country today.
The main objective is to have more engagement with the troubled
neighbour for mutual benefit and help the junta to achieve national
reconciliation and democracy, Foreign
Minister Noppadon Pattama said yesterday.
Samak's visit takes place after United Nations special envoy Ibrahim
Gambari left the country on Monday empty-handed.
The international community expects Thailand to play a significant
role in breaking the political deadlock in Burma, Noppadon said.
"We have a clear stance to see inclusiveness in Burma's political
process, but like other Asean members we will not interfere with the
internal affairs of Burma," the minister told re****ters.
As a result, Thailand will not insist that Burma allow opposition
leader Aung San Suu Kyi to participate in politics, he added.
However, Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy will be allowed to
participate in the constitution referendum despite the military-
drafted charter prohibiting her from being actively involved in
politics, he said.
The "neighbourly engagement" policy will be the best of both worlds
between sanctions and full engagement, said Noppadon.
"We have many mutual interests with Burma, but we don't engage with
our neighbour only for our benefit or to bring any conflict of
interest in the relations," he said.
Thailand will offer Burma its experience in the development of
democracy and Samak will
offer advice to the Burmese junta over the constitutional referendum,
which is scheduled for May.
Beside the political issues, the two countries will sign an agreement
to promote and protect investments and PTT will renew negotiations to
purchase natural gas from the Yadana field in the Gulf of Mataban,
Noppadon said.
Cooperation for producing hydropower from the Tasang Dam on the
Salween River will also be on the agenda.
Samak will also discuss cooperation on land-route trans****tation, as
Thailand will offer Bt800 million in aid to build a 40-kilometre
stretch of road in Burma, the foreign minister said.
********************************************************
The Nation
Going nowhere in burma
Published on Mar 14, 2008
Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej's visit to troubled neighbour Burma
today should not be merely an introductory trip; it must be seen as a
chance to address imperatives in our relations and to end the
political deadlock in the military-ruled county.
The visit took place only days after the UN special envoy, Ibrahim
Gambari, ended a five-day visit empty handed, having not achieved
anything toward national reconciliation and democracy in the country.
The international community expects Thailand, as Burma's immediate
neighbour and the next chair of Asean, to do more. During last year's
Asean meeting, Thai ministers were bombarded by questions as to why
Thailand, which has big business interests in Burma, has not done more
to push the junta toward democracy and human rights protection. Tough
action from Bangkok sometimes backfires, souring relations between the
two neighbours. But this reality should not prevent the government
from taking action to move Burma in the right direction.
The Thai government has to use a calculated and delicate approach, to
ensure that it balances the interests of the people against
international calls for intensifying pressure on the junta. The newly
announced policy of "neighbourly engagement" with the junta, to
balance the extreme approaches of sanctions and full engagement,
should be seen as a mechanism to push things forward. However, the
Asean tradition of "non-interference" is actually a policy to maintain
the status quo.
The government wants to see "all inclusiveness" in Burma's political
process but declined to say if opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi
should be allowed to participate. Such a stance will ensure nothing
changes. If this elected government really believes in democracy for
Thailand, it should also believe that democracy will be a good thing
for Burma. It's good to know that Samak will share information about
the Thai constitution. The Burmese junta will hold a referendum to
endorse the military sponsored constitution in May. But the PM, who is
bitter at the current Thai constitution, should know that the text of
a constitution is more im****tant than the referendum process. The
military-drafted constitution, which bars Aung San Suu Kyi from
participating in the political process, is absolutely undemocratic. If
the prime minister feels the prohibition of 111 Thai politicians from
politics is unfair, the same logic should apply to the disbarring of
Aung San Suu Kyi.
Samak wanted to concentrate on business talk with the Burmese generals
- on investment protection and energy cooperation. This is fine for
relations, but he shouldn't forget that doing pure business with Burma
is impossible. Good diplomats know that business is an effective tool
to achieve political goals. Let the prime minister, who claims to love
democracy, exercise his ideology and skill to bring about democratic
change in our neighbour. That will be the only sustainable way to
improve relations with Burma.
********************************************************
Mizzima News - March 13, 2008
Burmese activists disappear mysteriously
Maung Dee
New Delhi - In yet another instance of mysterious disappearance, three
Burmese activists in Rangoon have been missing since Wednesday
evening, close friends said.
Families and friends believe that Kyaw Kyaw belonging to the
clandestine activist group, the Generation Wave (GW), Thiha and Yan
Naing Thu from the People's Union, who have been conducting poster
campaigns, distributing banned political VCDs and DVDs, have been
arrested by the police.
"I heard that many were arrested from their meeting place. And when
family members called Yan Naing Thu, an elderly man replied saying
'don't worry, we will tell him to call you back'. But when family
members called back, the cell phone was switched off," a close friend
of Yan Naing Thu told Mizzima.
While Thiha and Yan Naing Thu were believed to have been arrested on
Wednesday night, family members said Kyaw Kyaw might have been
arrested in the afternoon.
"They were being watched everywhere as their work was visible. It
seems the authorities finally spotted their meeting place," added the
friend.
However, the whereabouts of the activists and details of their alleged
arrests could not be independently verified.
Family members and friends, however, said they are worried about their
well-being, as the Burmese authorities have a tradition of severely
torturing when interrogating detainees.
Another activist, who has experienced severe torture in Burmese
detention centres said, "We are made to sit the whole day on sharp
stones, sometimes burnt with cigarette butts and hit hard on our backs
with batons. I wasn't even a leader, but since they are leaders, they
are likely to be severely tortured."
Friends and colleagues said authorities had recently arrested four
members of the GW. And the authorities might have interrogated and
tortured them to know the whereabouts of Kyaw Kyaw and his friends.
********************************************************
Mizzima News - March 12, 2008
Detained Burmese veteran urges to convene Parliament
Nay Thwin
Chiang Mai - Veteran journalist U Win Tin who is serving a long prison
term today urged the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) from
Insein prison to convene the Parliament.
He conveyed this message today to the outside world through his friend
who regularly visits him in prison. Today is his 78th birthday.
"His stance is as before, 'Release, convene parliament and dialogue'.
He said that his stance remains unchanged no matter how the situation
changes. First to release all political prisoners including Daw Suu,
and then convene the parliament and start a dialogue," his friend U
Maung Maung Khin who met U Win Tin in prison three days ago said.
His birthday was celebrated by his friends at the residence of one of
his friends, U Ohn Tun, at Kyaukone, Yankin Town****p. It was attended
by about a dozen of his friends and colleagues, Maung Moe Thu, Maung
Wun Tha, Tetkatho Ko Ko Gyi, U Thar Pan, U Sein Hla Oo, U Ohn Kyaing
among others.
"Saya U Win Tin devoted his whole life and time to politics and
journalism. He is a unique and distinguished person who dedicated his
whole life for others. He never saved his earnings for himself,
donated it all for the education of the sons and daughters of his
colleagues," journalist U Ohn Kyaing recalled.
U Ohn Kyaing worked as an Assistant Editor under editor-in-chief U Win
Tin when the 'Hanthawaddy' daily was being published.
U Win Tin devoted his full time and energy to journalism while he was
serving the 'National League for Democracy' (NLD) party apart from his
daily six hours of sleep.
"He is also sacrificing now for his conscience, truth and for the sake
of the people and their welfare. He is serving the people with a clear
conscience like a saint with full zeal and perseverance," he added.
The 'Hanthawaddy' daily was published and struggled in the anti-
colonial period for a long time. Then it was nationalized in 1968 by
BSPP government and then ****fted to Mandalay in 1969. Then U Win Tin
became the editor-in-chief of the paper.
But the newspaper didn't become the mouthpiece of the 'Burma Socialist
Program Party' (BSPP) government while he was its editor-in-chief. He
****trayed and expressed the injustices and wrong doings of the then
party and government functionaries in articles, editorials and news
re****ts. So the government closed his daily paper in 1978.
"Saya believed that the media must be the interpreter of the people,
must reflect the people's life and stand with the people and must
defend the people," U Ohn Kyaing said.
"I remember U Win Tin the most, though many people are talking about
Daw Suu. He has to suffer without any reason. I can see him if he is
released before I die, " noted journalist Ludu Daw Ahmar, who admires
U Win Tin as if he were her own son, said though she could not attend
the small celebration in person.
Veteran Burmese journalist Ludu Daw Ahmar, age 92, lives in Burma's
second largest city of Mandalay.
U Win Tin, one of the im****tant leaders of NLD, was sentenced to three
years in prison in 1989 under section 216 of Criminal Code, then
imprisoned again for another 12 years for lodging a complaint against
the human right violations in prison to the UN, and then finally
imprisoned again for 7 years in 1996.
U Win Tin joined the NLD from its very inception as a member of the
intelligentsia and was regarded as the political advisor of Daw Aung
San Suu Kyi.
He was awarded the UNESCO/ Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize
and World Association of Newspapers' Golden Pen of Freedom Award in
2001, and again awarded Winner of Re****ter Without Border by RSF in
2006.
Sayagyi U Win Tin underwent a hernia operation in Rangoon General
Hospital on January 25 and now his health situation is better.
NLD Vice-Chairman U Tin Oo who has been under house arrest since May
2003 Depayin massacre, has attained 81 today too.
********************************************************
Political detainee collapses at court hearing
Mar 13, 2008 (DVB)-A political detainee fainted twice at court
yesterday when he and four others were brought from Insein prison to
Kyauktada town****p court for a hearing, the group's lawyer said.
Ko Aung Zaw Oo, Ko Kyaw Kyaw Lin, Ko Kyaw Zin Win, Ma Kyi Kyi Wah and
one other person were brought to Kyauktada town****p court yesterday to
face charges of unlawful association and of illegal border crossing
under section 13/1 of the Immigration Law.
The group's defence lawyer U Khin Maung Shein said that Ko Aung Zaw,
who suffers from a weak heart, fainted first while in the holding cell
and then again in the corridor on the way to the courtroom.
"Aung Zaw Oo collapsed in the holding cell of Kyauktada town****p
court, and we had to call in a doctor," Khin Maung Shein said.
The doctor could not give Aung Zaw Oo an injection because of his
condition, but gave him some tablets instead, the lawyer said.
"On bringing him in to the courtroom he collapsed again at the
staircase at around 3.30pm," Khin Maung Shein said.
Khin Maung Shein said that everyone in the group seemed to be in poor
health, with Aung Zaw Oo in the worst condition.
After the court hearing, Khin Maung Shein tried to have Aung Zaw Oo
sent to hospital, but the authorities would not let him go, despite a
letter from the doctor.
Three other people held over the same case, Ko Zarni, Ko Ye Thway and
Ma Htet Htet Aung, were released around two weeks ago.
********************************************************
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