BurmaNet News, April 1, 2004

[Editor]

April 1, 2004 Issue # 2448

INSIDE BURMA
DVB: Dr. Maung Maung Kyaw’s health condition
Xinhua: Myanmar to develop more power projects
AP: Myanmar creates world's largest tiger reserve in effort hailed by
conservationists

REGIONAL
Daily Telegraph: 'Man has not been kind to the Mekong': Chinese
hydro-electric dams threaten livelihood of 65 million who rely on river:
Water levels dropping
AFX: Shipping halted as Mekong runs dry, Chinese dams blamed

INTERNATIONAL
Channel NewsAsia: Amnesty joins calls for Suu Kyi's release before Myanmar
convention
AFP: Britain welcomes Myanmar talks, calls for Suu Kyi to be freed
M2 Presswire: Secretary-General believes National Convention to draft new
constitution for Myanmar must be all-inclusive

OPINION / OTHER

PRESS RELEASE
ALRC: Statement on 'Myanmar: Massacre at Depayin' received by Commission
on Human Rights

ANNOUNCEMENT
Producer/Journalist for BBC Burmese Section


INSIDE BURMA
___________________________________

April 1, Democratic Voice of Burma
Dr. Maung Maung Kyaw’s health condition

The health condition of Dr. Maung Maung Kyaw who has been detained
unfairly at Moulmein Prison in southern Burma by the military junta of
Burma, State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) is said to be
deteriorating.

78-year-old Dr. Maung Maung Kyaw was arrested and sentenced to seven years
in prison with Act 5J for helping write the history of political
activities of Burmese students by describing his role as the chairman of
the student union in the 1950s.

According to someone close to him, Dr. Maung Maung Kyaw is suffering from
heart disease, diabetes and breathing problems but the prison authorities
are taking no action for him despite his request for the treatments five
or six days ago.

Although criminals in Burmese prisons are allowed to receive medical
treatments when they are ill, political prisoners first need to get the
permission of military intelligence to receive the same treatment.

A political prisoner, Mai Ai Pan of Palaung State Liberation Front died
while he was in prison in 2002 because the authorities didn’t act promptly
when the patient was fatally ill.

Ko Bo Kyi of Thailand-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners
(AAPP) said that there are many old and ill political prisoners inside
Burmese jails who need urgent medical treatments including U Win Tin, U
Thu Wei, U Saw Ne Dun and U Htway Myint.

The junta is deliberately and slowly torturing and killing political
prisoners this way to break their resistance and morale and many prisoners
died or went mad soon after they were released because of the inhumane
treatments they received inside the prisons.

Similarly, the health conditions of prisoners recently transferred from
Paung Tae and Tharawaddy prisons to Insein Prison including Ko Thet Naung
Soe, Ko Khin Maung Oo, student leader Ko Ko Gyi and Pagan Than Naing who
was accused of having underground contacts with the communists, are said
to be deteriorating, and the authorities are not only refusing to release
them but they are also denying them medical treatments.

_______________________

April 1, Democratic Voice of Burma
Buddhist monks given long-term prison sentences

26 Burmese Buddhist monks including an abbot who have been detained since
December 2003 were given long-term prison sentences lasting up to 18 years
by Burma’s military junta, State Peace and Development Council (SPDC).

The sentences were handed down to the monks at a court inside the
notorious Insein Prison in Rangoon at the beginning of February and the
families of the monks were only informed recently, according to legal
circles in Rangoon.

The monks were arrested by the junta because they refused to accept the
donations offered by the generals and their families during a religious
festival called Kahtein (Kathina) and some of the monks were forcibly
expelled from their monasteries by the military authorities.

Among the monks given sentence are 25 novice monks and one senior monk,
and the leading monk is said to be Reverend U Sanda Zawti. Some of them
had already been transferred to Tharawaddy Prison in central Burma and the
remaining monks were allowed to see their family members.

According to an abbot who doesn’t want to be identified, many monks who
are currently taking religious examinations are feeling aggrieved by the
action of the junta. He added that the abbots are not allowed to help the
monks who had been arrested. Many monks are forcibly disrobed once they
are sent to prison by the military junta.

Meanwhile, the Police Directorate in Rangoon has ordered all the abbots
throughout Burma to submit the list monks in their monasteries including
their personal particulars and details to the junta’s Department of
Religious Affairs.

_______________________

April 1, Xinhua
Myanmar to develop more power projects

Myanmar has planned to develop more electric power projects to raise the
generating capacity so as to fulfil the power demand of the country.

According to the Work Committee for National Electricity Development
Thursday, the country is set to extend 2,000 megawatts (mw) more of the
capacity, utilizing its rich water resources and giving priority to
hydropower projects.

The sources disclosed that although the country's present total power
generating capacity has reached 1,200 mw, a two-fold increase from 1988,
yet it is far from meeting the increased domestic demand due to economic
development and rise in living standard.

The power requirement for the capital of Yangon alone stands 450 mw, up
from 130 mw in 1988, it said.

The sources quoted experts as saying that the hydropower plants in Myanmar
generate only 390 mw. As there exists many locations from which nearly
40,000 mw can be generated through hydropower out of the country's rich
water resources, there remains many projects for implementation.

It cited the 280-mw Paunglaung and the Yezagyo hydropower plants in
Mandalay and Sagaing divisions respectively which are being implemented in
the power grid areas.

According to official statistics, in 1988, Myanmar's total generating
capacity was registered as over 580 mw, of which gas accounted for 51
percent, hydropower 38.8 percent and steam 10.2 percent.

Over the period since 1988, 34 new power plants including 28 hydropower
and six gas-fired power ones have been built, adding over 560 mw of the
capacity.

_______________________

April 1, Associated Press
Myanmar creates world's largest tiger reserve in effort hailed by
conservationists – Vijay Joshi

Condemned over its human rights record, the military regime that runs
Myanmar has been lauded for its treatment of tigers.

The government has created the world's largest tiger reserve in a
wilderness once known as the Valley of Death - a landmark project to
protect the endangered big cats, a U.S. conservation group said Thursday.

"Myanmar's government has done more to protect their tiger population than
any other Asian government," said Antony Lynam, Thailand chapter director
of the U.S.-based Wildlife Conservation Society. "It's very commendable."

It was rare praise for Myanmar's military government, which has faced
severe international criticism for abusing human rights and stifling
democracy. On Thursday, human rights group Amnesty International urged it
to release Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest
and free an estimated 1,300-1,400 political prisoners.

The 21,750-square-kilometer (8,400-square-mile) Hukawng Valley Tiger
Reserve in northern Myanmar culminates more than five years of
collaboration between the Myanmar Forest Department and the U.S.
conservation group, which spearheaded the project, Lynam said.

He said the Hukawng reserve is larger than the combined areas of all the
tiger reserves in neighboring India.

The reserve has 80-100 tigers - but the population could grow tenfold if
protection and management plans are carried out properly, Lynam told The
Associated Press. His organization is an independent group based at New
York's Bronx Zoo.

Hukawng was known as the "Valley of Death" during World War II, when
thousands of refugees fleeing Japanese forces died in the harsh wilderness
during their trek toward India.

"The Valley of Death is now the valley of life for tigers," said Alan
Rabinowitz, the Wildlife Conservation Society's director of Science and
Exploration.

The near-extinction of Myanmar's tigers has worried conservationists.
Tigers were so numerous that they were shot as pests during British
colonial rule. Records say 1,382 were killed in 1928-32.

Their numbers were also reduced by illegal wildlife traders and their
gangs of hired poachers. Tiger body parts are prized by traditional
medicine makers in Myanmar's neighboring countries, China and Thailand.

The Wildlife Conservation Society and the Myanmar Forest Department
catalogued the area's wildlife, and also identified threats such as gold
mining and commercial hunting, the group said in a statement.

Myanmar's government didn't make an independent announcement of the
project, and officials weren't immediately available for comment.

Studies found the reserve is also rich in elephants, rare clouded leopards
and endangered gaur - a species of wild cattle weighing up to a ton - the
wildlife society said.

"If the Hukawng Valley is properly protected and managed, this area could
contain the largest contiguous population of tigers in the world, and help
seed other potential tiger habitat that has already lost this magnificent
animal," Rabinowitz said.

"The objective ... is to make the Hukawng Valley Tiger Reserve a model of
large-scale landscape conservation," Rabinowitz said.


REGIONAL
_____________________________________

April 1, The Daily Telegraph
'Man has not been kind to the Mekong': Chinese hydro-electric dams
threaten livelihood of 65 million who rely on river: Water levels dropping
- Alex Spillius

To the Thais, Laotians and Cambodians, the Mekong has always been the
"Mother River," but as another poor day's fishing ended, Kham Chhon was
having his doubts.

His haul was 10 kilograms of the sardine-sized fish that are his source of
revenue, main source of protein and way of life. Twenty years ago he was
guaranteed a catch of 200 kilograms a day.

"I don't know why there are not so many fish. Perhaps the Mekong has been
kind to man, but man has not been kind to the Mekong," he sighed, retiring
to a wooden platform shaded by a mango tree in front of his simple
concrete house near the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh.

Kham Chhon is among 65 million people in the lower Mekong basin whose
livelihood and health are in danger as the river level sinks. Overfishing
and deforestation have had an effect for years, but the problem has been
worsened severely by the Chinese building hydro-electric dams upriver.

One of the world's supreme rivers, the Mekong flows nearly 5,000
kilometres through dramatically changing scenery, from the glaciers of
Tibet through the mountains of southern China and the plains of Burma,
Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam, emptying into the South China Sea.
Along with its tributaries it yields two million tonnes of fish annually.
In communities downstream of China, it provides 80% of the protein in the
local diet.

The Mekong River Commission, an intra-government body, estimates about 20
million people are involved in fishing.

"People are dependent on the river and it is really frightening to think
what could happen," said Ian Campbell, senior environment specialist at
the commission.

"In the West, we sometimes talk about biodiversity because it is nice to
save species, but here it is a matter of people's lives."

Commission figures confirm that in some places the river is flowing close
to rock bottom. At many places, prominent sandbars have emerged that were
previously scarcely visible in the dry season. Near Phnom Penh, cargo
boats and ferries regularly get stuck.

"I have never had to be so careful," said Se Chhuon, who steers ferries
from the mainland to Koh Dach, an island in the river. "It has never been
so difficult to cross."

Many monitoring stations reveal the river is below levels recorded in
1993, until now the lowest year in living memory.

"It may be good for flood control, but it is bad for agriculture and
fishing," said Pech Sokhem, a commission director in Phnom Penh. "If the
water doesn't flow properly, the fish will not spawn or migrate."

A drought is partly to blame, he said, but China must also take some
responsibility for dams that cause fluctuations of up to 28 centimetres up
or down with surges and dips in electricity demand.

The Chinese finished their first dam, Manwan, in 1996 and the second at
Dachaoshan in October of last year and the problem is due to worsen. Six
more dams are planned in Yunnan province. The next, being built at Xiaowan
and due for completion in 2012, will be not much smaller than the Three
Gorges dam on the Yangtze, with a reservoir stretching back 170 km.

The dams are symbols of China's insatiable demand for power and its
strategy of developing its western regions, which lag behind the east and
south. Accused of arrogance by environmentalists, it has built the dams
without consulting countries downriver. Its official line -- rarely stated
-- has been that the benefits will far outweigh adverse effects.

The smaller countries who depend on China for aid and trade dare not
criticize their neighbour and have built their own, if much smaller dams.
Thailand, Vietnam and Laos have all built dams on tributaries.

Barely developed until the 1990s, the Mekong is being turned into the
region's powerhouse at a time when the appropriateness of giant dams is
being called further and further into question.

The governments say the extra power will improve lives and bring vital
development to populations with average annual earnings of less than $500.
That is little comfort to Kham Chhon, his wife and seven children, who
have never heard of the Chinese dams but live with their effects daily.

_________________________

April 1,  AFX – Asia
Shipping halted as Mekong runs dry, Chinese dams blamed - Anusak Konglang

Shipping on the Mekong has been halted between China and Thailand as water
levels fall to historically low levels, and Chinese dam construction is to
blame, business leaders and officials said.

"The water levels began to drop in late February and now the Mekong is
only 90 centimeters to one meter deep in parts," said Sermchai
Kittiratanapaiboon, chairman of the chamber of commerce in Chiang Rai.

"We need at least 1.5 meters of water for ships to be able to operate," he
told AFP.
Hundreds of boats were stranded in the province's Chiang Saen port, he
said, forcing commodities such as rubber and other agricultural items to
be stored in warehouses at great cost to producers.

Sermchai said that this year a severe drought has compounded the problem,
but that the main factor was the damming of the river in its northern
reaches in China.

"The Chinese authorities release water when their boats are traveling from
China downstream but the whole Mekong goes dry again after that," he said.

In some sections, the once-mighty waterway has flowed to a trickle.
Television footage showed several boats had run aground on long sandbanks
that have been exposed.

Chiang Saen port official Krisada Worawasu said that although China was
releasing water once every few days, allowing some small ships to operate,
traffic on the river had largely ground to a halt.

"There have been no ships docking at Chiang Saen port in the last few days
as the Mekong is running at its lowest levels ever," he said.

The world's 12th longest river, which snakes through Tibet, China,
Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam, provides a crucial supply
of food and water to more than 60 mln people living on its banks.

Some 80 pct of them are farmers and fishers who depend directly on its
natural resources, which are decimated when the waters ebb.

The Phnom Penh-based Mekong River Commission (MRC) has said that sections
of the Mekong will reach their lowest level in a decade this year as the
dry season drags on.

But the MRC's senior environmental specialist Ian Campbell said that while
the situation in northern Thailand is not as severe as elsewhere, the main
problem is major surges caused by the Chinese dams upstream.

"They're getting fluctuations in water level which seem to be associated
with the Manwan dam, because we've been getting those fluctuations ever
since that dam was constructed (in 1992)," he told Agence France-Presse.

The MRC is attempting to compare water levels with the movements of
Chinese ships to determine whether they were manipulating the flow to suit
their navigation schedules, he said.

"Whether or not they're opening the floodgates for the purposes of
shipping, clearly they're operating the hydro dam as a peak load dam," he
said. "So whenever they want more electricity they let out more water."

Sermchai said that Thailand and other countries dependent on the Mekong,
including Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam, should organize a meeting
with Chinese officials to stress how serious the problem was.

Water Resources Department director-general Surachai Sasisuwan reportedly
said earlier this month that Thailand would ask China for some answers.

"There is an assumption that two dams (already operating in China's Yunnan
province) are the cause of the situation, but there is little evidence,"
he said.

"We would like China to tell us frankly about its dam project and let us
know whether or not the dams are the cause of the disappearance of the
water," he told the Bangkok Post.


INTERNATIONAL
_____________________________________

April 1, Channel NewsAsia
Amnesty joins calls for Suu Kyi's release before Myanmar convention

mnesty joined international calls for Myanmar's junta to release
opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and up to 1,400 other political
prisoners before launching a "road map to democracy" in May.

The London-based group also urged the ruling generals to guarantee freedom
of speech for participants at a national convention to draft a new
constitution starting on May 17.

"Amnesty continues to call for all prisoners of conscience to be released
and for... Myanmar's military government to ensure that human rights are
protected both during the national convention and in the new
constitution," it said.

Amnesty said arrests, surveillance and intimidation of opposition members
were continuing in the lead-up to the convention, the first step of a
seven-point road map which the junta says will conclude with free
elections.

"Such developments do not foster an environment in which participants in
the national convention feel able to take part in a free and open manner,"
it said.

The regime's announcement Tuesday that the convention would begin in May,
months earlier than expected, was immediately greeted with calls from its
arch-critic the United States for Aung San Suu Kyi to first be freed.

United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan on Wednesday joined the push,
saying the democracy icon who was detained during political unrest in May
last year should be free to take part in the forum.

"The secretary general believes that for the national convention to be
credible, it should be all-inclusive," Annan's spokesman said in a
statement, adding that all political groups should be involved.

"The convening of a credible national convention involving all political
parties and ethnic groups would mark the beginning of a new phase in
Myanmar's political evolution and would result in positive response from
the international community," the statement said.

The junta has said the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD)
would be invited to the convention but the party has said it would not
make a decision on whether to attend until Suu Kyi was freed.

In an effort to boost the credibility of the convention, being reconvened
after collapsing with an NLD walk-out in 1995, the generals have been
trying to persuade many ethnic minority groups to take part.

Britain on Wednesday gave a cautious welcome to the announcement, but also
warned the forum would have little credibility unless it represented the
full spectrum of Myanmar politics.

"I remain concerned that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and her senior NLD
colleagues are still under house arrest. I call once again on the
authorities to release them all without further delay," said junior
Foreign Office minister Mike O'Brien.

Amid scepticism over whether the junta is sincere about introducing
reforms to end four decades of military rule, Japan described the
convention as a "significant" first step.

But Myanmar's biggest donor also said Wednesday it was vital that the NLD
and all minority groups be properly represented.

_______________________

April 1, Agence France Presse
Britain welcomes Myanmar talks, calls for Suu Kyi to be freed

Britain on Wednesday gave a cautious welcome to an announcement by
Myanmar's junta that it would open a national convention to write a new
constitution, but renewed calls for democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi to
be freed.

Britain's junior Foreign Office minister Mike O'Brien warned that the
convention due to open on May 17 would have no credibility unless all
ethnic groups and political parties were able to take part, including Suu
Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD).

"I welcome the announcement that the national convention will reconvene on
May 17," he said in a statement.

"However, I remain concerned that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and her senior NLD
colleagues are still under house arrest. I call once again on the
authorities to release them all without further delay.

"Without the full participation of the NLD, the national convention will
lack any credibility."

O'Brien added: "If this convention is to succeed, it should be inclusive
and transparent, and with a clear time-frame. Freedom of speech and
political activity must be guaranteed, and all political parties and
ethnic groups should be invited to take part and given sufficient time to
prepare.

"Without these conditions, it is difficult to see how genuine progress can
be made."

Myanmar's ruling generals have been working to boost the credibility of
the convention by persuading the nation's many ethnic minority groups to
take part.

They have said the NLD will be invited but the party has said it will not
make a decision on whether to attend until Suu Kyi is freed from house
arrest, after being taken into detention in May.

_______________________

April 1, M2 Presswire
Secretary-General believes National Convention to draft new constitution
for Myanmar must be all-inclusive

The following statement was issued today by the Spokesman for
Secretary-General Kofi Annan:

The Secretary-General notes with interest the announcement by the
Government of Myanmar that it will convene a National Convention to draft
a new constitution on 17 May 2004.

The Secretary-General believes that for the National Convention to be
credible, it should be all-inclusive. He thus urges the Government of
Myanmar to lift the remaining restrictions on Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and her
senior colleagues in the National League for Democracy (NLD) as soon as
possible, and allow the party to participate in the preparations for the
reconvening of the National Convention, together with other political
parties and ethnic nationality groups. He further hopes that, in order to
make themselves ready for the National Convention, all these
representatives will be permitted to meet freely together and to conduct
peaceful political activities.

The Secretary-General believes that the convening of a credible National
Convention involving all political parties and ethnic groups would mark
the beginning of a new phase in Myanmar's political evolution and would
result in positive responses from the international community.


OPINION / OTHER
_____________________________________

PRESS RELEASE

April 1, Asian Legal Resource Centre
Statement on 'Myanmar: Massacre at Depayin' received by Commission on
Human Rights

(Geneva, 1 April 2004) -- The written statement of the Asian Legal
Resource Centre (ALRC) on 'Myanmar: Massacre at Depayin'
(E/CN.4/2004/NGO/38) was distributed yesterday at the 60th Session of the
United Nations Commission on Human Rights in Geneva.
The full text of the statement follows.

This year, ALRC submitted 30 written statements to the Commission, on
topics as diverse as caste discrimination in Nepal, food scarcity in
Myanmar, custodial deaths and torture in India, extrajudicial killings in
Thailand, policing in Pakistan, the National Human Rights Commission of
Sri Lanka, and impunity in Asia.

The complete list of statements, with full texts and links to the original
versions, can be viewed on the ALRC website, at
http://www.alrc.net/mainfile.php/60written/.

Asian Legal Resource Centre -- ALRC, Hong Kong

Myanmar: Massacre at Depayin

1. On 30 May 2003, hundreds of government-organised thugs carried out a
well-organised and premeditated attack on members and supporters of the
National League for Democracy, killing, according to eyewitness accounts,
at least 70 people. Although this was but one of many atrocities committed
by the Government of Myanmar against its citizens, it should be regarded
with particular seriousness given the number of persons killed at one
time, the extent to which the event appears to have been planned in
advance with the conivance of the highest authorities, and because it
directly targetted the embodiment of popular democractic aspirations in
Myanmar, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.

2. In making this statement the Asian Legal Resource Centre concurs with
the preliminary findings of the Ad Hoc Commission on the Depayin Massacre,
presented on 25 June 2003. In its summary observations on the attack, the
Ad Hoc Commission observed that:the attack was clearly premeditated and
well-organised, as indicated by the following:

a. Up to 5000 persons were brought to a remote rural location for the
purpose of attacking the convoy.

b. The attackers were all well-armed and located strategically at two
killing sites.

c. Before the motorcade arrived, local authorities threatened people
living in nearby villages to stay indoors.

d. The authorities systematically searched for and arrested survivors of
the attack.

3. The attack is described by a number of eyewitneses, from whom the Ad
Hoc Commission has collected affidavits, in the following terms:

a. "They beat women¡­ after pulling off their blouses and sarongs. When
the victims covered in blood fell to the ground, I saw the attackers
jumped on to them and wrapped the hair around their hands and pounded the
heads against stone surface of the road, with all their force." (Wunna
Maung, 26)

b. "Before my own eyes, people were being beaten savagely. I was hearing
the wounded, dying victims moaning and wailing in pain, shrieking in
agony, and crying out for help. At that time, as the attackers¡­ were
shouting unspeakable abuses, it was just like the hell boiling over. I saw
with my own eyes the attackers striking down the victims with all the
force and stabbing viciously with pointed iron rods. Truly, it was a
murderous attack. The beating was done until the victims died¡­ It
appeared that the attackers were systematically trained. They mainly aimed
and struck on the head. Even when I was at a hundred yards, I heard with
anguishing pain, the popping sounds of heads being broken by savage
blows." (U Khin Zaw, 50)

c. "In order to document the beating of villagers on the video, attempt
was made to line up the motorcycles and light up the area with their
headlights. In the light from the motorcycles, we saw the attackers
holding up wooden bats, iron bars, pointed iron rods, bamboo sticks and
shouting. At that moment, the sound of a whistle was heard, and led by
monks in red armbands, they shouted and charged towards us. While we were
still dumbstruck on seeing the charge, they started attacking the last
pickup truck, in which the monks and novices were seated."(Maung Po Zaw,
23)

d. "About 80 policemen, holding shields and wooden clubs, came to [one
area of killing after the massacre was over]¡­ Two officers got out of the
cars and checked the killing field. Hiding under cover of night, I
witnessed that the 80 policemen threw the bodies of the dead and injured,
as if they were garbage, into the trucks. I could clearly see in the
lights of trucks that had been to that area before, and others that got
there later, although I could not discriminate between who was who. The
two Hilux pickup trucks left at the scene were pushed down into the rice
field and then they set them up as if they had overturned. The other two
Hilux pickup trucks were set up to look like they had had a head-on
collision. Then they took pictures of them with video and still cameras,
for the record. After that, I left that area so that I could find a venue
to hide for a night." (Ko Chit San, 36)

4. The Asian Legal Resource Centre is fot he opinion that the massacre at
Depayin clearly amounts to a "widespread or systematic attack directed
against [a] civilian population, with a knowledge of the attack" (article
7.1 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court) and is
therefore a crime against humanity. To date, however, there has been no
serious action taken on the massacre, and with every day that passes, the
likelihood of uncovering the truth grows less.

5. The persistent abuse of human rights by the Government of Myanmar is a
matter of international public record and is well-known to the Commission.
The attack at Depayin on May 30 has worsened conditions in Myanmar. When
goon squads are sent to quash popular sentiment, they are intended to do
more than assault a single individual or organization--the real objective
is to destabilize society. If a country is politically and socially
stable, people are capable of expressing discontent. If unstable, those in
control are free to carry on with whatever schemes they have devised for
their own economic and political advantage. When people¡¯s lives are
insecure, their primary concern is the search for security itself. When
lawless elements are given a free hand, it sends the message that there
exists, in the words of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human
rights in Myanmar, only the un-rule of law. The effect on the collective
consciousness is not only to prevent the possibility of democracy, but
also to prevent the realization of even the most fundamental rights: those
to food, water and other basic necessities. Poverty and lawlessness
coincide; society becomes demoralized and inert. The Asian Legal Resource
Centre has over a number of years, including this year, submitted written
statements to the Commission on conditions of food scarcity in Myanmar
caused by the militarisation of its society.

6. Under such circumstances, the obligation of the international community
to become involved is greatly increased. Sadly, it has failed to respond.
The lack of any serious consistent pressure on the Government of Myanmar
has meant that it has been free to commit widespread human rights abuses
while making piecemeal gestures to silence international critics and give
the impression that it is progressing towards a political transition. The
international protest that arose after the killings at Depayin ought to be
leading to something more. The Asian Legal Resource Centre suggests that
the periodic visits of special envoys from United Nations agencies is
insufficient. Urgent intervention is required at all levels to arrest
Myanmar from further decline. With regards to the events at Depayin in
particular, a formal, large-scale investigation needs to be carried out
under international pressure. Steps must also be taken to account for--and
protect--the survivors, many of whom reportedly remain under detention.
More broadly, the United Nations must work concertedly for change in
Myanmar with a view to the holding of a credible election there under
international supervision, to ensure that the armed forces honour the
results. Finally, steps must be taken to bring those responsible for
numerous human rights violations in Myanmar to account for their actions
in accordance with international law.
_________________________

ANNOUNCEMENT

Producer/Journalist - BBC Burmese Section

Central London 	 - c£27,000

BBC World Service...
...is the world’s leading international multimedia news provider with an
audience of 150 million worldwide in over 40 languages, including English.

You’ll research, prepare and produce material in Burmese


for radio and other media, as well as writing scripts, presenting
programmes, and conducting interviews. You’ll also be expected to
translate and adapt material swiftly and accurately for transmission.

With Burmese as your first or equivalent language...
...and a complete understanding of written and spoken English, you’ll have
a good microphone voice, in-depth knowledge of international affairs, and
close familiarity with Burma. A degree-level education is essential, along
with recent and relevant full-time journalistic experience. You must also
have good keyboard skills and awareness of IT and the Internet.

Ref. 73557

Applications to be received by 30 April.

For further details and information on how to apply, please visit the BBC
web site at: www.bbc.co.uk/jobs If you do not have Internet access please
contact: BBC World Service Recruitment, Bush House, Strand, London WC2B
4PH.
E-mail: wsrecruit at bbc.co.uk Tel: 020 7836 7804. Please always quote the
reference number.