BurmaNet News, Jan 17-Jan 20, 2004

[editor at burmanet.org]

Jan 17-20, 2004 Issue # 2408


INSIDE BURMA
AFP: Myanmar leader holds historic peace talks with Karen rebels
BBC Monitor: Three more democracy party representatives released
Irrawaddy: Monks Arrested for Curfew Violations
AFP: NLD members freed by Myanmar junta among last held for May unrest:
source

DRUGS


BUSINESS / MONEY
Observer: Banks bust Burma trade ban
PNG: Major gas find off Western Burma
AFP: Daewoo CEO in Myanmar to discuss major gas find:

REGIONAL
BBC: Thai groups battle new China dam

INTERNATIONAL
Bangkok Post: Italy urges push for constructive talks
AFP: Rock star Bono leads call for action against Myanmar junta

OPINION / OTHER
The Age: Burma in peace talks with rebels
Washington Times: Harsh Burmese rule hurts business elites
Yearbook: Burmese Deserters Describe Lives of Child Soldiers

REVIEWS
A land without evil: stopping the genocide of Burma's Karen people
by Benedict Rogers



INSIDE BURMA
___________________________________

Jan 20, AFP
Myanmar leader holds historic peace talks with Karen rebels

Myanmar junta chief Senior General Than Shwe on Tuesday held an historic
meeting with leaders of the Karen National Union (KNU) during talks aimed
at ending one of the world's longest-running insurgencies.

The unprecedented two-hour meeting raised hopes that the regime could soon
agree on a ceasefire formalising a deal hammered out in December with one
of the last ethnic armies still battling Yangon.

Dressed in traditional Karen costume, the KNU delegation headed by General
Bo Mya -- the commander of the KNU's military wing -- met Than Shwe at a
military reception centre in the capital Yangon, witnesses said.

The length of the unprecedented meeting and the decision to hold it at a
venue typically used to receive visiting heads of state indicate the talks
are progressing well, observers said.

The Karen visitors will also be honoured with a dinner Tuesday on the
banks of Yangon's tranquil Kandawgyi Lake, hosted by Prime Minister Khin
Nyunt and held in part to mark Bo Mya's 76th birthday.

"The signs are good because the talks are continuing. We hope that
something positive will come out of this meeting," said a source close to
the Karen mediating team.

The source said nine of the most senior members of the 20-strong Karen
delegation attended the meeting, after which they expected to conclude a
number of agreements.

The closed-door talks which began on Thursday are aimed at ending half a
century of military struggle which has caused extreme hardship for Karen
civilians, tens of thousands of whom live in refugee camps on the Thai
border.

The KNU is the largest of the handful of rebel groups still fighting
against Yangon's rule. The junta estimates there are 7,000 rebels in the
insurgent group which took up arms 53 years ago.

A successful ceasefire arrangement with the KNU would be a major
achievement for the junta as it works to have all rebel ethnic groups
attend a national convention to draft a new constitution planned for this
year.

The inclusion of the ethnic groups is key to the credibility of the
convention, the first step in a "road map" to democracy announced last
year which the junta hopes will mute international criticism over its
failure to embark on reforms.

The KNU is expected to be seeking the ceasefire before considering whether
it will participate in the national convention.

Contacts between the KNU and junta resumed after a long impasse when the
regime dispatched its representatives to meet KNU officials at the Thai
border town of Mae Sot on November 22.

A second round of talks in Yangon in December were arranged after progress
was made on a number of issues, including an agreement that no third party
be involved in the negotiations.

Under the deal, all the talks must be conducted inside Myanmar's
territory, either in border towns or the capital, and the opposition
National League for Democracy led by Aung San Suu Kyi is to be excluded.

The junta also agreed to the KNU's demand that they negotiate a ceasefire
first before surrendering their weapons -- an issue which caused previous
talks to fail.

Despite the positive mood at the talks, KNU representatives on the
Thai-Myanmar border say fighting is continuing and that more refugees are
being forced across the frontier.

"About 30,000 villagers have been displaced to the jungle in the past
week. It's very difficult to find food, and the weather is cold in this
area, about zero degrees (celsius)," KNU spokesman Pado Mahn Shah told AFP
_____________________________

Jan 19, BBC Monitor
Three more democracy party representatives released

Democratic Voice of People (DVB) has learned that three more persons have
been released from prison yesterday. The release follows the freeing on 16
January of 26 people who were arrested after the Tabayin incident. The
three persons freed were from Kale Prison were elected representatives U
Paw Khin of Myingyan Township Constituency, U Tin Aung Aung of Mandalay
Northwest Constituency, and Dr Win Aung of Kin-U Constituency (U Khin
Maung Thein and U Thaung Myint were elected representatives of Kin-U
Constituency 1 and 2). (National League for Democracy (NLD)) Vice-Chairman
U Tin Oo continues to be detained in Kale Prison.

A leader of the NLD Mandalay Division made these comments about the
release of three elected representatives from Kale Prison.

(Unidentified NLD leader - recording) Of those released, U Tin Aung Aung
is the only person from Mandalay. U Paw Khin has left for Myingyan. They
were released from Kale Prison. Four of them - U Tin Oo, Dr Win Aung of
Kin-U, U Paw Khin, and U Tin Aung Aung - were detained in that prison.
Since U Tin Aung Aung is from Mandalay, he is now in Mandalay. They sent U
Paw Khin back to Myingyan. Dr Win Aung, I think, may be in Kin-U. U Tin
Oo, according to his family, is still detained in Kale. U Tin Aung Aung
also told me that. (End of recording)

That was what an NLD leader told us about the release of some elected
representatives from Mandalay Division. We would now like to report about
the arrests.

News we have received indicates 10 people including Daw Hnin Pa Pa, a
member of the NLD from Mandalay Division Southeast Township, were arrested
on 22 December. Although earlier reports indicated that six NLD members
were arrested at the same time with Daw Hnin Pa Pa, an NLD leader said
three more people were also taken into custody. Three more people who were
arrested are Ko Tin Oo, an NLD member of North Okkalapa Township in
Rangoon, Ko Ye Min Tun of Mandalay, and an unknown private tuition
teacher. All these people were arrested on the same day (on 22 December)
while Ko Aung Naing Thu, son of Daw Hnin Pa Pa, NLD member from Mandalay
Southeast Township, was arrested on 28 December, bringing the total number
of people arrested to 10. An NLD leader of Mandalay Division gave the
following explanation:

(Unidentified NLD leader - recording) People arrested earlier were U Hla
Soe, U Myint Oo, U Aung Aung, Daw Hnin Pa Pa, Aung Naing Thu (son of Daw
Hnin Pa Pa), Ko Win Kyi, U Than Win, Ko Ye Min Tun (a son of U Than Win),
and a private tuition teacher who was living in a monastery. One other
person arrested is from Rangoon's North Okkalapa and he is Ko Tin Oo.
Altogether 10 were arrested, and it seems all of them were arrested at the
same time, on 22 December. They were picked up within a few hours of each
other. Ko Aung Naing Thu was taken into custody on 28 December. (End
recording)

That was an explanation given by an NLD leader in Mandalay about the
arrests of NLD members in December.

Source: Democratic Voice of Burma, Oslo, in Burmese 1430 gmt 18 Jan 04
_____________________________

Jan 20, Irrawaddy
Monks Arrested for Curfew Violations

By Kyaw Zwa Moe

January 20, 2004—About 100 monks in Rangoon have been arrested for
breaking a curfew imposed by the government at the end of October, said
sources inside and outside Burma.

The military government has ordered monks across Burma not to leave their
monasteries between 7 pm and 4 am to avoid possible religious conflicts
with the Muslim population.

The curfew was imposed following small clashes between Buddhists and
Muslims throughout Burma after about a dozen Muslims were killed during a
religious riot in Kyaukse, Mandalay Division, on Oct 19. The riot in
Kyaukse was reportedly sparked when three Muslims cut the head off a
Buddha image in the town, but local Muslims deny their involvement.

Since the curfew was imposed more than 100 monks have been arrested for
curfew violations, said the Thai-based Assistance Association for
Political Prisoners—Burma (AAAP). Authorities arrested ten young monks
from the Ngwe Kyar Yan monastery in Rangoon on Nov 22, said Tate Naing,
secretary of the AAPP.

He added that sources inside Burma report that all the arrested monks are
being detained in Insein Prison, outside Rangoon. Some of the monks are
being hospitalized in the prison’s hospital because they were beaten
during their arrest, said Tate Naing.

The arrested monks are immediately sent to Insein Prison and disrobed
there. —Abbot from Rangoon

According to the AAPP, the arrested monks are from about ten monasteries
in Rangoon, including Ngwe Kyar Yan, Tha Yet Taw, and Aung Chan Tha.

An abbot from a monastery North Okkalapa Township, Rangoon, who spoke on
the condition of anonymity, said monks are being arrested without
investigation if spotted outside their monastery after 7 pm.

"The arrested monks are immediately sent to Insein Prison and disrobed
there," he said. "They are later sentenced to at least two years."

In November, monks from several Rangoon monasteries staged protests
against the curfew, but no arrests from those demonstrations have been
reported.

The US State Department lists predominantly Buddhist Burma as a "country
of particular concern" because of the military government’s restrictions
on religious freedom. The International Religious Freedom Report for 2003
says restrictions on religious practice is a problem worldwide, but cited
Burma, China, Cuba, Laos, North Korea and Vietnam as the worst offenders.
_____________________________

Jan 17, AFP
NLD members freed by Myanmar junta among last held for May unrest

The 26 members of Myanmar's opposition party released this week were among
the last still held following the violent May clash which saw Aung San Suu
Kyi taken into custody, a party source said Saturday.

Myanmar's ruling military junta said Friday that 26 National League for
Democracy (NLD) members were released from detention and at home with
their families, but it did not name any of those released.

The party source said most of them were senior regional NLD functionaries
who were jailed or placed under house arrest shortly after a junta-backed
mob attacked an NLD entourage May 30 last year during a political tour of
northern Myanmar by Aung San Suu Kyi.

"They had all been jailed in connection with the May 30 incident," the
source, who is close to the party's leadership, told AFP.

They were released from four separate prisons: 10 from Shwebo jail, eight
from Mandalay, five from Myitkyina in Kachin state and three from Kale, he
said.

Kale, near the Indian border, is where NLD vice-chairman U Tin Oo is being
held. He was not among those freed, the source said.

"U Tin Oo is still in Kale as far as we know, but we hope that he,
together with the three NLD leaders under house arrest here, will be freed
soon too."

Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel peace laureate, remains confined to her home in
Yangon, as do her key lieutenants U Aung Shwe and U Lwin.

The source said he believed they may be the last four NLD members detained
in connection to May 30, and that the latest releases bode well for the
future freedom of movement for Aung San Suu Kyi.

"We hope this will soon lead to the release of (Aung San Suu Kyi) and the
rest of the NLD leadership," the source said.

United Nations rights envoy Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, one of the few
outsiders allowed to visit her at her home, said in November that Aung San
Suu Kyi was refusing any "privileges" from the junta until all NLD members
arrested over May 30 were freed.

Pinheiro himself demanded the junta release the 1,300 political prisoners
estimated to be jailed throughout the country.

Authorities have slowly released some of the activists from prison,
including five senior NLD leaders in November.


BUSINESS / MONEY
____________________________________

Jan 18, The Observer
Banks bust Burma trade ban- Nick Mathiason

The world's biggest banks are helping the brutal regime in Burma get round
tough financial sanctions imposed on it by George Bush.

Swift, a technology business owned by leading financial institutions, is
setting up Burmese bank accounts in euros just months after the US banned
Burma from trading in dollars and US financial companies from doing
business with the regime.

The sanctions came into force last August. They forced the Burmese
government, which is the world's largest producer of illegal opium and
denies a nation its most basic rights, to find alternative currencies to
dollars so it could trade with the rest of the world.

It emerged last year that Burma was trying to convert its financial
dealings into euros. Now The Observer has confirmed that the regime has
been successful and that Swift, via one of its regional offices in
Singapore, has helped supply software and other key data to do this.

Swift members include the biggest names in world banking: Citibank, JP
Morgan, ABN Amro and Credit Suisse.

A spokeswoman for the Belgium-based business, which generates £500 million
a year in revenues, confirmed that Swift was working in Burma to set up
new banking systems and added that, from this March, the organisa tion was
asked to bill the country's central bank in euros.
The co-operative business is used in 200 countries across the gamut of
financial services, from derivatives to e-commerce.

'We're shocked that such an important financial institution is doing
secret deals with one of the most brutal regimes in the world,' said Mark
Farmaner, media and campaigns officer for Burma Campaign UK.

'Those sanctions are designed to cut off finance to this oppressive
government but Swift are helping to undermine this. We believe any US
directors of Swift are in breach of US law and could be prosecuted.'

The news will be a severe embarrassment to the financial community, which
is at pains to paint itself as socially responsible.

Burma is a country of around 50 million people ruled by fear. Millions
work in forced labour.

The US is the first country to implement tough economic sanctions on the
country. Foreign investment is vital to the regime, which has bankrupted
the country, not least because of its massive army. International pressure
has forced many firms to pull out in recent months, including
PricewaterhouseCoopers and lately, British American Tobacco, which had a
factory in the country.
_____________________________

Jan 19, PNG Post-Courier

A major natural gas field has been discovered in an area off western Burma
being explored by a South Korean-Indian consortium, the State-run press
reported yesterday.

The find in the Bay of Bengal could evolve into one of cash-strapped
Burma's largest foreign exchange earners. Gas exports to Thailand already
constitute a leading export.

The new find in Block A-1 off Burma's Rakhine state contains "a
world-class commercial-scale gas deposit" estimated to hold 1.28 trillion
to 1.77 trillion cubic metres of gas, with a topside potential of 4.27
trillion cubic metres, the New Light of Myanmar newspaper said.

Similar figures were given in reports yesterday in the South Korean and
Indian press. Its actual value to Burma is impossible to estimate,
however, because of fluctuations in energy prices and the lack of public
details on the contract signed between the government and the exploration
companies.

It takes several years to bring a field into production.

The block's exploration partners are South Korea's Daewoo International,
also the operator, with a 60 per cent share, India's ONGC Videsh with 20
per cent, and Korea Gas Corp and Gail India with 10 per cent apiece.

Daewoo signed the exploration contract for the block with the state Myanma
Oil and Gas Enterprise in August 2000.

The discovery represents a coup for regional oil companies in their
rivalry with the Western majors.

After previously hermetic Burma began allowing foreign investment in 1988,
the government has permitted foreign companies to conduct onshore as well
as offshore oil and gas exploration.

But there is pressure from Western governments on companies based in their
countries not to do business in Burma because of the military regime's
poor human rights record and failure to restore democracy.

That pressure, along with legal sanctions - the United States has allowed
no new investment for several years - have provided an opening for
smaller, mostly Asian oil companies to invest in Burma.

However, the French oil company Total and Unocal from the United States
retain big, long-standing operations in Burma.
_____________________________

Jan 17, AFP
Daewoo CEO in Myanmar to discuss major gas find

South Korea's Daewoo International president and CEO Lee Tae-Yong has been
in Myanmar to discuss the prospects of a major natural gas find off the
western coast, state media said Saturday.

Lee met Prime Minister Khin Nyunt, Energy Minister Bigadier-General Lun
Thi and other top officials Friday after drilling at a test well on
December 26 struck a deposit estimated at 4.2 to 5.8 trillion cubic feet
of gas, the New Light of Myanmar reported.

Daewoo International is majority partner in the exploration and production
project. Lee reportedly sought permits from his hosts to explore and
exploit oil and gas in additional blocks in the region.

The newspaper cited Lee as describing the site as world class, and saying
the entire A-1 block, where the discovery was made, may yield up to 14
trillion cubic feet of gas.

Daewoo International's website said more than 500 million cubic feet could
be extracted daily.

The discovery was made when test drilling struck the gas deposit 10,588
feet (3,208 metres) below the sea bed, the paper said.

Daewoo owns a 60 percent stake in the project to develop the field, which
is located in Block A-1 in the Rahkine basin shelf in the Bay of Bengal.

Other investors include Korea Gas Corporation with 10 percent, ONGC Videsh
of India with 20 and GAIL (India) with 10 percent.

Daewoo signed a deal in August 2000 with Myanmar's military junta to
explore and exploit oil and gas in Block A-1 with the state-owned Myanma
Oil and Gas Enterprise.

No timeframe for the latest find was given, but production at a gas field
usually takes years.

Energy executives in Yangon said the find could prove a major boost for
Myanmar's dire economy.

"This field will open a new market for us" if major energy consumers such
as India or Thailand sign up to buy the gas, a senior official from a
private energy company told AFP.

He said the site was clearly commercially viable, but that more testing
was needed.

"They still need more detailed three-dimensional surveys, and they need to
perforate other test wells and get certification from an independent third
party," he said.

Myanmar has signed dozens of oil and gas exploration and production
contracts with foreign firms.

French oil group Total and US giant Unocal are both invested in Myanmar
and have been accused of human rights abuses during the building of a
1.2-billion-dollar (one-billion-euro) gas pipeline in the country, which
was formerly known as Burma, in the 1990s.

Gas production capacity averages around 1.0 billion cubic feet per day in
Myanmar, according to Total.


REGIONAL
____________________________

Jan 19, BBC
Thai groups battle new China dam - By Tom Butler

China's blueprint for its latest power project is meeting stiff resistance
from outside its own borders - in Thailand and in Burma.

In order to fuel its ever-expanding industrial growth China needs more
electricity, and its latest plan involves harnessing the power of the Nu
river to build 13 hydro-electric dams.

It will rank along side similar developments by China on the Yangtze and
Mekong rivers.

But although it rises in the Tibetan mountains, the Nu river is also South
East Asia's second longest. From China, it flows into Burma and along the
Thai border, where it is known as the Salween river.

And groups in those countries are angry about what they say will be the
devastating effects of the project downstream.

"There are many Thai-Karen communities living along the river and its
tributaries. These communities have been living there for generations, "
said Chinarong Sretthachau, Director of the South East Asia Rivers Network
(SEARIN), based in Chiang Mai.

"Their lives depend on the richness of the lush ecosystem and natural
resources of the Salween river basins," he said.

Campaigners also point out that the Nu-Salween is the last free-flowing
international river in the region.

The area it flows past in Thailand is a national park and a wildlife
sanctuary, which campaigners worry will be disrupted by the creation of a
huge power project upstream.

"Large dams have led to the loss of aquatic biodiversity, of upstream and
downstream fisheries, and of the services of downstream floodplains," said
Mr Chinarong, quoting from a report by the World Commission on Dams in
2000.

Economy

But for some it is a question of priorities.

Ian Fells is chairman of the New and Renewable Energy Centre in the UK,
and an adviser to the World Energy Council.

"I think we are rather sentimental about these things at the end of the
day. A lack of electricity is a terrible situation," he said.

"China's economy has been growing at 8% to 10% for the last five years and
they are just short of energy supplies, in particular electricity. Their
industrial development is faltering because of a lack of power,"
said Mr Fells.

The Nu-Salween river project would help to deal with that shortage – Mr
Fells said the 20,000 megawatts it would generate is enough to power 10
cities.

China has said it would assess the potential environmental impact of the
development within its own borders, but it has made no guarantees about
the effects in countries downstream.

Late last year SEARIN sponsored a letter to the Chinese ambassador in
Bangkok signed by itself and 82 other Thai and Burmese groups.

Protesters claimed that communities along the river would be "drastically
impacted" by the scheme and they called on Beijing to consult local people
in Burma and Thailand.

Power surplus

The Thai government has been reluctant to enter the fray on behalf of its
citizens - probably because it has its own plans for the Salween river.

It is proposing two dams along its own stretch of the waterway - and it is
also helping to finance another across the border in Burma's Shan state.

The Thai government has said a thorough environmental study would be
carried out. But it maintains the impact of such dams downstream could be
"both positive and negative."

The Thai plans have also outraged the groups opposed to China's dam
building. Whatever the shortages in China, they argue that Thailand has no
need for more power because, they said, there is approximately 40% surplus
supply of electricity in Thailand.

The projects are being monitored by the California-based International
Rivers Network (IRN), which has expressed concern about how the proposed
Shan development - the Tasang Dam - will affect local people who have
already suffered under the military government.

"Construction of the dam would subject residents living in the project
area to further systematic human rights violations," said IRN's South East
Asia Director, Aviva Imhof.

Campaigners have warned that it could lead to the displacement of local
people, along with environmental degradation

The area surrounding the Tasang dam site used to be one of the best teak
forests in Burma, according to Ms Imhof.

"Now, teak and other hardwood trees are being cut under logging
concessions given out by the military regime," she said.

But those who support hydro-electric power view it as a so-called "clean"
power supply and argue that China has already been attempting to reduce
environmental damage by opting for the projects.

"It is important to remember that hydro-electric power is being used
because it does not put carbon dioxide into the atmosphere," said Ian
Fells of the New and Renewable Energy Centre .

"China is trying to move away from coal-based power which is heavily
polluting."

As the arguments stack up on either side, it seems unlikely that China -
or Thailand and Burma - will rethink plans for their developments on the
Nu-Salween.

Power failures this summer in 16 out of China's 31 provinces highlighted
the problem

And hydroelectricity is viewed by the Beijing government as a solution -
an absolute necessity for a rapidly expanding economy.


INTERNATIONAL
_____________________________________

Jan 19, Bangkok Post
Italy urges push for constructive talks

Second road map meeting encouraged - Achara Ashayagachat

Italy has suggested Thailand form a mission of the like-minded to Rangoon
in order to move forward the so-called Bangkok Process on democratisation
in Burma.

Visiting deputy foreign minister Margherita Boniver told Foreign Minister
Surakiart Sathirathai yesterday that the international forum for Burma's
national reconciliation, dubbed the ``Bangkok Process'', should be pushed
forward, ministry sources said.

Ms Boniver was interested to know when the second ``road map'' meeting
would be held, before or after the National Convention, which Burmese
Foreign Minister Win Aung pledged when he joined the first forum here last
month, sources said.

Italy, which held the presidency of the European Union (EU) last year,
participated in the first Bangkok meeting along with Germany, France and
Austria.

The Italian deputy foreign minister thus suggested that Thailand should
take the lead in forming a separate mission comprising of certain EU and
Asean countries to visit Burma as part of the Bangkok Process to forge a
constructive dialogue with Rangoon.

``We must encourage reform in Burma, not just condemn them. And that's the
reason of my frequent visits to Thailand, because Thailand has taken a
very strong leadership role on the matter. And we, as an EU country, are
very interested in contributing for a better future in Burma,'' Ms Boniver
told the Bangkok Post.

Asked if the door for Burma's membership in the Asia-Europe Meeting (Asem)
remained closed, Ms Boniver replied: ``We're looking very closely at the
political process of normalisation in Burma, which so far has not met the
required result. We look at the larger agenda, not only the question of
releasing Aung San Suu Kyi. The answer for the moment is `no' for Burma
inside Asem.''

Mr Surakiart, however, said if Asem wanted to discuss transnational crimes
and democracy issues, then they needed Burma on board.

Burma's membership would be one of the sticking points during the Asem
foreign ministers' meeting in Ireland in April.

Ms Boniver also discussed preparations for Prime Minister Thaksin
Shinawatra's May 9-13 visit to Italy, during which three accords would be
signed to promote investment, cooperation on criminal cases, and culture
and science.

Italy also pledged support on development of small and medium enterprises
(SMEs), Thailand as a fashion centre, and human resource development and
training for member states of the Economic Cooperation Strategy (ECS),
which includes Burma, Cambodia, Laos, and Thailand.
____________________________

Jan 19, AFP
Rock star Bono leads call for action against Myanmar junta

Rock star Bono, lead singer with Irish band U2, Monday called on the
United States and the United Nations to pressure the Myanmar junta to free
detained democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

In an open letter that described the opposition leader as a "modern icon
of moral courage" the singer and US Senator Mitch McConnell called for
trade and political sanctions to push the Yangon regime towards democracy.

"The future of Myanmar rests with the return of democracy and the release
of Aung San Suu Kyi and her colleagues," the letter published in the
International Herald Tribune newspaper said.

"Aung San Suu Kyi ... needs unwavering, uncompromising international
support -- as tough and determined as she is herself."

The Nobel peace laureate is being held under house arrest after she and
leaders of her National League for Democracy were attacked by thugs backed
by the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) government on May 30.

Although the US and Japan imposed strict sanctions on Myanmar after the
spring attack, Bono and Mitchell say "this is not enough" and have urged
other nations to follow suit.

"Without more pressure from trading partners and regional powers, the SPDC
has little to fear," the letter said.

Bono, long a campaigner for developing-world debt relief, and Kentucky
Senator McConnell, also called on the Bush administration, the European
Union and the UN to make Myanmar a foreign policy priority.

"(US) Secretary of State Colin Powell should discuss it with his
counterparts around the globe," the letter said.

"(UN) Secretary General Kofi Annan ... should use every opportunity to
push neighbouring countries to take action to secure Aung San Suu Kyi's
release and should consider imposing an arms embargo on the SPDC," it
added.

The letter also said ordinary people could do their bit by not holidaying
in Myanmar, boycotting companies that trade with the regime and by
pressuring their local representatives to act.


OPINION / OTHER
_____________________________________

Jan 17, The Age
Burma in peace talks with rebels - By Mark Baker

Burma's military regime has begun historic peace talks with ethnic Karen
rebels, raising fresh hopes of an end to the political stalemate with
detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Senior leaders of the Karen National Union, which has fought a 50-year war
for autonomy for the country's largest minority, have flown to Rangoon to
negotiate a formal ceasefire.

The KNU is demanding the release of Ms Suu Kyi and more than 100 other
political prisoners as a precondition for a deal to end fighting in the
Karen region, which straddles Burma's border with Thailand.

The 21-member KNU delegation was led by veteran commander General Byo Ma. 
It is the first time the 76-year-old guerrilla leader has visited the
Burmese capital since the late 1950s.

The delegation was due to hold talks yesterday with Prime Minister Khin
Nyunt, and is expected to meet the head of the regime, General Than Shwe,
during its five-day visit.

The regime, which has struck peace deals with 17 other ethnic rebel groups
since 1989, wants to end the Karen conflict before reconvening a national
convention to draft a new constitution.

The constitutional talks are part of the regime's so-called "road map"
outlining its promises to return the country to democratic rule. The plans
propose a referendum on political reform and eventual elections.

But the road map has been ridiculed internationally as a stunt. The
proposals make no mention of the National League for Democracy, which won
a landslide election victory in 1990 but was barred from taking office by
the military. They also ignore Ms Suu Kyi, the NLD leader, who remains
under house arrest after a violent crackdown on the party in May last
year.

Some Burmese analysts believe the regime may be seeking to use a peace
deal with the Karen - the last serious armed opposition to their rule - as
a means of isolating the NLD from any political reform process.

"They want to marginalise the NLD ahead of the national convention by
getting all the ethnic groups on board first," says Aung Zaw, editor of
Irrawaddy magazine, based in Thailand.

"This would be a trump card internationally for the junta if they can
strike a deal with the KNU. They are playing a very sophisticated game."

But before leaving Thailand, General Bo Mya said the KNU would be seeking
substantial concessions before agreeing to extend an informal ceasefire 
that took effect last month.

"We insist that we will talk about political issues such as land boundary
issues and development in Karen state as well as KNU participation in the
national convention," he said.

The general said the KNU would demand the release of Ms Suu Kyi and other
political prisoners, the lifting of orders restricting political parties
and the start of talks with the NLD.
____________________________

Jan 17, The Washington Times
Harsh Burmese rule hurts business elites - By Joshua Kurlantzick

RANGOON, Burma -- Last month at one of Rangoon's leading social clubs,
Burma's elite gathered for an annual Christmas Eve party.

Powerful business people dressed in crisply pressed sarongs sipped the
more expensive grades of Johnny Walker blended Scotch whisky, nibbled
appetizers served by obsequious waiters, and watched a private performance
by one of the country's most famous rock stars.

But even here in this rarified atmosphere, there was no escape from the
increasingly harsh realities of everyday life in military-ruled Burma.

In recent months, the already-anemic Burmese economy has withered as the
government increased its control over business, arbitrarily seizing assets
from some investors and precipitating a run on Burmese banks, and new
American sanctions have hurt some industries.

"The economy is just getting worse. Foreign companies are pulling out, and
I have to switch jobs all the time to keep making money," said one
businessman at the club.

"I'll do anything to emigrate. ... Or maybe Bush will invade Burma?" he
asked despairingly, downing four straight whiskeys.

Not only is an invasion unlikely, but despite tough measures by the Bush
administration intended to pressure the military government in Rangoon,
overall American influence here appears to be waning as well.

As the junta, known as the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), has
reasserted its grasp over the economy, so too has it strengthened its hold
over Burmese politics in recent months, making its position more
impregnable than at any time in decades.
The Burmese government is close to signing cease-fires with the last armed
insurgents holding out against the junta.

Burmese political strategists say the SPDC has also been building tight
relationships with its Asian neighbors, who are now allowing the junta to
marginalize opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi -- under house arrest --
and try to destroy her party.

Perhaps of most concern to U.S. officials, Burma seems to be developing
close links to another rogue state, North Korea.

"The U.S. is now isolated from the political scene in Rangoon," said an
analyst based in the capital.

The junta seems to have convinced insurgents fighting the government and
many Asian nations to stop pressuring Rangoon: They are abandoning Mrs.
Suu Kyi while she's under arrest, and striking their own deals with the
regime, the analyst said.

"It's incredible," said a Western diplomat here. "The regime attacks a
Nobel Prize winner, and their relations improve with this part of the
world."

Mrs. Suu Kyi's party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), won a
landslide victory in the last free election in Burma, in 1990, but its
outcome was voided by the military. Since then, Mrs. Suu Kyi, who was
awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991, has been in and out of house
arrest.

In 2002, the junta freed her, but last May thugs backed by the regime
attacked her and her traveling companions, killing as many as 100 people,
and the NLD leader was put under house arrest again.

Until last year, such a consolidation of power by the junta appeared
unlikely. Though the hard-line government never seemed close to abandoning
power, cracks had begun appearing in its dominance.

But last summer, hard-liners reasserted their dominance within the junta,
pushing aside pragmatists who may have favored a transition to a civilian
government. In a government reshuffle, Khin Nyunt, the leading SPDC
pragmatist, was made prime minister, a role outside the main military
apparatus, and thus less powerful.

The hard-liners thought they would quickly win international aid after
talks with the NLD, said one Burmese political analyst. When they didn't,
they turned on Khin Nyunt and decided to finish with Mrs. Suu Kyi, locking
her up, closing her party offices across Burma, and jailing many other NLD
members, including the elderly deputy NLD leader, Tin Oo.

And after last year's crackdown, the junta played its hand skillfully.

The United States responded to the attack on Mrs. Suu Kyi by banning all
Burmese exports to the United States, worth roughly $350 million in 2002.
But the SPDC appears to have convinced neighboring China that it can be
the most important foreign player in Burma, and is using China to prop up
its rule.

Last year, China gave Rangoon a $200 million loan package, wrote off many
of Burma's debts, and sold it a range of new military hardware at
discounted prices, all of which soften the blow caused by the U.S.
sanctions.

No Chinese officials have criticized the attack on Mrs. Suu Kyi.

"The Chinese are everywhere now," complained one Rangoon resident,
pointing to buildings in Rangoon where Chinese companies have offices.
"Now it seems like there are more Chinese restaurants in Rangoon than
Burmese restaurants."

Indeed, Chinese firms, many with backing from Beijing, finance much of the
construction in downtown Rangoon, which is studded with new high-rise
buildings as well as with large numbers of beggars.

The military government has also effectively wooed other Asian nations
that used to criticize the junta when it mistreated the NLD but are quiet
now.

"The U.S. passed sanctions [last] summer, but not one other country here
[in Southeast Asia] signed on," said one analyst in Rangoon.

In Thailand, whose Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's family corporation
has business interests in Burma, the government has softened its policy
toward Rangoon. In recent months, Mr. Thaksin has advocated "constructive
engagement" with the junta, given Burma low-interest loans worth nearly
$45 million, and used the Thai army to crack down on Burmese pro-democracy
groups previously based in Thailand.

Other countries have followed suit.

Worried about Chinese influence in the region, India, formerly a haven for
Burmese dissidents, has also responded to SPDC entreaties. Prime Minister
Atal Behari Vajpayee has begun meeting with Burmese officials, and New
Delhi has offered Rangoon low-interest loans.

Other Southeast Asian nations, many of which are preoccupied with domestic
issues, have said little about the SPDC's tougher policies.

And Rangoon has gotten closer to Pyongyang. "Ties between North Korea and
Burma are clearly growing," said one Asian defense analyst.

The Far Eastern Economic Review reported last year that Burma is buying
missiles from North Korea and may be obtaining North Korean assistance in
building a nuclear reactor.

Meanwhile, through clandestine talks, the junta also appears to be
persuading the biggest ethnic insurgency in Burma, the Karen National
Union (KNU), to lay down its arms.

The KNU, until recently an ally of Mrs. Suu Kyi's NLD, fought the central
government for more than 50 years. Now, it "is thinking really seriously
about what they can get [from the government in a cease-fire]," said Aung
Naing Oo, an expert on the Burmese opposition who is based in Thailand.

Aung Naing Oo said the junta has assiduously wooed KNU leader Bo Mya, even
quietly shipping the Karen chief packages full of his favorite fish sauces
from Rangoon.  Other political strategists say the Thai government has
pressed the KNU, which is based in Thailand, to sign a cease-fire.

On Dec. 23, marking the New Year on the Karen calendar, Karen elders in
Rangoon said at a holiday celebration that Karen "guns would be quiet for
the first time in five decades," say people who attended the festivities.
____________________________________

Jan 20, The Yearbook of Experts, Authorities and Spokespersons

Two deserters from Burma's government army have recounted in exclusive
interviews with RFA's Burmese service how they were forced into military
service as children, beaten, and prevented from contacting their parents.

Corporal Than Naing was a member of a Burmese military group that deserted
in the Thai-Burma border region to the opposition Shan State Army (SSA) on
Nov. 24. He said army personnel in his hometown lay in wait for young boys
of 13 and 14 in teashops and forced them to join the army.

"At the end of school, students would take pocket money from their parents
and go to teashops," he told RFA after his arrival at an SSA camp. "The
SPDC [State Peace and Development Council] government was lying in wait
for that. As soon as the classes were dismissed, they would run to snatch
the students. They would go and drag them away."

Children who didn't have national registration cards on them would be
beaten up under interrogation, before being sent away to the army and
prevented from contacting their parents, Than Naing said. He added that he
was conscripted in exactly that manner in Ma U Bin city for failing to
carry identification, at the age of 16.

"They would interrogate the children: 'Do you have your national
registration card?' If they didn't have it, they would hit and beat them.
Only after that did they send them away to the army," Than Naing said.

Another deserter, Yan Paing Soe, said he was dragged away by soldiers in
spite of having an identification card, and a reference letter on him-his
captors tore up these documents and accused him of not having them.

"They took me to the army camp in Tamwe and punched me," Yan Paing Soe
said. "There were about two people in front of me. They had also been
punched that way. There was bleeding, so I got scared and said I would
join them."

He said that poor food, constant deductions from salaries, and
backbreaking toil even for those just returned from fighting meant that
many more government troops would desert if they got the chance.

"It was as if they were torturing the soldiers. And that's why the
soldiers who remained back there didn't want to do it any more. Everyone
knew that we could come here but there's been no opportunity yet... I'm 75
percent certain that they'll come here," he said.

According to Than Naing, the Burmese junta runs many training schools and
recruitment centers. "There are quite a lot of them. The training schools
are in Pyin Oo Lwin, Mingaladon, Mandalay, and Toungoo," he said.

"They did say that we could contact our parents and that we would get a
reply if we wrote them a letter. We did write them letters but we never
got a reply," he added.

Some parents were able to redeem their children by paying steep fines, but
most heard nothing more from their children for several years-seven years
in Than Naing's case, he told RFA.

Once in the military, the children were expected to shoulder the same
tasks as grown men, he said. "They would beat or swear at children who are
unmanageable when climbing mountains. There were children who couldn't
climb the mountains. They beat them and made them climb," Than Naing said.

"Some died because of their health conditions. Some became ill and died.
Some caught malaria. Malaria was really bad. They were buried when they
died... But what difference is it going to make for the parents? They're
already dead," he said.

The government has denied recruiting or using child soldiers. According to
a 2003 report by New York-based Human Rights Watch, thousands of boys,
some as young as 11, have been forced into Burma's national army, with
soldiers under the age of 18 making up around 20 percent of troops.

Once deployed, conscripts are forced to fight against Burma's ethnic
minorities and other opposition forces, and to participate in human rights
abuses against civilians, including rounding up villagers for forced
labor, burning villages, and carrying out extrajudicial executions.

On Dec. 3, RFA reported Than Naing and Yan Paing Soe's defections--along
with two dozen other soldiers--to opposition forces in the Shan States
border region, after killing their commanding officers.

One group of 13 soldiers led by Lt. Kyaw Win of the 132nd Light Infantry
Division based in Mauk Mai, southern Shan State, surrendered to the rebel
Shan State Army (SSA) Nov. 24. Another group of 13 soldiers from the 4th
platoon of the 514th Light Infantry Division from Tone Long Camp
surrendered to the SSA Nov. 26.

The military is the single most powerful institution in Burma, having run
the country without interruption for four decades. Military officers and
their families enjoy privileges unknown to civilians, and desertion by
such a large group of soldiers is unprecedented.

RFA broadcasts news and information to Asian listeners who lack regular
access to full and balanced reporting in their domestic media. Through its
broadcasts and call-in programs, RFA aims to fill a critical gap in the
lives of people across Asia. Created by Congress in 1994 and incorporated
in 1996, RFA currently broadcasts in Burmese, Cantonese, Khmer, Korean,
Lao, Mandarin, the Wu dialect, Vietnamese, Tibetan (Uke, Amdo, and Kham),
and Uyghur. It adheres to the highest standards of journalism and aims to
exemplify accuracy, balance and fairness in its editorial content.
____________________________________

REVIEWS

A land without evil: stopping the genocide of Burma's Karen people
by Benedict Rogers

To be published in March 2004, by Monarch Books in UK.

Foreword by Baroness Cox. ISBN number in the UK is 1 85424 646 1 and in
the USA it is 0 8254 6059 X.

The book tells the history of the Karen people, but it is primarily
focused on the current suffering of all the people of Burma - the Karen,
Shan, Karenni, Chin, Kachin, Mon, Arakan and the democracy movement. It
aims to draw attention to the genocide and ethnic cleansing taking place
in Burma today. It is not intended to be a scholarly, anthropological
book, but more a call to action.  It includes chapters on the democracy
movement of 1988, the Free Burma Rangers,
the Internally Displaced People and refugees, and the armed resistance. It
contains inspiring stories of courage, faith and dignity, alongside
stories of suffering.

The author, Benedict Rogers, is a journalist and human rights campaigner,
currently working for Christian Solidarity Worldwide in Washington, DC.

REVIEWS:

"The cruel military despotism over Burma's Karens has gone on much too
long. The West has become inured to it. Few really care. Few really know
what has been happening. Benedict Rogers has seen it. His compassionate
story impels readership and compels responses. This is a 'must read'
book."
- Bishop David Pytches, Former Anglican Bishop of Chile, Bolivia and Peru;

"Lady Mountbatten of Burma once described the Karen people as 'Britain's
forgotten allies.' More than anyone I know, Benedict Rogers has made it
his business to ensure that the story of the Karen is remembered and that
the genocide at the hands of the brutal Burmese military junta is not
ignored.

For half a century the Karen have been butchered in an orgy of killing and
persecution. A Land Without Evil is a first hand account of their
suffering and bravery - written by someone who has regularly put his own
life on the line in order to ensure that the world will never forget the
Karen." – Lord Alton of Liverpool.

"Benedict Rogers has written a moving and detailed account of the tragedy
of the oppressed Karen people of Burma. He brings to life one of the most
under-reported examples of ethnic repression in modern times. A LAND
WITHOUT EVIL should be read by every responsible citizen of those nations
claiming to espouse the principles of global justice."
- Dr. David Aikman, former senior correspondent of TIME

"For many of us in the Western world evil is long ago and far away.
Benedict Rogers' searing account of the atrocities in Burma lifts the lid
off our ignorance and leaves us  without excuse. How we respond will be
the measure of our faith and our humanity."
- Os Guinness, Senior Fellow, the Trinity Forum.

"This book is articulate and powerful in its detailing of the appalling
situation of the Karens within Burma and its conclusions for the world.
Benedict Rogers writes from the Christian perspective, but A Land Without
Evil is relevant for anyone interested in facing the dirty truths that
often
lie beneath the superficiality of international journalism. This is
reportage with a conscience and refreshing as such. It is right for
observers to take a position and Benedict Rogers does it, backed up with
harrowing facts and stories. An important contribution to the Burma debate
and a mine of information on the history and struggles of the Karen
people."
- Graham Earnshaw, former Reuters Editor for Asia

"There are moments in history when a people that has suffered so much have
a window open on all they have endured so that the rest of the world can
see the truth, and make a response that is so long overdue. That is the
role that Benedict Rogers fulfills for the Karen people. He knows the
truth and makes it compelling and mind-blowing reading. Once read, this
story will never be
forgotten."
- Dr. Clive Calver, President, World Relief

Benedict Rogers, International Consultant, Christian Solidarity Worldwide
www.csw.org.uk   www.cswusa.com   www.csw.org.hk
Trustee, The Metta Trust for Children's Education   www.mtce.org
Freelance Journalist