BurmaNet News, July 30, 2004

[Editor]

July 30, 2004, Issue # 2528

“Billions of dollars of foreign investment to Burma in the past decade
have buttressed the regime, been associated with human rights abuses and
impeded reform. Yet the people of Burma grow ever poorer and oppressed.”
- John Jackson, BCUK Director, Financial Times, July 30, 2004

INSIDE BURMA
DVB: Karen group, Burmese government to hold cease-fire talks
AFP: Myanmar stonewalls over release of democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi
AFP: Myanmar opposition launches new front to get democracy leaders freed
Kyodo: World Buddhist Summit in Myanmar to draw 1,500 from Japan
Myanmar Times: Burma plans public Internet access centres in 300 townships
Irrawaddy: NLD Plans for Expansion

REGIONAL
AFP: Asian leaders meet to build momentum for economic cooperation
AFP: Six Asian nations progress towards human trafficking pact

OPINION / OTHER
FT: Only the US has attempted to help the people of Myanmar - John Jackson


INSIDE BURMA
______________________________________

July 29, Democratic Voice of Burma
Karen group, Burmese government to hold cease-fire talks

[Presenter] The Karen National Union, or KNU, told the DVB [Democratic
Voice of Burma] today that cease-fire talks between the KNU and the SPDC
[State Peace and Development Council] military government will begin in
the third week of August. Phado David Taw, who is in charge of KNU foreign
affairs, said the date has been set according to resolutions of the [KNU]
Central Committee meeting which was held today.

We are now going to present [DVB Correspondent] Ko Htet Aung Kyaw's
interview with Phado David Taw.

[Phado David Taw] The SPDC sent us a letter indicating that the talks to
be held on 28 July. We responded that we would not be available on 28 July
as we have other matters, and that we are able to meet with them in the
third week of August. I could say that both sides have agreed on the date
of the meeting but we still have to negotiate about the location.

[Htet Aung Kyaw] What are the agendas of the upcoming talks?

[Phado David Taw] Regarding the cease-fire, we will try to reach a level
where we understand each other more based on a previous cease-fire
agreement. We will hold talks on the issue of unnecessary difficulties
faced by the people and clashes which took place due to unclear
territorial boundaries of the two sides.

[Htet Aung Kyaw] The unofficial cease-fire agreement has been there for a
while. But we have heard that the clashes have continued to take place.

[Phado David Taw] That is correct. The main reasons for the clashes are
the unclear territorial boundaries of the two sides, causing accidental
clashes. Some clashes have been taken place because of misunderstanding
over the territory within the units. We would like to discuss these issues
as they are obstacles to the cease-fire. We believe that solving these
problems will improve the cease-fire.

[Htet Aung Kyaw] Who will be going for the talks?

[Phado David Taw] The delegates who went for the previous talks as well as
new delegates. We have not made a definite decision on it yet.

______________________________________


July 30, Agence France Presse
Myanmar stonewalls over release of democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi

Bangkok: Myanmar on Friday refused to bow to international pressure for
the immediate release of democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi insisting it
would do so only when ready.

Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said his Myanmar counterpart
General Khin Nyunt told him at face-to-face talks in Bangkok that he
recognised international concerns but wanted more time.

"Khin Nyunt said that Myanmar would decide on the appropriate and proper
timing for the date of Aung San Suu Kyi's release," Thaksin told reporters
after the meeting.

Aung San Suu Kyi has been kept under house arrest for more than a year by
the military junta that has ruled Myanmar since taking over the country in
a 1962 coup.

Her third period of detention followed a violent clash between her
supporters and a pro-junta mob in May last year.

It sparked strengthened international sanctions led by the US and Europe
frustrated by the slow progress towards democracy in Myanmar.

Pressed over why Aung San Suu Kyi would not be released immediately,
Thaksin said: "Myanmar is an independent country, they don't want anyone
to interfere with their internal matters.

"Myanmar wants to uphold its dignity as a sovereign country. Myanmar
understands the international concerns but is asking for more time.

"Myanmar democracy has gone forward but other countries have to understand
Myanmar's condition which is not like a developed nation."

The detention of Aung San Suu Kyi -- her deputy Tin Oo is also being held
-- has also proved a sticking point for planned talks between Southeast
Asian nations and Europe scheduled for October in Vietnam.

EU ministers have demanded a signal that the junta is prepared to allow a
degree of democratic opening, including her release, before sitting down
with the Myanmar delegation.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has refused to leave
Myanmar out of the talks prompting a round of frantic diplomatic meetings
to try to resolve the crisis after a series of preparatory meetings were
cancelled.

Thaksin said he believed that "everything will go smoothly" and the
meeting between the two blocs would go ahead.

"We have the appropriate means to handle this," he said after the talks
held on the sidelines of the two-day BIMSTEC summit of seven Asian nations
that started here Friday.

Myanmar's main opposition party said it was compiling a nationwide
petition to demand the immediate and unconditional release of leader Aung
San Suu Kyi, Tin Oo and other political prisoners.

"The petition not only calls for the unconditional and immediate release
of party general secretary Aung San Suu Kyi and vice-chairman Tin Oo...
but also demands the reopening of all party offices closed since May 30,"
last year, said National League for Democracy spokesman U Lwin.

Previous letter writing campaigns have come to nothing. Some analysts said
the petition campaign was merely a much-needed morale booster to the party
faithful which won elections by a landslide in 1990 but has never ruled.

Others said the reaction of the military was less predictable. "We'll have
to wait to see what the official and international reaction to the
campaign will be," said an analyst, who declined to be named.

______________________________________

July 30, Agence France Presse
Myanmar opposition launches new front to get democracy leaders freed

Yangon: Myanmar's opposition on Friday demanded the immediate and
unconditional release of democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi in a new
campaign to put pressure on the military regime.

The National League for Democracy has started a nationwide petition to try
to secure the release of their leader, her deputy Tin Oo and other
political prisoners, senior party sources said.

Aung San Suu Kyi has been in detention for more than a year -- her third
stint of house arrest under the junta that has ruled Myanmar since a coup
in 1962.

"The petition not only calls for the unconditional and immediate release
of party general secretary Aung San Suu Kyi and vice-chairman Tin Oo...
but also demands the reopening of all party offices closed since May 30,"
said NLD spokesman U Lwin.

Previous letter writing campaigns have come to nothing but the petition
was started before Prime Minister General Khin Nyunt was due to meet Thai
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra Friday in Bangkok.

Thaksin is expected to try and persuade his counterpart to join a new
multinational round of talks at a future date in the Thai capital to
encourage the push for democracy in Myanmar.

The junta has announced a seven-step democracy "roadmap", which has been
derided as a sham by critics.

The United States and Europe have imposed trading sanctions on Myanmar
because of the continued detention of Aung San Suu Kyi and its ponderous
efforts to introduce democracy.

The regime has put a close watch on the increased activities at the NLD
headquarters here, the centre of the petition campaign, but security
officials have not intervened.

Some analysts said the petition campaign was merely designed to provide a
much-needed morale booster to the main opposition party, which won
elections by a landslide in 1990 but has never ruled.

Others said the reaction of the military was less predictable. "We'll have
to wait to see what the official and international reaction to the
campaign will be," said an analyst, who declined to be named.

The NLD said it had not yet decided what to do with the completed petition.

______________________________________

July 29, Kyodo News
World Buddhist Summit in Myanmar to draw 1,500 from Japan

More than 1,500 people from Japan and 117 delegates from 21 other
countries are expected to attend the fourth World Buddhist Summit in
Myanmar in December, local press reported Friday.

The summit, jointly organized by the Nenbutsushu Buddhist sect of Japan
and Myanmar's Religious Affairs Ministry, is set for Dec. 9 to Dec. 11 in
Yangon.

The agenda for the event is still under discussion, but the delegates will
cover Buddhist affairs with a view to promoting the unity of Buddhists
throughout the world, the Myanmar media said.

The first World Buddhist Summit was held in Japan in 1998, the second in
Thailand in 2000 and the third in Cambodia in 2002. The Nenbutsushu sect
also sponsored the previous World Buddhist Summits.

Latest official figures say 89.3 percent of Myanmar's 53 million people
are Buddhist.

______________________________________

July 26, Myanmar Times
Burma plans public Internet access centres in 300 townships

The Myanmar Information and Communication Technology Development
Corporation plans to launch a project in August aimed at increasing public
access to the internet.

Public internet access centres will be opened in more than 300 townships
under the project, said the corporation's managing director, U Aung Zaw
Myint.

He said planning for the centres, one of a series of e-government
projects, began in early July.

A sub-committee under the e-application working committee, which was
established to implement the projects, has been formed to oversee the
opening of the centres.

U Aung Zaw Myint said there will be three types of centres, involving an
investment of between 5m kyats to more than 10m kyats.

The plan provides for the first 10 centres to be operated by the
corporation and the rest to be established by the private sector.

The facilities available at each centre will be determined by the
population and level of development of the townships.

U Aung Zaw Myint said staff at each centre will help those without prior
knowledge of the internet.

The 5m-kyat centres will be equipped with two computers and a printer and
are proposed for remote areas.

The centres requiring an investment of 10m kyats will have about 10
computers and a printer.

The most advanced centres will be equipped with multimedia and satellite
television facilities and will cost more than 10m kyats, depending on the
services they provide.
______________________________________

July 30, Irrawaddy
NLD Plans for Expansion - Nandar Chann

Burma’s main opposition party said today that it will expand its
nine-member leadership committee.

Party spokesman U Lwin told The Irrawaddy that the NLD is considering
appointing new members to its Central Executive Committee, or CEC “as much
as 80 percent of the CEC is imprisoned or has resigned from the party. The
party’s structure has almost collapsed.”

The CEC currently has only nine members who are entrusted with making the
party’s major decisions.

Meanwhile, the opposition party is currently holding meetings at branch
offices in all divisions and states across the country to gather input on
the party’s activities and its future plans. All members of parliament,
divisional and state level organizers, party township chairmen, and youth
and women leaders are required to attend.

The NLD encourages its members to be open with its criticism of the party
and said that those members who do not speak openly will be considered
traitors.

“[The meeting] is open to all,” said a senior NLD member from upper Burma.

The opposition’s move comes after it has taken heat for the indecisiveness
of its older members and for excluding younger members from
decision-making processes.

Party meetings in Rangoon and Shan State concluded in recent days.
Meetings will begin today in Magwe Division.

After the preparatory meetings conclude, party leaders from all divisions
and states will be summoned to the NLD headquarters in Rangoon to meet
with their top leaders.

______________________________________

July 30, Irrawaddy
Flood Documentary Maker Arrested - Naw Seng

Local authorities have arrested a video documentary maker in northern
Burma for distributing hundreds of copies of a video which contains
footage of a devastating flood in Myitkyina, the Kachin State capital,
said sources in the town today.

Lazing La Htoi, the owner of Htoi San Press in Myitkyina, recorded scenes
of last week’s flood with his hand-held video camera and recorded 300
copies on to video compact disc, or VCD.

He was arrested on Tuesday for filming scenes of the flooding. Authorities
also shut down Cyber Computer Centre, the computer shop which produced the
documentary, for an indefinite period. Military authorities have kept a
tight lid on the news of the flood.

 The Kyemon newspaper, run by the military government, reported last week
that no casualties or property damage have resulted from the flood. But
local residents and NGOs assisting the flood victims say that several
people died and thousands of homes were damaged.

Last week, massive flooding hit Myitkyina, 600 miles north of Rangoon,
after rains caused the Irrawaddy River to overflow. According to a
government survey, the river’s water level reached 1,406 centimeters, the
second highest mark in 38 years.

The Kyemon newspaper, run by the military government, reported last week
that no casualties or property damage have resulted from the flood.

But local residents and NGOs assisting the flood victims say that several
people died and thousands of homes were damaged. The Metta Development
Foundation, which promotes development projects in ethnic areas, reported
that about 50 people died and at least 5,000 homes were damaged in an
undisclosed location around greater Myitkyina.

The Metta report said the German Catholic Bishops’ Organization for
Development Cooperation, Swissaid, Medicins du Monde and other
organizations are giving support to the flood victims. Metta is trying to
raise US $5,000 to help provide them clean water and medical treatment. It
said that most water wells around the city have been contaminated by the
flood.

The documentary footage showed a couple hundred youth volunteers from the
Kachin Baptist Convention, or KBC, assisting the victims. Shortly after
the flooding subsided, KBC organized volunteers to open several temporary
shelters for the displaced flood victims.

A KBC staffer said that authorities asked the Cyber Computer Centre to
recall the 300 VCDs before copies of the video could be distributed
abroad. Copies of the video were selling for 1,000 kyat (US $1.05).

Yesterday, Rev Hkalam Samson, secretary of the Myitkyina District Kachin
Baptist Convention, and other local religious leaders were summoned by the
commander of the Burma Army’s Northern Command and chairman of the Kachin
State Peace and Development Council, Maj-Gen Maung Maung Swe, for
questioning about the video.

On July 24, Lt-Gen Thein Sein, Secretary 2 of the military government,
visited Myitkyina and met with flood victims. He presented more than 84
million kyat (US $8,800) in donations collected from several organizations
and individuals.


REGIONAL
______________________________________

July 30, Agence France Presse
Asian leaders meet to build momentum for economic cooperation

Bangkok: The first leadership summit of the BIMSTEC group of seven Asian
nations representing 1.3 billion people started talks in Thailand's
capital Friday as analysts cast doubt over its long-term economic
prospects.

The talks were designed to provide a much-needed drive towards the goal of
free trade by 2017 after a hesitant start for a group designed to bridge
the gap between the nations of South and Southeast Asia.

The gathering is big on symbolism but trade within the group represents
only 7.3 billion dollars, or four percent of their total trade, and tariff
negotiations are not due to start until later this year.

The seven -- Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand and new
members Bhutan and Nepal -- are to use the summit to draw up a "roadmap"
to navigate the course towards the opening of markets and promote trade.

Analysts played down the significance of the meeting and warned much
needed to be done to tap the trading potential of the two areas.

Prapat Thepchatree, director of Thailand's Centre for International Policy
Studies, said: "The (Thai) government would like to promote this into a
very big event. But for me, as an observer, this kind of grouping and
cooperation will be a gradual evolution, it will be a slow process.

"It's very nominal compared with Thai-US trade, Japanese or other Asian
countries."

Sunandan Chowdhury, an expert on globalisation from India, said the
effectiveness of the group was hampered by the absence of countries like
Singapore, India's largest trading partner in Southeast Asia.

He said other established organisations -- such as the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the South Asia Association for
Regional Cooperation (SAARC) -- were more effective at representing their
members.

"It's my hunch that 95 percent of college lecturers in India don't know
what BIMSTEC is," Chowdhury said.

The battles against terrorism and HIV/AIDS and the creation of an Asian
monetary fund were due to feature during the two days of discussions among
foreign ministers, six prime ministers and the Sri Lankan president, Thai
officials said.

While foreign ministers met Friday, Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra
had face-to-face sessions with fellow leaders.

They included Myanmar counterpart General Khin Nyunt who refused to bow to
international pressure over the release of democracy leader Aung San Suu
Kyi.

"Khin Nyunt said that Myanmar would decide on the appropriate and proper
timing for the date of Aung San Suu Kyi's release," Thaksin told reporters
after the meeting. "Myanmar is an independent country, they don't want
anyone to interfere with their internal matters."

The summit marked the first overseas trip by Indian Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh since taking office in May. "We believe BIMSTEC can evolve
into a dynamic, exemplary, economic grouping," Singh said in an interview
with The Nation newspaper Friday.

BIMSTEC (Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Thailand - Economic
Cooperation) was founded in 1997 -- the year the Asian economic crisis hit
-- to promote trade focusing on six key sectors from tourism to
technology.

The three most advanced members, India, Sri Lanka and Thailand, are
committed to trade liberalisation by 2012, with the others following
within five years.

The signing of a free trade agreement in the Thai resort province of
Phuket earlier this year was almost scuppered by the late withdrawal of
Bangladesh because of a row over compensation for lost tariff revenue.

______________________________________

July 30, Agence France Presse
Six Asian nations progress towards human trafficking pact

Bangkok: Senior officials from China and five Southeast Asian nations on
Friday concluded their first-ever talks to thrash out a new framework for
fighting human trafficking in the region.

United Nations officials cited substantial progress in the closed-door
discussions aimed at hammering out the basics of an agreement expected to
be signed between Cambodia, China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam
when ministers meet in Yangon in October.

But they also warned that the battle against trafficking could actually be
slowed by growing regional economic cooperation, the easing of customs
procedures and the opening of transnational transport routes.

"The meeting was highly successful, and a number of tentative agreements
have been reached which will be discussed further in the next step in the
process," said Philip Robertson, program manager for the UN inter-agency
on human trafficking in the greater Mekong River subregion.

It was the first time the countries came together to combat what
Thailand's minister of social development and human security, Sora-at
Klinpratoom, described at the beginning of the three-day talks as a
"modern-day form of slavery".

Should a memorandum of understanding be inked in Yangon it would be the
first of its kind in the world, Robertson said.

Some 800,000 men, women and children are estimated to be trafficked
annually across borders worldwide in a billion-dollar illicit trade. Most
victims of trafficking are severely exploited and many are sexually
abused.

Human trafficking is considered a surging crisis in Asia, and several
countries of the region have been strongly criticized for failing to
recognize the scale of the problem.

The UN's top official in Thailand said that while the states involved in
the talks were showing a growing recognition of the crisis there was some
way to go before a pact was agreed.

Of crucial concern was whether any cross-border framework among the six
nations would be legally binding.

"They have agreed it was binding in spirit, but in the letter of the law
that might be going a little bit far at this stage," UN resident
representative Robert England told AFP.

He warned that socio-economic development in Southeast Asia was hampering
the battle against trafficking.

"Regional development represents a huge economic opportunity for people,
but the ease of mobility created for the purposes of promoting economic
opportunities and jobs also has a social downside," England said.

"The downside is the increasing trafficking of drugs and people."

The region, supported by donors such as Japan and the Asian Development
Bank, could be unwittingly fuelling the crisis by opening up transnational
highways, reducing border controls, and simplifying customs and
administration procedures.

"Such steps would make it easier to traffic methamphetamines and heroin
and certainly easier to traffic people. Development is a two-edged sword,"
England added.


OPINION / OTHER
______________________________________

July 30, Financial Times
Only the US has attempted to help the people of Myanmar - John Jackson

>From Mr John Jackson

Sir, I hope Jeffrey Sachs understands Cuba, Haiti and Iraq better than he
does Burma ("Myanmar: sanctions won't work", July 28).

Prof Sachs paints a picture of a Burmese regime attempting to "address
poverty" and to bring peace to its people, while US sanctions hold it
back. It is a strange peace that uses rape as a weapon of war against
women and children, and that has displaced 1.5m people. A peace the regime
ensures by spending 50 per cent of its budget on one of Asia's largest
armies. A strange "attempt to address poverty" by spending 0.3 per cent of
gross domestic product on health, less than any other state in the world,
and by ordering infrastructure projects that have forced tens of thousands
into slave labour. The International Labour Organisation has called the
regime's use of forced labour a "crime against humanity".

On reconciliation efforts within the country he seems as badly informed.
Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy was not able to attend
the regime's constitutional convention for two reasons: senior NLD leaders
remain in detention and the regime refused to revoke a law providing for
20 years in prison for any delegate who criticises the junta's draft
constitution.

Prof Sachs bizarrely blames much of the above on the limited sanctions
imposed by the US in recent years - an investment ban in 1997 and an
import ban last year. Anti-sanctions advocates would have you believe that
Burma's problems stem from constraints imposed by sanctions. In reality,
for most other countries it has been business as usual with the
dictatorship. Billions of dollars of foreign investment to Burma in the
past decade have buttressed the regime, been associated with human rights
abuses and impeded reform. Yet the people of Burma grow ever poorer and
oppressed. The US has been the only country attempting to reverse that
process. A better understanding of the facts would help Prof Sachs see
that.

John Jackson, Director, Burma Campaign UK, London N1 6HT, UK