BurmaNet News: May 9 2003

[editor at burmanet.org]

May 9 2003 Issue #2233

INSIDE BURMA

Asian Tribune: Hunger still rampant in Burma-Asian Human Rights Commission
DVB: Daw Aung San Suu Kyi in Shwebo District Sagaing Div.
AFP: UN body fears for Myanmar’s plans for ancient Pagan
AP: Myanmar junta says it is serious about improving human rights
Irrawaddy: Small protests, small steps

MONEY

Myanmar Times: Rice output to rise, forecast economist
Guardian: City diary
PR Week: Burma Campaign targets Orient Express for boycott

DRUGS

Nation: War on Drugs: Wa redirect ya ba to new markets
AFP: Traffickers pursue new markets after Thai anti-drug blitz

INTERNATIONAL

Irrawaddy: Report on ethnic politics draws contrasting views
AFP: Myanmar irked by US criticism, urges end to sanctions
AP: Britain gives US $281,6000 for Myanmar environmental projects

REGIONAL

PR: Ratchaburi to be pushed into limelight as Thai-Myanmar trade area

STATEMENTS

EU Presidency: EU Presidency declaration on the declaration by the
acceding, associated and EFTA countries
AHRC: Hunger still rampant in Burma

INSIDE BURMA

Asian Tribune May 9 2003

Hunger still rampant in Burma - Asian Human Rights Commission

The People of Burma need to eat today, but everyday millions of people in
Burma go starving and Asian Human Rights Commission alleges that its
attention has been brought to the role of the military government in Burma
in denying the people the right to food.

The full text of the statement issued by the Hong Kong based Asian Human
Rights Commission (AHRC) is given below:

Burma is a fertile country with abundant resources. In years gone by it
was said that nobody ever starves in Burma. This has long ceased to be the
case. Empirical evidence suggests that every day millions of people there
go hungry, hundreds of thousands are seriously malnourished, and that some
are indeed starving.
This May, with the launch of the Permanent People’s Tribunal on the Right
to Food and the Rule of Law in Asia, attention has again been brought to
the role of the military government in Burma in denying people the right
to food. Extensive research by the secretariat of the new Tribunal
suggests that conditions there have not improved since the report of the
earlier People’s Tribunal on Food Scarcity and Militarization in Burma
(Voice of the Hungry Nation, October 1999).

In 2003, a villager in the east of Burma displaced by army operations
feels both hunger and the absurdity of going hungry in this land of
plenty. Speaking with embarrassment, he tells a researcher, “We can’t even
feed our own children. I don’t like to say such things... I’m a man, but I
can’t even feed my children.” An historian in the capital suggests that
religious ritual won’t bring economic and social prosperity, and is
promptly blacklisted by the authorities. A farmer in another region
failing to supply sufficient rice to the authorities is hospitalized after
being tortured by the police.

That police can torture a farmer as punishment for a poor crop speaks to
how utterly perverted ‘law enforcement’ becomes in the hands of an
authoritarian government. It also points to the universality of rights. In
Burma, where every state directive is aimed ultimately at ensuring the
supremacy of the armed forces, food is denied through state-managed
violence. Torture is used to obtain rice. Fear is instilled to deprive
people of basic economic rights and retard their capacity to react. Denial
of the right to food is the corollary of the non-rule of law. The fight
against the torture of a farmer, the silencing of an historian and the
dislocation of a villager is concomitant with the fight to create and
maintain the space necessary to struggle for adequate food.

In October 2000, the government of Burma established a human rights
committee chaired by the Minister for Home Affairs, Colonel Tin Hlaing.
The committee hasn’t been heard of much since, despite its ample
sub-committees, training programmes conducted by foreign ‘experts’, and
occasional workshops. The Asian Human Rights Commission would be
interested to know the position of the committee on the massive violations
of economic and social rights in Burma. It would like to ask its chairman
what he is doing. Two and a half years of silence are long enough: the
credibility of any human rights committee, and its partners, rests on
practical monitoring, reporting and preventing of human rights abuse, not
least of all, violations of the right to food. So again, what is the
committee doing? The people of Burma need to eat today.
__________

Democratic Voice of Burma May 8 2003

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi in Shwebo District Sagaing Division

It is reported that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and team who have set out to
rally people in Kachin State since the 6th of May have arrived at Shwebo,
Khin Oo and Kantbalu in Sagaing Division.
Although they planned to open the township NLD office in Shwebo, the local
authority didn’t give them permission to open the office because the
office site is said to be arable farmland, said the NLD’s spokesman U
Lwin.
At Khin Oo, she opened the local NLD youth office and continued to
Kantbalu. Although they met and discussed with the local NLD organising
committee at Kantbalu, there was no official opening of the township
office. U Lwin didn’t give any reason why there was no opening ceremony at
Kantbalu.
At Shwebo, although the local people were told by the authorities not to
welcome Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, people warmly welcomed her. Daw Aung San Suu
Kyi and team left Mandalay at 7 o’clock this morning and U Lwin told the
DVB about the trip to Shwebo as follows:
U Lwin : The people from Sagaing welcomed them from the eastern side of
Sagaing Bridge over the Irrawaddy. The well-wishers came along with them.
There were quite a lot of people, I was told. It was from Hlataw, a big,
well-known village that the people from Shwebo came to welcome them. The
people from villages along the way gave them garlands and flowers. Once,
they were in Shwebo, there were many people. At Phonepwe or Konepwe, they
encountered about ten women sitting by the roadside. They asked the women
out of curiosity, ‘What are you doing here?’ We wanted to go into town but
if we did that we would be arrested we were told. We are afraid, they
said. ‘Other people are going there,’ they told the women. But the women
were very pleased that they have met Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. Then, the team
entered the town. In the town, there were many people. Cars put their
headlights on and honked their horns. Motorcycles did the same. That’s how
they welcomed her. We would welcome her, whatever the situation is, they
said. No one was afraid or worried to welcome her.
At Shwebo, Buddhist monks also welcomed Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and a local
resident and a monk told the DVB about the harassment of the USDA members
as follows:
A local resident : She arrived at Shwebo at 11.30 am. They didn’t manage
to open the office at Shwebo. She addressed to the population. Many people
welcomed her. There must be 4, 5, 6 thousand people. You have to say that
they came out to welcome her despite the intimidation. There was a little
problem with the USDA. They gave a cassette tape to Daw Suu on the arrests
of NLD youth. Ko Soe Myint, a member of the USDA swore at everyone he saw.
They followed close behind the convoy of cars to the NLD office in three
DYNAs (pickup trucks) filled with passengers. It finished at 1.30pm. The
team continued to Kantbalu. From there, they are heading to Zeegone.
A monk : At the outside of the town, the people welcomed her with the
shouts: ‘Health and wealth to Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’. Then, they entered
the town straight away. There were six or seven cars behind her. She was
going to rest awhile in the northern part. I saw her fleetingly. It was
late. She was inside a glass door. We waited for her at Aungmyeseik.
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi was said to be very annoyed by the forceful and
intrusive photographers of the authorities (who insisted on taking
pictures of her everywhere). The incident will be reported to the people
concerned at the end of the trip, said U Lwin as follows:
U Lwin : She told them that they should not be saying [doing] what they
were saying [doing] to her. With whatever reasons they were taking the
pictures, she had already been photographed at the right place, she said.
It is not right for them to take photographs during the night. I will
demand the people concern to take action against them, she said. At
Shwebo, the authorities threatened people. People came to welcome her
despite the intimidations.
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and team will stopover at Zeegone, near Kantbaly
tonight and tomorrow, they will be setting off to Kawlin, Wuntho, Katha,
Indaw. On the day after tomorrow, they will start the journey to the
capital of Kachin State, Mtikyina and Monyin.
___________

Agence France Presse May 9 2003

UN body fears for Myanmar's plans for ancient Pagan

The United Nations cultural body voiced alarm Friday over military-ruled
Myanmar's reported plans to build a 60-metre viewing tower in the ancient
city of Pagan.

The first public mention of the proposed construction of the Nanmyint
Tower came last month in the state-run New Light of Myanmar, which said
junta leader Senior General Than Shwe had inspected the site.

He was told "that the 198-feet high Nanmyint Tower will be built near
Bagan Golf Course in Bagan ancient cultural region," the report said,
adding the project would take a year to complete.

Richard Engelhardt, UNESCO's Bangkok-based advisor for culture in Asia and
the Pacific, told AFP he had only just heard of the report and expressed
worry over the plans.

"We are definitely concerned about any plans to develop any kinds of new
infrastrucure within a protected area, or impacting on the protected
area's buffer zone," he said. "For example, a big tower, even if not
inside the site, would impact on the site visually."

Pagan, hosting thousands of 11th century stupas and temples spread over 40
square kilometres in central Myanmar, is its most important archaeological
heritage site and is a mainstay of a fledgling tourism industry.

It has not formally been inscribed as a World Heritage site. According to
Engelhardt, UNESCO is awaiting information from Yangon before it can be so
labelled.

"What we're awaiting is not particularly controversial but we are waiting
to receive these from the Myanmar government and when they are received,
the nomination process will be picked up again and will continue on," he
said.

The process, he said, had already been ongoing for "a couple of years".

There is no statutory obligation for Yangon to consult UNESCO on the
project.
"But one would imagine there should be some good faith, some information
sharing, and that UNESCO's advice should be solicited in anticipation of
the inscription of the site on the World Heritage list," he said.

"Normally the construction of a large new structure inside an
archaeological site is something that we would not endorse."

From the photographs of the plans accompanying the report, Engelhardt said
"this tower would certainly be out of scale with the rest of the site, and
it would therefore detract visually from the importance of the historical
monuments."

A Western diplomat described the plans to erect the tourist tower as
"crazy."

"The beauty of Pagan will be disfigured," said the diplomat who asked not
to be identified. "It is a crime. It is reminiscent of what happened to
the Buddhas in Bamiyan (in Afghanistan, which were destroyed by the
Taliban regime) and the looting in Baghdad."
________

Associated Press May 9 2003

Myanmar junta says it is serious about improving human rights

Myanmar's military government Friday insisted that it is serious about
improving its human rights record, and rejected U.S. criticism that it has
done little to promote democracy.

A government statement faxed to The Associated Press in Bangkok said
opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi's party and other political groups
"have unparalleled freedom to conduct their activities and (political)
prisoners are being released at a steady pace."

The statement was in response to comments by U.S. State Department
spokesman Richard Boucher on Tuesday that Myanmar's junta has failed to
open a dialogue with Suu Kyi despite releasing her from house arrest a
year ago.

Boucher also acused the regime of oppressing its people, harassing Suu Kyi
in her travels and limiting her party's activities.

In response, the junta statement said it has been "reforming its own
internal procedures and practices through human rights programs - run by
outside humanitarian groups - that have been going on for more than two
years."

It said "hundreds of people in all branches of the government have been
trained (in human rights) and the results are widely felt throughout the
country." It did not elaborate.

The statement said the United States should "help lay the foundation for a
smooth transition to democracy" in Myanmar by lifting economic sanctions
and helping it in its drug eradication efforts.

Myanmar, also known as Burma, has been ruled by the military since 1962.
The current group of generals came to power in 1988 after crushing a
pro-democracy movement. It called elections in 1990 but refused to hand
over power to Suu Kyi's party despite its convincing victory.

A reconciliation process started in October 2000 between the two sides has
yielded no tangible result except the release of a few hundred political
prisoners while about 1,500 more remain jails.

Meanwhile, the Japanese government on Friday welcomed the May 4 release of
21 political prisoners including 12 members of Suu Kyi's party, a Japanese
Foreign Ministry statement said.

"The Government of Japan expects that the government of Myanmar will
expand its release of political prisoners. Japan also has a firm hope
that, through the release of political detainees, basic human rights in
Myanmar will be improved, contributing to the nation's democratization and
national reconciliation process," it said.
_____________

Irrawaddy May 9 2003

Small Protests, Small Steps
By Kyaw Zwa Moe

As the military’s unyielding command over the people of Burma continues,
several acts of defiance in the form of one-man protests have tried to
unsteady the junta’s hold. Meanwhile, international pressure has also
helped weaken the junta’s stance, as their patience’s for the regime
continues to wane.
However small and short, the protests in Rangoon over the past few years
have managed to put a thorn or two in the junta’s side. Born out of the
people’s frustration over the political deadlock, economic problems,
rising poverty and persecution, the small demonstrations have been
desperate calls for change. Protestors have taken enormous risks, as they
know they will surely be thrown behind bars for their actions.
Since Nov 2001, when university professor Dr Salai Tun Than, 75, was
arrested for protesting outside Rangoon City Hall, there have been four
additional small demonstrations. Dr Salai Tun Than’s seven-year sentence
was cut short last Friday after the regime released him from Insein Prison
on humanitarian grounds.
The same day Dr Salai Tun Than was released, a 48-year-old retired army
sergeant, Kyaw Kyaw, handcuffed himself to an electricity pole near the
headquarters of the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) in
Rangoon. Sources said he was shouting slogans and held a banner that
echoed a speech delivered by Burmese independence hero Gen Aung San. His
banner read: "The Tatmadaw [armed forces] is for the country, the country
is not for the Tatmadaw."
Two or three other men accompanied Kyaw Kyaw and distributed a letter he
had written outlining his political demands. The letter called for
military leaders to immediately enter into dialogue with opposition leader
Aung San Suu Kyi, to release all political prisoners and to find a
solution to Burma’s mounting economic woes. Within minutes, military
intelligence officers arrested Kyaw Kyaw though his companions were able
to escape.
Kyaw Kyaw will likely be sentenced from seven to14 years for his short and
contained demonstration, joining other protestors in Burma’s prisons.
Rangoon University law students Thet Naung Soe and Khin Maung Win were
sentenced to 14 and seven years respectively after their protest in August
2002. Two Buddhist nuns are still being held for a demonstration in front
of Rangoon City Hall on Jan 16, but have yet to be sentenced. The junta
accused the women of having links to exiled dissident groups, though
groups in exile deny any connection.
These sorts of protests have created a headache for Burma’s military leaders.
On Apr 4, two protestors demonstrated in front of the British Embassy in
Rangoon. One of the protestors, a monk, was arrested, while the other, a
student, took refuge in the Embassy compound. Reports indicate that the
student is still inside the Embassy and is seeking political asylum, as he
fears persecution, according to a statement from the Thai-based All Burma
Federation of Student Unions (ABFSU).
The ABFSU says the student is a member of the People Students’ Oway Front
(PSOF), a new movement formed by students from universities and high
schools across Burma. Another eight students have reportedly been arrested
for their connections to the PSOF and the Apr 4 protest. "We have concerns
that these students might be tortured at military interrogation centers,
and be accused of terrorist crimes," said Min Naing, a spokesperson from
the ABFSU’s Foreign Affairs Committee.
With pressure at home, the junta has also had to fend off lobbying from
abroad. Clearly, Western governments are losing patience with military
leaders as they continue to delay talks with Suu Kyi.
US State Department Spokesman Richard Boucher criticized the junta in a
statement released on May 6. "A year after Aung San Suu Kyi’s release from
house arrest, it is past time for the people of Burma to enjoy basic human
rights and economic development," Boucher’s statement said.
The US State Department applauded Suu Kyi’s unwavering determination and
called on the regime to take its own declarations seriously and move
towards restoring multiparty democracy.
Britain joined the chorus as Foreign Office Minister Mike O’Brien charged
the junta with wasting the 12 months since Suu Kyi was released, and doing
nothing to aid the reconciliation process. "There is no reasonable excuse
for the military authorities to further delay substantive political
dialogue," O’Brien said.
The pressure might be mounting, but the junta’s hold on power remains
firm. Up to 1,400 political prisoners remain behind bars and Suu Kyi
continues to be harassed on her political organizing trips throughout
Burma. As long as this scenario continues, we can only expect to see more
protestors risking everything in Rangoon. And, we too can only hope to see
international pressure maintained.

MONEY

PR Week May 9 2003

Burma Campaign targets Orient Express for Boycott
by Joe Lepper

The Burma Campaign UK is preparing a media offensive against hotel and
travel firm orient Express as part of its campaign urging firms to boycott
the country.

Following its success last week in persuading Europe's sixth-largest
travel firm Kuoni to pull out of Burma, the charity has released a
statement saying: 'we will now be turning our attention to Orient Express,
one of the last significant tour operators left in Burma.'

Orient express is just on of around 60 companies on the charity's list of
firms that invest in the country. Burma's ruling regime is labelled by the
charity as one of the most oppressive in the world.

Within weeks, representatives of the Burma campaign UK will attempt to
meet with senior staff at Orient Express - the sea Containers-owned firm
best known for its train services - to urge it to stop running its Road to
Mandalay cruise ship in the country.

The charity will also tell the company it has compiled a report of Orient
Express's activities in Burma, details of which will be released as part
of a media relations offensive.

Burma Campaign UK media officer mark Farmaner said: 'We will explain the
situation in Burma and ask them (Orient Express) politely to pull out. If
they do not, then we will run a full-scale campaign against them.'

He said the same tactics were used with Kuoni, which announced its
decision to withdraw before the threat of a media relations offensive was
put into action.

Orient Express PR manager for trains and cruises Kathryn Malone said: 'The
company employs some 150 Burmese people, to whom it also gives training,
secure employment and prospects of advancement.

'Orient Express...takes the view that opening up countries to tourism and
interaction between ordinary people is a positive move.'

She added that any decision to mount a counter-offensive media campaign
would be taken in private.



______________

Myanmar Times May 9 2003

Rice output to rise, forecasts economist

THE decision to liberalise the trade in rice offers enormous benefits,
says a leading economist.

The move would provide a powerful incentive for farmers to increase
production which would make more rice available for export, said U Myat
Thein, a retired rector of Yangon Institute of Economics.

“The private sector is quite responsive to what it is called price
incentives,” said U Myat Thein, citing the success of the liberalisation
of the market in beans and pulses which has seen Myanmar become the
world’s second largest exporter of the commodities after Canada.
Myanmar earned more than US$309 million from the export of 1.1 million
tonnes of beans and pulses in 2001-2002. Exports in 1987-1988 totalled 75
tonnes.

U Myat Thein said the benefits of liberalising the rice market could be
tangible within three to four years.

He said the government must create a business environment that facilitates
fair competition.
It was also important that timely information about supply and demand and
market prices was available to the industry.

U Myat Thein said the government must be prepared to subsidise rice prices
for urban workers for a few years after the introduction of the policy, he
said.

The business community has welcomed government’s move to open the rice
trade to market forces.

“The move, which takes effect from the coming harvest season, is expected
to result in increased production and higher farm incomes,” said U Sein
Win Hlaing, the secretary general of the Union of Myanmar Federation of
Chambers of Commerce and Industry.

Farmers would be among the greatest beneficiaries of the move, U Sein Win
Hlaing said. The opening of the rice market was also expected to lead to
the liberalisation of inputs such as fertiliser, which was crucial to
increase production, he said.
_____________

Guardian May 9 2003

City diary
By Richard Adams

* The revelation that Ken Clarke gave a parliamentary committee some
exaggerated pay figures for British American Tobacco's workers in Burma
will do nothing to improve relations between Clarke, a non-executive
director of BAT, and the rest of the board. Things appeared to be at a low
ebb last month when the former chancellor criticised Burma's regime at
BAT's annual meeting, calling it "not one of the most attractive
governments in the world". According to those in the audience, chairman
Martin Broughton appeared to "pull a face" as Clarke made his remarks.
Members of BAT's upper echelons are said to be unhappy with Clarke - as a
non-executive director, Ken got pounds 125,000 last year. The feeling may
now be reciprocal: BAT presumably supplied Clarke with the pounds
30-a-month average pay figure, which the company now admits should be
pounds 16. * Dates for your diary: August 20-23: Dry Toilet 2003, the
first international dry toilet conference, held in Tampere, Finland. "The
topics will be discussed in sessions which include expert lectures and
excursions", including a visit to Environmental Know-How Park. "This park,
located only four kilometres from Tampere city centre, is home to
Finland's largest permanent compost and dry toilet exhibition." And, on
September 30: the 10th Mediterranean gas conference.

* Times are indeed tough in the world of financial publishing, as we can
see from the May 8 edition of Professional Advisor magazine - "investment
news and financial planning". The front page lead story is about a new
product launch by Skandia life assurance, as is the article beneath. And
the one below that. And both side items. In fact, every single news story
is about Skandia products. Turn the page and there's an exact replica of
the front cover, the only difference being that none of the articles
mentions Skandia products. This, in the trade, is known as a wrap-around,
but these usually carry an "advertisement" tag. So close a facsimile is it
that even the magazine's journalists are said to have been fooled by the
advertorial.

* Necessity being the mother of invention, hats off to the quick-thinking
people of southern Taiwan, where strong demand for surgical masks has led
a lingerie factory to start converting one of its products into protective
gear. "Fight Sars by wearing bras," is the advertising jingle yet to be
written.

* Making sport with people's names is not something we do. "My son-in-law
was offered a job in a rather large city in the south-east of England,"
writes a coy Mike Mitchell, "but turned it down as he would have had to
talk to his friends about his new chief executive who was named Richard
Head." Nothing funny about that. But it is good to hear our old friend the
US federal trade commissioner, Orson Swindle, speaking out against email
spam.

DRUGS

Nation May 9 2003

'WAR ON DRUGS': Wa redirect ya ba to new markets
By Mary Longmore

Thai crackdown sees pills flowing into Laos, India

Laos, Cambodia and India are finding more methamphetamine pills turning up
on their streets as traffickers spooked by Thailand's war on drugs turn to
new, safer markets.

Sandro Calvani, head of the United Nations' drugs and crime regional
centre for East Asia and the Pacific, said on Wednesday that he feared it
was "just the beginning" for Thailand's neighbours, which until now had no
serious problems with amphetamines.

Speed pills bearing the stamp of the Wa, an ethnic force in Burma that
produces many of the illicit drugs in Southeast Asia, have been seized in
Laos, Cambodia and India. They have been particularly popping up in towns
in western India, where the pills had not been previously available, he
said.

"It is the so-called balloon effect - you squeeze in one part and it
bulges out somewhere else."

He was unable to say what amounts had been seized, and said it was too
early to estimate the extent of the problem.

In California, authorities were still testing the tablets to verify
whether they had in fact originated in Burma. "Obviously dealers are
looking for new markets," Calvani said. As the street price of ya ba soars
in Thailand, the price in Phnom Penh has plummeted from Bt100 to Bt30 per
tablet as the pills flood the market in Cambodia's capital.

Thailand's three-month crackdown has been linked to more than 2,000
deaths, and led to allegations of extra-judicial killings by police.

Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has blamed the murders on inter-gang
warfare, but acknowledged some police may have silenced players to cover
up their own involvement in the drug trade.

Calvani said it was logical for Thailand to be the first country in
Southeast Asia affected by recreational drugs, as it closely mirrored
Western trends, and was about five years ahead of some of its neighbours.

Another official at the UN International Drug Control Programme, speaking
on condition of anonymity, said it was worrying if Thailand's hard-line
crusade against traffickers pushed supplies into nearby countries, where
ya ba problems had been minimal and no infrastructure existed to deal with
them.

The official, whose agency coordinates anti-drug projects throughout Asia,
said addicts in Thailand were reportedly switching to other drugs - such
as heroin or solvents - to get their fix.

The crackdown had been confined to locals, rather than foreigners, to
avoid further weakening a tourist industry already suffering from the Sars
epidemic, he said.
___________

Agence France Presse May 9 2003

Traffickers pursue new markets after Thai anti-drug blitz: UN

Drug manufacturers and traffickers are seeking new users beyond their
traditional methamphetamine market in Thailand following a brutal
crackdown here, the United Nations drug agency said Friday.

The makers of methamphetamines, predominantly in Myanmar, have turned to
neighbours India, Cambodia and Laos to peddle pills since Thai Prime
Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's three-month war on drugs which ended April
30, a top official in the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said.

"Our concern is that we have received reports of new seizures of
amphetamines in neighbouring countries, which would suggest that organized
crime behind the trafficking of amphetamines is actively searching for new
markets," Sandro Calvani, director of the UNODC's regional centre for East
Asia and the Pacific, told AFP.

"The concern is related to India and Cambodia because of seizures there,
and to Laos where some tableting operations may have been moved from
Myanmar," Calvani said.

Thaksin's self-described drugs war, during which over 2,000 people were
killed, has forced dealers to reconsider their normal practice of moving
the pills across the border from Myanmar, identified by experts as Asia's
number one producer of the stimulants.

Calvani said the finger of suspicion of pill production pointed to
Myanmar's Wa ethnic group, whose Yangon-allied United Wa State Army is
believed to control large portions of the methamphetamine trade.

"There has been a suspicion in that regard from law enforcement
authorities. We are not yet sure, but we are investigating (the Wa
links)," he said.

Myanmar's junta has repeatedly denied allegations it is engaged in the
drugs trade, which US and Thai authorities say is controlled by ethnic
armies allied to Yangon.

Thailand is the world's largest per-capita consumer of the pills -- known
here as yaa baa, or "crazy medicine", with five percent of Thailand's 63
million people considered users and with the crisis now funneling into
other countries.

"We are just at the beginning of this trend," Calvani said, explaining
that Thailand typically has been up to five years ahead of its regional
neighbours on several fronts including entertainment, the embracing of
Western lifestyle and drug use.

"Amphetamine use grew here in 1998 while other countries saw nothing. Five
years later Thailand is heavily effected and the others are at the
beginning."

Thailand is part of a regional agreement signed by China and the 10-member
Association of Southeast Asian Nations in 2000, which laid out a 15-year
plan to battle the drug scourge.

INTERNATIONAL

Irrawaddy May 9 2003

Report on Ethnic Politics Draws Contrasting Views
By Naw Seng

The Brussels-based International Crisis Group (ICG) on Wednesday released
a report focusing on the politics of Burma’s ethnic minority groups. The
38-page report looks at the role of ethnic minority organizations in
Burmese politics and points out areas where reform will aid those
organizations which represent non-Burman citizens.
Robert Templer, ICG’s Asia Program Director, summarized the report’s
conclusions by saying: "The most fundamental grievance of ethnic
minorities in Myanmar [Burma] is their lack of influence on the political
process."
Political analysts and ethnic leaders were quick to point out the
weaknesses of the report. They say it underplays the significant role
ethnic minority groups play in Burma’s political landscape. But, they were
not without praise for ICG’s works. "The report succeeds in areas where it
shows the ethnic groups what actions they should take," said Aung Naing
Oo, a political analyst living in Thailand.
One Shan ethnic leader said the ICG report is unique because it
establishes the SPDC as the entity nurturing nationhood in Burma. "It [the
report] recognizes the government’s claim that the SPDC is focussed on
nation-building," said Chao Tzang Yawnghwe, the son of Burma’s first
president.
In Chao Tzang Yawnghwe’s view, the report does not address the structural
inequities in the Burmese constitution which hamper the efforts of ethnic
organizations, preferring instead to set its sites on how the
organizations can change in order to gain more influence. He believes that
there are limits on the amount of influence ethnic organizations will ever
have. "The report shows that the military wants to treat the ethnic
nationalities as a younger brother," he said.
Aung Naing Oo agrees that the report does not correctly address the role
of the military regime in preventing political change. He believes the
report would be more realistic if it mentioned the lack of political
participation allowed by the junta. "The report doesn’t explain the
positive points of ethnic groups," he said. "We can’t only blame the
ethnic groups."
Padoh Mahn Sha, Gen-Sec of Karen National Union, said the report "only
generally mentions what rights of participation that the ethnic people
have in the current political arena in Burma." He added, "I think the role
of ethnic people should be more than what the report says."
In regards to the relationship between ethnic and non-ethnic
organizations, the report states that "ethnic minority organizations need
to maintain their independence from the main Burman or national-level
groups." But Aung Naing Oo said the ICG needs to recognize that ethnic
organizations should be linked with national democracy groups if their
strategic goal is federalism. It is his belief that ethnic groups will
meet with political success if they learn to reconcile their goals with
those of the democracy groups and the military authority.
__________

Agence France Presse May 9 2003

Myanmar irked by US criticism, urges end to sanctions

Myanmar on Friday shrugged off the latest US criticism of its military
rule and reiterated its call for Washington to end crippling sanctions and
help in "our political transition to democracy."

The State Department on Tuesday accused Myanmar's military rulers of a
catalogue of repression and reinforced its firm support for democracy
leader Aung San Suu Kyi, as it marked the anniversary of her release from
house arrest.

Clearly irked by the accusations, Myamnar's junta Friday questioned the US
government's judgment in a statement sent to AFP.

"(Washington) noted positive developments in Myanmar -- including Daw Aung
San Suu Kyi's complete freedom to travel, the opening of many new offices
of the National League for Democracy (NLD), and the release of hundreds of
political prisoners -- and then oddly declared that 'little progress' had
been made toward democracy," the statement said.

"The truth is that the government of Myanmar is taking its steady and
tangible steps toward democracy."

The junta highlighted what it described as its "deepening" involvement
with the international humanitarian community, noting a recent mission to
Myanmar by rights monitor Amnesty International and increased activity by
the Red Cross and International Labour Organization.

"We urge the United States to join the people of Myanmar in our political
transition to democracy," it said.

"Rather than hurting the poor through economic sanctions, we urge the US
to provide economic opportunities for the people of Myanmar."

Washington is a staunch critic of Myanmar, and a strong supporter of Aung
San Suu Kyi, whose NLD party won a landslide election victory in 1990
which has never been recognised by the military.

She and the junta quietly began national reconciliation talks in October
2000 but they never moved beyond the confidence-building stage and are now
stalled.

Last month Suu Kyi, who was awarded the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize, complained
for the first time publicly about the lack of progress in the talks, a
major turnaround on her usually conciliatory stance.

Yet the junta stressed its "official government representative is at the
NLD's disposal to manage any comments and suggestions they would like to
share."

The United States currently maintains an investment ban, travel
restrictions for Myanmar officials and an arms embargo on Yangon among
other sanctions.

In February when Yangon called for a constructive dialogue with the US,
the human rights group Alternative Network on Burma labelled the call
"outrageous" in light of Myanmar's lack of progress in discussing
political transition with the opposition.
_______________

Associated Press May 9 2003

Britain gives US$281,600 for Myanmar environmental projects

Britain will give US$280,000 for two projects to help survey and conserve
wildlife in military-run Myanmar, its embassy in Yangon announced Friday.

A grant of US$192,000 will fund a field survey of bats in Karen and Mon
states in the eastern part of the country. The project will be implemented
by the Harrison Institute, located in Kent, England, and Yangon
University.

According to the Harrison Institute's Web site, field surveys in western,
central and southeastern Myanmar have already discovered five bat species
previously unknown to the country, including at least one that is globally
endangered.

A second grant of US$89,600 will be used for a wildlife management and
conservation project in three protected areas in Myanmar's northern Kachin
state - one of the country's most remote regions, which leads into the
foothills of the Himalayas.

The project will be implemented by the Wildlife Conservation Society,
which is associated with New York's Bronx Zoo. It has projects in 53
nations across Africa, Asia, Latin America and North America.

Myanmar, which has been run by its military for 40 years and is one of
Asia's poorest countries, gets little aid from Western countries critical
of its human rights record.

REGIONAL

Thai Press Reports May 9 2003

RATCHABURI TO BE PUSHED INTO LIMELIGHT AS THAI-MYANMAR TRADE AREA

The Ministry of Commerce is working to boost the role of Ratchaburi
province as an area of trade between Thailand and Myanmar; while pushing
for the opening of border checkpoints to facilitate mutual trade, Commerce
Minister Adisai Bodharamik announced yesterday.

Speaking after leading a delegation to assess the trade and investment
situation in Ratchaburi, Mr Adisai said that the government was fully
prepared to support and develop the province, in particular in terms of
border trade with Myanmar. Expressing hope that in the future Ratchaburi
would be able to boost its trade with Myanmar, he said that Thailand
planned to jointly invest with neighbouring countries to open up trade and
investment markets. "Studies on border trade have shown that Ratchaburi
should be a centre of trade in the future. Annual trade between Thailand
and Myanmar is no less than USD100 million a year. I am confident that if
both sides increase their trade, this figure will increase, although I
cannot say how big this increase will be", he said.

Mr Adisai said that already Thai investors were expressing interest in
Myanmar projects, but were hampered by Myanmar government regulations,
adding that the government was prepared to negotiate with neighbouring
countries to ensure that restrictions on Thai investors were eased.

At the same time, he said, Thailand would work on solving problems
relating to Myanmar labourers in the Kingdom.

"At present, there are a large number of Myanmar labourers in Thailand.
We, therefore, need to lay down frameworks for the use of workers from
both sides to ensure fair practices, as in the future Thai workers will
travel to work in neighbouring countries." Citing results of feasibility
studies conducted by a UK company, Andaman Corner and port, the Commerce
Minister added that both Thailand and Myanmar were keen to open border
checkpoints in Suan Phueng district for trade, either at Takopitthong or
at Chong Huaysuk.

STATEMENTS

EU PRESIDENCY May 8 2003

EU PRESIDENCY DECLARATION ON THE DECLARATION BY THE ACCEDING, ASSOCIATED
AND EFTA COUNTRIES

The EU Presidency has issued a declaration regarding a declaration by the
Acceding Countries Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia,
Lithuania, Malta, Poland, the Slovak Republic and Slovenia, the associated
countries Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey and the EFTA countries, members of
the European Economic Area, concerning the EU Common Position on
Burma/Myanmar:

“The Acceding Countries Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary,
Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, the Slovak Republic, and Slovenia, and
the associated countries Bulgaria, Romania and the EFTA countries, members
of the European Economic Area, declare that they share the objectives of
Common Position 2003/297/CFSP concerning Burma/Myanmar defined by the
Council of the European Union on April 28, 2003 on the basis of Article 15
of the Treaty on European Union. They will ensure that their national
policies conform to that common position.

The European Union takes note of this commitment and welcomes it”.
____________

Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission – AHRC May 9 2003

Hunger still rampant in Burma

Burma is a fertile country with abundant resources. In years gone by it
was said that nobody ever starves in Burma. This has long ceased to be the
case. Empirical evidence suggests that every day millions of people there
go hungry, hundreds of thousands are seriously malnourished, and that some
are indeed starving.
This May, with the launch of the Permanent People’s Tribunal on the Right
to Food and the Rule of Law in Asia, attention has again been brought to
the role of the military government in Burma in denying people the right
to food. Extensive research by the secretariat of the new Tribunal
suggests that conditions there have not improved since the report of the
earlier People’s Tribunal on Food Scarcity and Militarization in Burma
(Voice of the Hungry Nation, October 1999).
In 2003, a villager in the east of Burma displaced by army operations
feels both hunger and the absurdity of going hungry in this land of
plenty. Speaking with embarrassment, he tells a researcher, “We can’t even
feed our own children. I don’t like to say such things... I’m a man, but I
can’t even feed my children.” An historian in the capital suggests that
religious ritual won’t bring economic and social prosperity, and is
promptly blacklisted by the authorities. A farmer in another region
failing to supply sufficient rice to the authorities is hospitalized after
being tortured by the police.
That police can torture a farmer as punishment for a poor crop speaks to
how utterly perverted ‘law enforcement’ becomes in the hands of an
authoritarian government. It also points to the universality of rights. In
Burma, where every state directive is aimed ultimately at ensuring the
supremacy of the armed forces, food is denied through state-managed
violence. Torture is used to obtain rice. Fear is instilled to deprive
people of basic economic rights and retard their capacity to react. Denial
of the right to food is the corollary of the non-rule of law. The fight
against the torture of a farmer, the silencing of an historian and the
dislocation of a villager is concomitant with the fight to create and
maintain the space necessary to struggle for adequate food.
In October 2000, the government of Burma established a human rights
committee chaired by the Minister for Home Affairs, Colonel Tin Hlaing.
The committee hasn’t been heard of much since, despite its ample
sub-committees, training programmes conducted by foreign ‘experts’, and
occasional workshops. The Asian Human Rights Commission would be
interested to know the position of the committee on the massive violations
of economic and social rights in Burma. It would like to ask its chairman
what he is doing. Two and a half years of silence are long enough: the
credibility of any human rights committee, and its partners, rests on
practical monitoring, reporting and preventing of human rights abuse, not
least of all, violations of the right to food. So again, what is the
committee doing? The people of Burma need to eat today.
Asian Human Rights Commission – AHRC, Hong Kong