BurmaNet News Nov 29 - Dec 1, 2003

[editor at burmanet.org]

Nov 29 - Dec 1, 2003 Issue # 2377


INSIDE BURMA
Asia Pacific: Myanmar's Aung San Suu Kyi marks six months in detention
AP: Controversial Tower Being Built in Myanmar
BBC Monitor: Burma says us "money laundering" charge, planned action
"ill-considered"
World Markets Research Center: US Accountancy Firm Joins Corporate Exodus
from Myanmar
Irrawaddy: Revered monk passes away
Irrawaddy: Student Activist Released, Suffers Eye Disease
BBC Monitor: Burma: Meeting reviews agreements reached during Indian
vice-president's visit

ON THE BORDER
Shan: Karens retire to fight another day
NMG: Ethnic Karen Women mark delayed “Violence against women day”

DRUGS
Xinhua: Myanmar destroys 850 hectares poppy plantations
Shan: "Crop substitution" a success in the south

REGIONAL
JEN: Lawyer for Myanmar refugee, family to fight deportation
BBC Monitor: Japanese supporters shown "rare footage" of Burma's Suu
Kyi

OPINION / OTHER
Nation: Three ancient cultures merge for weekend of wonder
DW: The Karen People of Burma, and the Karen National Union
Irrawaddy: Community Participation is Crucial



INSIDE BURMA
_____________________________________

Dec 1,  Asia Pacific
Myanmar's Aung San Suu Kyi marks six months in detention

YANGON : Democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi marked six months in detention
with Myanmar's military rulers showing no hint of when she may be freed.

The Nobel peace laureate was detained on May 30 after a pro-junta mob
attacked the convoy she was travelling in while touring northern Myanmar
to drum up support for her National League for Democracy (NLD) party.

The party's top eight decision-makers -- men in their 70s and 80s -- were
also thrown into detention after the bloody clashes, the details of which
remain murky but are feared to have left dozens dead.

The unrest triggered a nationwide shutdown of NLD offices, many of which
had only just been reopened following Aung San Suu Kyi's release from the
second stint of house arrest during her tumultuous political career in May
2002.

The charismatic 58-year-old leader was initially held in secret detention
until being hospitalised for gynaecological surgery in September, after
which she was shifted to her famed lakeside villa on University Avenue.

Five of the eight top NLD members were freed by the junta last week
without fanfare and without being granted permission to see their leader.

"No reason was given for our release and no reason was given for us being
detained. But because of the profession we are in we are used to this,"
Soe Myint, one of the freed men, told AFP shortly after his release.

The release followed on the heels of a visit this month by UN rights envoy
to Myanmar Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, who afterwards demanded the junta
release some 1,300 political prisoners, particularly the elderly and
infirm.

"These old gentlemen, their place is not in prison," Pinheiro said after
his sixth mission.

NLD chairman Aung Shwe and secretary U Lwin meanwhile remain under house
arrest, while the party's vice president Tin Oo is in Kalay prison near
the Indian border.

Under Myanmar law the junta is required to renew restrictions on the
detainees every six months or set them free, but no word emerged Sunday
from the secretive junta on what it planned to do.

After visiting Aung San Suu Kyi during his mission, Pinheiro said she
would refuse freedom from house arrest until the ruling generals released
dozens of her jailed colleagues.

According to Pinheiro, some 153 opposition figures were put in detention
in the wake of the unrest and 27 of them remained in jail.

Aung San Suu Kyi's arrest unleashed a huge international outcry led most
vocally by the United States, which promptly slapped fresh sanctions on
the regime in a bid to coerce it into freeing her.

The European Union and Canada also boosted their punitive sanctions while
Japan, Myanmar's largest donor, halted new economic aid to the regime and
several multinational companies announced pullouts from the country.

Debbie Stothard, the Bangkok-based coordinator of regional rights network
ALTSEAN-Burma, told AFP Sunday that the massive pressure appeared to be
working but urged that it be stepped up to ensure democratic change.

"The regime has been responding to this pressure by grudgingly releasing
some of the NLD leaders from house arrest and some political prisoners but
it's clear to the movement that the pressure needs to be stepped up," she
said.

"The international pressure is working -- the question now is how much
momentum can be kept up to ensure that there is political and economic
reform achieved in Burma," she added, referring to the country by its
former name.
___________________________________
Dec 1, Associated Press
Controversial Tower Being Built in Myanmar

Defying an international outcry, Myanmar's military rulers have begun
building a nearly 200-foot-tall viewing tower in the midst of the ancient
temple city of Bagan, one of Asia's greatest archaeological sites.

The project is adding to the severe criticism already heaped on Myanmar's
junta for its allegedly unplanned and inaccurate rebuilding of many ruins,
and its record in general of suppressing human rights and democracy.

"It's a cultural crime," said Pierre Pichard, a Bagan expert at the French
Research School of the Far East, based in neighboring Thailand.

"It will be ... conspicuous and ugly, and it's totally crazy to add such a
structure in the middle of an ancient historical site," he said.

The 1,000-year old temple complex is on a par with Cambodia's Angkor
temples - an unmatched vista of thousands of Buddhist temples and
monuments spread among rice paddies over an area nearly twice the size of
Manhattan.

There are giant circular pagodas with soaring domes, small temples with
corncob-shaped spires, and exquisitely proportioned ziggurats, or terraced
pyramids.

More than 4,400 pagodas and 3,000 other religious structures of bricks and
stones were built in Bagan, Myanmar's former capital, during a 243-year
period from the 11th to 13th centuries, the result of extraordinary
Buddhist fervor.

Today, 2,237 ruins and temples remain, many of them still used by
worshippers.

The junta says the 198-foot tower, roughly 16 stories, will give tourists
a bird's-eye view of Bagan and they will be barred from clambering over
ancient pagodas that are being damaged by thousands of invading feet every
day.

Tour guides say the brick and mortar edifice, higher than every temple
except one, will ruin the beauty of the area. But the fear of the
dictatorial junta is such that no one is willing to voice opposition
publicly.

UNESCO, the U.N. agency that has the power to grant or withhold
prestigious World Heritage status and the accompanying funding, has spoken
loudly against the tower.

"It's a very big mistake. It sticks a big eyesore right in the middle of
the site," said Richard Engelhardt, UNESCO's Bangkok-based regional
adviser for culture.

But the junta has refused to reply to UNESCO's official complaints.

Bob Hudson, a University of Sydney archaeologist working in Bagan, told
The Associated Press that almost half of the 2,237 monuments have been
rebuilt, sometimes from the ground up.

"In many cases, ruined piles of rubble have been speculatively
reconstructed on the basis of similarity to other buildings," he wrote in
Orientations, a Hong Kong-based art journal. "At times restoration verges
on Disneyfication."

The outcome is an incongruous spectacle of faux antique temples made with
new bricks and cement, housing brown-painted plaster Buddha statues.
Re-plastering in one temple has given the four-armed Hindu god Vishnu two
extra arms.

"So instead of ending up with a Bagan period temple you end up with a 21st
century notion of what a Bagan period temple might have looked like -
notions that might have come from cinema and things like that," said
Engelhardt.

Nyunt Han, director general of the Department of Archaeology, says his
department has old documents that nake precise reconstruction possible.

He said the tower, in the southeastern corner of Bagan, is far from the
historical heart where a few tall temples are the tourists' favorite.

"We selected the site with care," he told the AP. "It won't obstruct the
ancient beauty."

Bagan's golden age ended in 1287, when it was overrun by the Mongol
warrior, Kublai Khan. It became a ghost town, home to bandits and spirits.

Today, sanctions and boycotts of the junta have shrunk tourism to about
75,000 foreign visitors a year.

The cylindrical tower in traditional architectural style is to be
completed by 2005, and will have a landscaped garden, a restaurant and a
golf course nearby.

The foundation was laid on July 27 by the junta's third-ranking leader,
Gen. Khin Nyunt, who drove a golden stake into the ground, placed a gem
casket on the site and sprinkled scented water in a Buddhist ceremony.

A towering red-and-white crane now juts out of the construction area,
ringed by steel fencing.

UNESCO has also expressed concern about an airport built near the town,
and a road that cuts across the historical site.

Still, Engelhardt doesn't think all is lost.

"I don't think it has gone to the point where it is irreversible," he
said. "We are not at the point where we could say that Bagan is lost to
the world."
___________________________________
Dec 1, World Markets Research Center
US Accountancy Firm Joins Corporate Exodus from Myanmar

US-based accountancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) has announced its
decision to end its involvement in Myanmar. It appears that ethical
concerns have motivated the decision, with a senior partner of the firm
stating that 'we were aware that another member of the
PricewaterhouseCoopers network of firms, which held an ownership interest
in an entity operating in Burma, was re-evaluating their ownership in this
entity', a move that prompted the interest to be divested. The company is
the latest in a series of US and British companies to end their
involvement in the country (see Myanmar: 7 November 2003: Human Rights
Pressure Prompts Major Tobacco Firm's Withdrawal from Myanmar).

 PWC had featured on a list produced by the UK arm of the pressure group
Burma Campaign, which detailed companies that are directly or indirectly
involved in funding the military regime. In addition to ethical
pressures, a number of foreign companies remaining in the country face
legal action. Oil companies Total and Unocal face lawsuits over their
involvement in the Yadana gas pipeline, but appear prepared to retain
their assets in Myanmar, as long as their ventures remain profitable.

Significance: Campaigners will take heart from PWC's decision, seeing the
move as another significant victory. However, beyond the signals that
these withdrawals send to the government, fears have been raised as to
whether they have any real effect. Companies, predominantly Asian firms,
appear happy to move into the markets left by these Western
multinationals, and often provide a poorer working environment for their
employees.
__________________________________

Nov 29, BBC Monitor
Burma says us "money laundering" charge, planned action "ill-considered"

he Ministry of Finance and Revenue of the Union of Myanmar (Burma) issued
today a press release concerning the 19 November 2003 announcement of the
United States Department of Treasury dated designating Myanmar and two
Myanmar private banks to be of "primary money laundering concern" and
proposing countermeasures be taken under the USA Patriot Act.

The text of the press release says: The announcement of the United States
Department of the Treasury, dated 19 November 2003, designating Myanmar
and two Myanmar private banks to be of "primary money laundering concern"
and proposing countermeasures be taken under Section 311 of the USA
Patriot Act is an ill-considered move. It is one thing to criticize
Myanmar and point out deficiencies in its anti-money laundering system but
it is quite another to pass sweeping judgment that Myanmar is taking no
remedial action to address the deficiencies. An objective observer can see
that the statement of the United States Department of the Treasury is a
spurious allegation. Myanmar, notwithstanding the economic sanctions and
undue pressures imposed by the United States and its partners, has already
initiated firm measures to overcome the twin problems of narcotic drugs
and money-laundering.

In June 2002 Myanmar enacted an anti-money laundering law. Even the United
States Department of the Treasury has acknowledged this important step.
Following the promulgation of the law, the Myanmar Government has been
taking steps for its implementations. In this regard, Myanmar has been
cooperating and holding discussions with international bodies including
the United Nations.

It is counter-productive for the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) at
this juncture to call on its members to impose additional countermeasures
against Myanmar and for the United States to take follow up action based
on a subjective assessment of Myanmar's anti-money laundering efforts.
Surely, the United States is not unaware that Myanmar has been working on
rules and regulations for the effective implementation of the anti-money
laundering law it enacted last year.

The Ministry of Finance and Revenue of the Union of Myanmar therefore
considers the United States Treasury Department's plans to impose
counter-measures against Myanmar and the two Myanmar financial
institutions unjustified, unfair, and devoid of vision. Regardless of what
the United States Department of the Treasury may say or do, Myanmar
remains committed to taking follow-up measures to implement the anti-money
laundering law. Myanmar stands ready to cooperate with all in the
international community that wish us well and are willing to lend a hand.

Source: Radio Myanmar, Rangoon, in Burmese 1330 gmt 28 Nov 03
__________________________________

Nov 30, BBC Monitor
Burma: Meeting reviews agreements reached during Indian vice-president's
visit

Text of report by Burmese radio on 29 November

A meeting to coordinate the implementation of agreements reached during
the Vice President of the Republic of India's goodwill visit to Myanmar
Burma was held at the Zeyathiri Beikman hall on Konmyinttha in Yangon
Rangoon at 1600 local time this evening. Prime Minister Gen Khin Nyunt
delivered a speech at the meeting.

He said: The meeting today is to discuss and coordinate the implementation
of bilateral agreements reached during the goodwill visit of Mr Bhairon
Singh Shekhawat, vice-president of the Republic of India, to Myanmar. The
Indian vice-president had paid a four-day visit from 2 to 5 November 2003
at the invitation of Vice Sen Gen Maung Aye, vice-chairman of the State
Peace and Development Council.

Myanmar and India are two neighbouring countries with existing friendly
relations and they share a common border. Border trade between the two
countries has been developing and they have had good traditions of
cooperating for mutual benefit.

Although ministerial level visits had been exchanged between the two
countries before, the goodwill visit of the Indian vice-president was the
first ever by a head of state to Myanmar under the present government and
it must, therefore, be considered a progress. The visit was very
successful and it helped to lay a solid foundation for the promotion of
bilateral cooperation in the economic, trade, education, health, science,
technology, and cultural exchange sectors. Seven bilateral agreements were
signed between the two countries in 2003 and they were important
milestones in bilateral cooperation.

Several bilateral projects have already begun. For instance, Myanmar and
India are implementing the Kaladan River Communication Project through
land and water, Myanmar-India-Thailand Communication Road Construction
Project, Reed-Tiddim and Reed-Falam Road Upgrading Project, and Offshore
Natural Gas Production Project.

In addition, Myanmar and India are also working together in education,
science and technology, and human resources development sectors. These are
all made possible by the visit of the Indian vice-president which had
opened up better prospects for bilateral cooperation.

Hence, all the ministries concerned are to discuss at this meeting,
measures to successfully and quickly implement the agreements reached
during the goodwill visit of the Indian vice president and at the same
time to explore ways of enhancing bilateral cooperation in the future.

Following the speech, Minister for Foreign Affairs U Win Aung reported
about the tasks to be carried out in the future, such as the development
of infrastructures, matters concerning trade, finance, investment,
immigration, trade, education, culture and technical cooperation, as well
as bilateral economic issues, bilateral relations, regional cooperation,
international relations, and exchanges of visits between leaders of the
two countries.

Ministers and deputy ministers at the meeting then reported about the
tasks that their respective ministries would undertake. The prime minister
joined the discussions and the meeting came to a close.
__________________________________

Dec 1, Irrawaddy
Revered monk passes away

People from throughout Burma are traveling to Thamanya mountain in Karen
State to pay homage to a revered Buddhist monk who died on Nov 29, says a
resident of the capital.

Thamanya Sayadaw, formally known as Bhaddanta Vinaya, is highly respected
among Burmese Buddhists. Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi visited his
monastery to pay homage to him when she was released from her first and
second periods of house arrest in 1995 and 2002.

The 93-year-old monk passed away at Rangoon General Hospital from diabetes
and heart problems.

One Rangoon resident said many people in the capital are organizing group
trips to Thamanya mountain to pay their last respects. He was also aware
of such trips being planned in Pegu and Mandalay. The government-run media
reported that the monk’s body was taken to his monastery in Karen State.
An obituary piece in the state-run New Light of Myanmar praised Thamanya
Sayadaw for his long commitment to Buddhism. The monk was ordained in
1923, at the age of 13. The government bestowed an honorary title upon him
in 1991 for his "attributions and brilliant missionary performance."

The area surrounding the Thamanya temple has been declared a "peace zone"
despite both anti-Rangoon Karen soldiers and Burmese military troops
operating in the area. Visitors to the area must also discard all
non-vegetarian foods before entering.

Thamanya Sayadaw also built schools and pagodas and provided maintenance
for local roads with the money people donated to him.

Because of the monk’s reputation, Thamanya mountain has for years welcomed
visitors from throughout Burma, who came to hear sermons by Thamanya
Sayadaw.
__________________________________

Nov 28, Irrawaddy
Irrawaddy: Student Activist Released, Suffers Eye Disease

A Burmese student leader released from prison last week is suffering from
a serious eye disease after spending 14 and a half years in two of Burma’s
most notorious jails.

"My eye problem is a serious concern at the moment," Pyone Cho said by
phone from Rangoon today. "If I wasn’t getting proper treatment now, I
would lose my sight completely."

In 1996, authorities added another seven years to his term after he and 23
other prisoners secretly sent letters to the UN complaining about prison
conditions.

Pyone Cho, now in his late 30s, was arrested in 1989. As a graduate
student at Rangoon University, he played a key role in the pro-democracy
uprising in August 1988.

Pyone Cho, also known as Htay Win Aung, said he is now receiving regular
treatment for his eye disease at a Rangoon hospital, but was unsure
whether his sight would ever return to normal. "Even if the treatment is
successful, it will take a long time for my eyes to recover," he said.

After being arrested, Pyone Cho was detained for almost three years
without trial in Insein Prison. He was then sentenced to seven years under
section 5(J) of the Emergency Provision Act. In 1996, authorities added
another seven years to his term after he and 23 other prisoners secretly
sent letters to the UN complaining about prison conditions.

In November 1997, he was transferred from Insein to Tharawaddy Prison. His
vision weakened soon after, but his disease was never diagnosed and he
never received proper care. Authorities moved him to the hospital at
Insein Prison in March this year after his eye problems worsened.

Tate Naing, secretary of the Thailand-based Assistance Association for
Political Prisoners (Burma), said Burma’s military government is
responsible for Pyone Cho’s eye disease.

Pyone Cho said conditions inside Burmese prisons had improved slightly in
recent years. He said one improvement is that political prisoners are
allowed to read government-run newspapers and Burmese language journals
and magazines.

Pyone Cho was a leader of the Rangoon University Student Union and
colleague of renowned activist Min Ko Naing. His brother, Thet Win Aung,
another student activist, is currently serving a 63-year prison term.

ON THE BORDER
_____________________________________
Dec 1, Shan
Karens retire to fight another day

Karen fighters have moved out from their 6th Brigade Special Security
Battalion base opposite Tak Province on Sunday (30 November) prior to
concentrated shelling of 60mm and 81mm mortars by attacking Burmese
troops, according to Karen National Union spokesman Saw Sarky.

The combined force, made up of Light Infantry Battalions 270 and 299 and
Democratic Karen Buddhist Army's 907th Battalion, found Kyauk Khep, the
Karen base, empty, he said. "We would have sustained losses for nothing as
the enemy had brought their mortar batteries into range. Another reason
was that the base was too close to the border and, as a result, we are
fast becoming scapegoats for Burmese actions against Thai soil."

Previous attacks on the Karen's 7th Brigade and the 202nd GHQ Battalion,
in contrast, had played themselves out, he added.

The blitz against Kyauk Khep, he explained, was crucial for both the Burma
Army and the DKBA, because one of the Karens' most effective
drug-monitoring activities were conducted from the said base. "Our
operations in the past had resulted in the capture of millions of pills
coming all the way from Shan State through Mandalay and Moulmein to the
border," he said.

The Burma Army is also waging an intensive operation also inside Karenni
State, also known as Kayah, using 800-1,000 prisoners as porters,
according to Kaarenni Information Network Group (KING).

Inside Shan State, the situation appears to be relatively quiet, except
for reports of defection to the Shan State Army "South" of Col Yawdserk by
army deserters. "I hope recent desertions to Col Yawdserk and Lt-Col
Moengzuen (Commander of 758th Brigade in Southern Shan State) are just
plain desertions," a concerned sympathizer told S.H.A.N..

Thakin Than Tun, former Chairman of the Communist Party of Burma, was
assassinated by a military intelligence agent disguised as a deserter in
1968.
___________________________________
Nov 28, Network Media Group
Ethnic Karen Women mark delayed “Violence against women day”

Though international community had already celebrated “Violence against
Women Day” on 25th November, ethnic Karen women in Mae La refugee camp
were not allowed to hold on that day by Thai authority. Instead of
November 25, Karen women in Mae La Karen refugee camp celebrates today
after getting permission, said Nan Moe Hnin Thwae, secretary of Pa-an
district Karen Women Organization (KWO).

On November 25, refugee camp leaders sent a request to hold “Violence
against Women Day” in the camp but their request was turn down by Thai
authorities. Again, camp authorities tried to contact and appeal Parasu
Nai, a Thai authority who is responsible for the activities in refugee
camp after they failed to get permission.

“We went to see Parasu Nai but he was not available. Though we went to see
him, we could not meet him. The camp authorities could not hold it because
they were yet to get permission from Thai authorities. Finally, we were
informed to postpone from 25 to 28 November because November 25 is the
religious day of Muslims, Id. That’s why we can only hold on November 28,”
Nan Moe Hnin Thwae explained.

She added that KWO got permission to hold this day with the help of UNHCR
office in Mae Sot.

Parasu Nai also addressed the celebration by apologizing his lateness due
to tight schedules.

Nan Moe Hnin Thwae said it was the first time in Mae La to hold “Violence
against Women Day” and the leaders who attended the celebration delivered
relevant topics relating to this day were very satisfactory though there
were some difficulties to organize this day.

DRUGS
_____________________________________

Dec 1, Xinhua
Myanmar destroys 850 hectares poppy plantations

The Myanmar authorities have so far destroyed a total of 856.2 hectares of
illegally-grown opium poppy plantations during the 2003-04 poppy
cultivation season, according to the Myanmar Central Committee for Drug
Abuse Control Monday.

The poppy plantations destroyed by the army units, police force and
anti-drug squad, include 854.9 hectares grown in southeastern Shan state.
The rest were destroyed in Kachin state.

A report of the UN Office on Drug and Crime said that Myanmar's poppy
cultivated area reaches 62,100 hectares (153,450 acres) in 2003 and its
opium output is estimated to reach 810 tons during the year, And 2.4
percent of the country's adult population smoke opium.
___________________________________

Dec 1, Shan
"Crop substitution" a success in the south

According to traders coming to the border, the people in southern Shan
State have "successfully" substituted poppy cultivation in place of their
traditional cheroot-leaf plantations, reported Karenni Information Network
Group on Friday (28 November).

Poppy fields on mountain ranges stretching north to south both in the east
and west of Loilem, 47 miles east of Taunggyi, the Shan State capital,
could be seen both by the travelers and townspeople, they said. Gardens of
cheroot-leaves, used for rolling tobacco for smoking, have now been
replaced by poppy plants.

The running cost is carried by ethnic Chinese financiers, who will later
buy the harvest at 180,000 - 200,000 kyat per viss (1.6 kg).

Tax, 10,000 - 15,000 kyat per viss, is quietly given to the local police,
who either arrest and prosecute or destroy the fields of those who fail to
pay.

The daily wage for field workers and attendants is 1,000 kyat per day.
"The locals have also adopted a name for the poppy fields," they said,
"and that is 'flower garden'. So when someone is off to a poppy field, one
only mentions about leaving for the flower garden instead."

The situation is also the same in the eastern part of Taunggyi district,
KING reports.

Hopong and Hsihseng townships, lying east of Taunggyi, have long been
reputed as major producers of opium.

According to Democratic Voice of Burma, the current exchange rates are:
$ 1 = 850 kyat B 1 = 23.3 kyat


REGIONAL
_____________________________________

Dec 1, Japan Economic Newswire
Lawyer for Myanmar refugee, family to fight deportation

hogo Watanabe, the lawyer representing a family of foreign nationals
facing deportation, vowed Monday to continue to urge the government to
award them special resident status, saying one of his clients will be sent
to prison in Myanmar for being politically active in the pro-democracy
movement if deported.

The Justice Ministry began deportation proceedings for Khin Maung Latt,
the 46-year-old refugee, his 37-year-old Filipino wife, Maria Hope Jamili,
and their daughters -- Demi, 9, and Michelle, 6 -- but has kept Khin Maung
Latt in detention while releasing his wife and children from custody until
Jan. 6, Watanabe said.

'Is it reasonable or humane for our country to press upon another country
the responsibility of protecting this family?' he wrote in a letter
recently sent to Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, Justice Minister Daizo
Nozawa and other concerned authorities.

Khin Maung Latt arrived in Japan in 1988 to escape persecution by the
military junta in Myanmar, and married Maria, who entered Japan on a
forged passport.

The family has appealed the deportation orders of lower courts at the
Supreme Court, after an application for refugee status was rejected, and
Watanabe, the family and their supporters are seeking Khin Maung Latt's
provisional release during the appeals process at the Supreme Court.

Watanabe, who also heads the Lawyers' Group for Burmese Refugees in Japan,
argued that the family based in Tokyo's Ota Ward has built their entire
lives in Japan. The children, who were born in Japan and only speak
Japanese, are legally recognized as Filipinos like their mother.

The lawyer criticized Nozawa, who said at a recent Diet session that his
ministry was basically preparing to deport the family to one country,
presumably the Philippines. Watanabe also criticized the premier for not
understanding refugee problems.

The family's case has attracted the interest of the public and media, and
highlighted Japan's stringent immigration and refugee policies.

Supporters of refugees say Japan's refugee policy is inadequate, given
that the country lacks an aid mechanism for refugees even though it has
been a signatory to the Convention relating to the Status of Refugees
since 1981.

Government immigration statistics show that last year, 250 people applied
for refugee status, but only 14 were successful. Tokyo-based
nongovernmental organization People's Forum on Burma, which has been
spearheading the campaign for Khin Maung Latt's cause and collecting
signatures, puts the figure at nearly 30,000.
___________________________________

Nov 30, BBC Monitor
Japanese supporters shown "rare footage" of Burma's Suu

Nagoya, 30 November: Rare footage of Myanmar's (Burma) pro-democracy
leader Aung San Suu Kyi was shown Sunday (30 November) at a meeting of her
supporters in Nagoya who are campaigning for her release from house
arrest.

The roughly 30-minute footage recorded onto DVD is believed to have been
taken around July last year in Yangon (Rangoon) after Suu Kyi was released
from detention.

Around 60 supporters gathered for the meeting and watched the footage in
which Suu Kyi appealed for the early release of her fellow political
prisoners.

A group supporting political prisoners sent the footage to activists
around the world.

Sunday marks six months since Suu Kyi was again detained 30 May, a year
after she was released by the junta following 19 months of confinement at
her home in Yangon.

Yuzo Uda, 40, a journalist who spent around a year in Myanmar up until
September, said, "The democratization movement in Myanmar has been
crushed. It is important that Japan no longer engage with the junta."

Suu Kyi, the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize laureate, was detained after what the
junta says was a violent clash between her supporters and pro-junta
demonstrators May 30 in northern Myanmar.

Source: Kyodo News Service, Tokyo, in English 1200 gmt 30 Nov 03


OPINION / OTHER
_____________________________________

Nov 29, Nation
Three ancient cultures merge for weekend of wonder

Three ancient cultures merge for weekend of wonder

Thailand, Burma and Laos draped both their exotic textiles and the
evocative textures of their cultural histories over hundreds of people
attending last night's opening ceremony of the Wonders of Three Kingdoms
Festival in Chiang Mai.

The festival continues through tomorrow with a wide array of music, dance,
fashion and discussion.

Yesterday's events began with a lecture on the textiles of the three
neighbouring countries by experts Paothong Thongchua, Patricia Cheesman
and Vithi Phanichphant. Traditional dance and the Thai debut of Burma's
Garavek Palace puppet troupe followed.

Daytime activities are being held at the Central Airport Plaza. They
include a series of lectures. Richard Engelhardt, Unesco's adviser for
culture in the Asia-Pacific region, is to speak on protecting cultural
heritage. Michael Vatikiotis, editor of the Far Eastern Economic Review
will discuss cultural crossroads. Dr Sorachak Kasemsuwan will speak on the
international media's view of Laos and Burma and Chalermchai Kositpipat
will discuss art objects from the three countries.

Evening programmes at the Chiang Mai Arts and Culture Centre (the Three
Kings Monument) feature light and sound displays, martial-arts
demonstrations and a fashion show highlighting traditional local fabrics,
with designs by Paothong Thongchua and top Thai firms like Saban-nga and
Pichitra.

The Arts and Culture Centre will also host a One Tambon One Product trade
fair, followed by presentations by artists from the three countries,
including dancers and puppeteers from Chiang Mai University.

The festival is co-sponsored by Thai Airways International, the Chiang Mai
Provincial Authority and private companies including Nation Multimedia
Group.
 ___________________________________

Nov 29, The Standard
Trip to Myanmar lets Mick enjoy a little quiet time

Veteran rocker Mick Jagger vacationed in Myanmar free of the fans and
paparazzi who usually dog him, officials and news reports said this week.

Accompanied by a woman friend and a bodyguard, Jagger arrived on a private
plane last Friday and left on Tuesday, the Myanmar-language 7-Day News
journal said.

Many opponents of Myanmar's military regime support a tourism boycott of
the country to pressure the government into restoring democracy and
improving human-rights conditions. The anti-tourism campaign is especially
strong in Jagger's native England.

"Mick Jagger's visit is purely private and confidential," an official from
Abercrombie and Kent Travels in Yangon, which made the Rolling Stone's
travel arrangements, told The Associated Press.

The official refused to give any other details or disclose the name of
Jagger's friend, except to say she looked between 25 to 30 years of age.

During his trip, Jagger spent a night in the luxurious, 102-year-old
Strand Hotel in Yangon, which costs more than $900 US per night, said a
hotel staff member on condition of anonymity.

"Most people my generation do not know Mick Jagger well, but we have heard
of his name," said the 28-year old worker who said her uncle is a fan of
Jagger.

___________________________________

Nov 27, Dictator Watch
The Karen People of Burma, and the Karen National Union

Dictator Watch has posted a new paper: "The Karen People of Burma, and the
Karen National Union," prepared with the cooperation of the KNU. The
paper's contents include:

- A statement of Karen social and political aspirations, including the
objectives of
the KNU.
- A presentation of Karen cultural history, including the development of
written
language and also changes in spiritual belief.
- A description of core Karen cultural values and ceremonies.
- A presentation of Karen political history, with particular emphasis on the
relationship between the Karen and ultra-nationalist members of the Burman
ethnic
group.
- The conditions in Burma during World War II and following independence from
Britain. This section describes the formation of the KNU and the
circumstances that
led the Karen to establish a self-defense force.
- A description of the campaign of genocide to which the Karen (and also
the Karenni and the Shan) have been subjected by the successive military
regimes in Burma. This section also summarizes the refugee and internally
displaced person crisis that has resulted from the genocide. In addition,
we would note that the United Nations, and the signatory nations of the
1948 UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of
Genocide, are obliged to intervene and end the genocide being committed in
Burma. Further, Burma's neighbors, through extending the dictatorship both
economic and military support, thereby perpetuating its rule, are
complicit in this genocide.

The paper also describes the Karen political organization, including:

- The structure of the Karen National Union: its geographic organization; its
committees and departments; and its electoral procedures.
- The Karen National Liberation Army, the military wing of the Karen
resistance: its
mission; its basic organization; and its policy regarding narcotics.
- Other Karen organizations, inside Burma and in Thailand, and overseas.

Contact: Roland Watson, roland at dictatorwatch.org
Please see www.dictatorwatch.org for a link to the paper described below.
___________________________________

Dec 1, Irrawaddy
Community Participation is Crucial - Dr Myat Htoo Razak

Another World AIDS Day, another flood of speeches, reports and articles.
UNAIDS and the World Health Organization recently updated their AIDS
epidemic report, estimating that this year 40 million people are living
with HIV/AIDS, five million have been newly infected and three million
people have died. The numbers are similar to those published last year and
even many of the messages—"more effort is needed," "more commitment from
politicians," "more money"—are getting a run again.

Over the past 20 years, the HIV/AIDS epidemic has claimed close to 20
million lives. Billions of dollars have been spent in research and in
developing prevention strategies. Despite many advances, there are still
millions of new infections, especially in developing nations.

While anti-retro viral treatment (ART) is given to many people in
developed countries to help them lead healthier and longer lives, the
majority of people with HIV/AIDS in developing countries do not have
access to basic health care, least of all ART. Many of the people in the
world’s poorer countries have not been told about prevention measures such
as safer sex and safe injection practices.

Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest number of people living with the
disease, and Asia has been the second hardest hit. Burma, Cambodia and
Thailand are three Asian countries with serious epidemics. Cambodia and
Thailand have responded to the challenge and stabilized national
prevalence. According to recent UNAIDS reports, the disease has infected
three percent of people in Cambodia and two percent in Thailand.

 People in countries like Burma need to strengthen themselves with
knowledge on HIV/AIDS prevention, care and support.

The situation is different in Burma. "Already stricken with a more serious
epidemic, Myanmar [Burma] has little time to lose [and] 
 a coordinated
national response is now an absolute priority if transmission through
commercial sex and injecting drug use is to be curbed," reports UNAIDS.

In an interview, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan criticized political
leaders in both rich and poor nations for "lacking the political will" to
respond to the crisis. Annan said in some cases, he was now ignoring some
leaders and "talking to people over the heads of the governments." It is
refreshing to hear that peoples’ voices are being heard despite poor
leadership, but if the head of the UN cannot convince national leaders to
take AIDS seriously, imagine how hard it must be for ordinary people to
get their governments to act.

And imagine how hard it must be for the people of Burma, whose leaders are
not elected, to demand anything from their government. People in countries
like Burma need to strengthen themselves with knowledge on HIV/AIDS
prevention, care and support. Initiatives need to start from the village
level. We need to take initiative to help ourselves and implement
prevention and intervention programs to tackle the underlying conditions
that allow the disease to spread. We cannot wait for the government and
international agencies to take action.

Specific prevention and intervention programs for HIV/AIDS should address
all the risks in the community. HIV should be tackled at informal
gathering places like teashops, markets, beer stalls and restaurants.
Taboo subjects like sex, drugs and people with HIV/AIDS might not be easy
to talk about at first, but a few committed individuals can initiate a
change.

Burmese people need to find practical and culturally appropriate ways to
send messages on safe sex and safe drug use. Condoms need to be made
available in appropriate places. Moreover, young people, local leaders and
community groups need to be more involved in community-based HIV/AIDS
activities.

Communities cannot effectively respond to HIV/AIDS unless they are
involved in decisions that affect them.

There should be new approaches to improve knowledge on HIV, and to
increase the availability of testing and counseling. Prophylaxis,
treatment and referral services also need to be available for people with
HIV/AIDS, their families and partners. As individuals, we need to take
personal responsibility by practicing safer sex, abstaining from drug
abuse and treating people living with the disease in a way that we would
be expected to be treated.

The global community needs to improve several underlying conditions that
have exacerbated the transmission and impact of HIV/AIDS. These include
poverty, gender inequality, ethnic discrimination, social and political
suppression, armed conflicts, human rights violations, changing sexual
attitudes and ignorance.

Needless to say, many or all of these suggestions will be difficult to
organize in Burmese communities. But international agencies like the UN,
NGOs, local and national governmental organizations can provide assistance
to those working at the grassroots level.

A good example of community participation in collaboration with
high-profile individuals was Saturday’s concert to raise awareness and
funds for HIV/AIDS prevention in Cape Town, South Africa. For a title, the
concert took the prison number of former South African President Nelson
Mandela. Mandela spent 27 long years behind bars during South Africa’s
apartheid era, but in his speech, he said "HIV/AIDS epidemic is a bigger
challenge than apartheid." Mandela’s message was a powerful one, a message
not missed by the thousands who turned out in an early celebration of
World AIDS Day.

In Cape Town, people came together to help and learn from each other.
Let’s hope that the concert will strengthen the global momentum to empower
people with knowledge and encourage them to organize HIV/AIDS programs in
towns and villages worldwide.

Although most initiatives will not have the same profile, they will be
just as effective if they inspire a real public commitment. Communities
cannot effectively respond to HIV/AIDS unless they are involved in
decisions that affect them. The increasing financial pledges to the Global
Fund by donor agencies will be a shameful waste if communities do not get
involved too. The sooner communities take action and make decisions, the
closer we will be to an AIDS-free world.

Myat Htoo Razak, MBBS, MPH, PhD, is a medical doctor from Burma. His
specialized areas include Health Policy and Epidemiology of Infectious
Diseases including HIV/AIDS. Dr. Razak has been working in HIV/AIDS
research, prevention, care and support programs in Asia.