BurmaNet News, August 4, 2004

[Editor]

August 4, 2004, Issue # 2531


INSIDE BURMA
AP: Myanmar introduces laws to bar child soldiers - report
AFP: Former condemned men in Myanmar launch new legal challenge
Xinhua: Myanmar builds underground museum for world's largest jade stone

ON THE BORDER
Kao Wao: Defenseless villagers attacked: no chance of escape

BUSINESS
The Hindu: Take Stilwell Road to boost trade in East

REGIONAL
Nation: Focus on Europe: A Burmese test for the future of Asem
AP: Cambodian PM calls on ASEAN to stand firm on Myanmar's admission into
summit 2004
Nation: BIMST-EC leaders ask for regional cooperation

OPINION / OTHER

PRESS RELEASE
Burma Campaign UK: More travel firms quit Burma
RSF: Burma: Documentary film-maker arrested

CORRECTION: Yesterday’s BurmaNet failed to credit Mr. Derek Tonkin as the
writer of the Financial Times ‘Letter to the Editor’: “Asian neighbours do
not want chaos in Burma”

INSIDE BURMA
______________________________________

August 4, Associated Press
Myanmar introduces laws to bar child soldiers - report

Yangon: Myanmar has introduced laws prohibiting the recruitment of child
soldiers, state media reported, though the junta said critics have
exaggerated the extent of the practice.

Laws and regulations have been enacted to protect children from being
recruited for military service, the Myanma Ahlin newspaper reported
Wednesday, quoting Lt. Gen. Thein Sein, chairman of the Committee for
Preventing Recruitment of Child Soldiers.

The report didn't include any details of the new laws.

Thein Sein also accused "some groups that are biased against Myanmar" of
making "exaggerated allegations against our country."

Myanmar has long been accused of using child soldiers.

In June, Human Rights Watch said 20% or more of Myanmar's soldiers on
active duty are under the age of 18. Myanmar has an estimated 350,000
soldiers in its national army, making it the biggest aggregation of child
soldiers in the world, the New York-based group says.

The U.N. Committee on the Rights of the Child has also expressed concern
over the use of underaged recruits by both the Myanmar government and
armed ethnic opposition groups.

______________________________________

August 4, Agence France Presse
Former condemned men in Myanmar launch new legal challenge

Yangon: Eight men who successfully appealed against death sentences for
high treason against Myanmar's military regime are to launch a new court
challenge against their jail terms, a lawyer said Wednesday.

The men are currently serving terms from three years to life for their
supposed role in plans to overthrow the junta. Their treatment sparked
wide condemnation from abroad.

One of the men, Zaw Thet Htway, the editor of a sports magazine, was
arrested in July last year after publishing a story alleging misuse of a
four million dollar international grant to promote football in Myanmar.

Shortly afterwards, the magazine published an article on a fine imposed by
the organisers of the Asian Champion Club tournament on a Myanmar football
team for its failure to participate.

The others included three men charged over contacts with the International
Labour Organisation (ILO) and were all convicted in November last year
before having their sentences commuted to jail terms six months later.

"We are almost ready with all the pertinent documents and hope to file the
special appeal before the end of this week," lawyer Naing Ngwe Ya told
AFP.

The lawyer said he hoped Zaw Thet Htway -- whose death sentence was
commuted to three years -- could be released after an appeal.

Media groups have campaigned for the release of the editor whose magazine
is the country's most widely read sports publication, with a circulation
of more than 50,000.

The ILO said the sentences for the "ILO three" cast doubt on the
credibility of the regime's cooperation with the organisation, which is
trying to stamp out forced labour in Myanmar.

Decisions to overturn sentences for political crimes are rare in Myanmar,
but after the ILO's criticism, the government admitted the court's
original decision was flawed and agreed to review it.

______________________________________

August 4, Xinhua News Agency
Myanmar builds underground museum for world's largest jade stone

Yangon: Myanmar has started building an underground museum to display its
world's largest jade stone in the country's northernmost Kachin state, a
local news journal reported Wednesday.

The giant jade stone, measuring 21 meters long, 4.8 meters wide and 10.5
meters high, and weighing about 3,000 tons, was discovered in 2000 in
Kachin state's Phakant area at a depth of 12 meters underground.

The museum is being so built on the spot underground where the jade stone
was found as it is hard to move for its size and weight, said the 7-Day
journal, quoting the Ministry of Mines.

The jade stone was unearthed and donated to the government by a gem and
jade company run by the Pa-O ethnic group, a former anti- government
ethnic armed group who have made peace with the government.

The underground jade museum, which will be the first of its kind ever in
the world, represents Myanmar's reputation and a tourist attraction, the
report claimed.

The jade stone will be exhibited in the 30-meter deep underground museum
at the same depth where it was found, the report added.

Myanmar, a well-known producer of gems in the world, has also claimed that
it owns the world's largest ruby weighing 21,450 carats, the largest star
sapphire weighing 63,000 carats, the biggest peridot weighing 329 carats
and the biggest pearl weighing 845 carats.

There are six mining areas in Myanmar under gems and jade exploration
operation, namely, Mogok, Mongshu, Lonkin/Phakant, khamhti, Moenyin and
Namyar.

To develop gem mining industry, Myanmar has enacted the New Gemstone Law
in 1995, allowing national entrepreneurs to mine, produce, transport and
sell finished gemstone and manufactured jewelry at home and abroad.

Since 2000, the government has started mining of gems and jade in joint
venture with 10 private companies under profit sharing basis.

Meanwhile, Myanmar holds gems emporiums annually beginning 1964 to put on
sale its precious gems, jade, pearl and jewelry mainly through competitive
bidding and tender system. Besides the annual events, it introduced the
mid-year ones in 1992 and since then the emporiums have become the
biannual events. Ever since the first emporium, the country has earned a
total of 453.6 million US dollars from the sale, according to official
statistics.


ON THE BORDER
______________________________________

August 3, Kao Wao News
Defenseless villagers attacked: no chance of escape -Hongsar & Banyear Toay

Villagers from southern Ye flee to avoid human rights violation by the
Burma Army

Civilians from southern Mon State seeking refuge at a Mon refugee camp on
the Thai-Burma border claimed they were tortured and sexually harassed by
the Burmese Army soldiers.

“Burmese soldiers scurry about in the jungle looking for insurgents and
often target villagers when they come across any; they often stay
overnight at the village demanding protection and force young women to sit
together with them and guard the area during the night,” Ms. Mi Charn (not
real name) said during an interview.  She fled to the border area in July
and is now seeking refuge in Thailand.

Often they harass the people, for example, a mother of a pretty girl was
punished to cook food for the soldiers because she told the soldiers to
not bother her daughter and to stay away from her. The mother was worried
of sexual harassment, said the women who traveled along with ten other
people from the same village. Young girls and women are targets of the BA,
especially in the ethnic areas, a disturbing tactic and trend used by the
military with impunity.

“The SPDC soldiers also threaten and intimidate young single men by
pointing guns at them, after, they routinely search and stay at the houses
of beautiful women,” Mr. Nai Soe from the same group said.

Young men in the village cannot see their girlfriends at nighttime for
fear of torture, beating and portering by the BA, said a young man from
the group.  (Visiting girls at night is an old Mon tradition of courting
and is still practiced in the rural areas)

The witnesses say the SPDC soldiers of Battalion No. 273 led by Khin Kyaw
Soe killed two villagers. Nai Kun Pha, the former secretary of the village
and Nai Pha Dot were both accused as supporting the Mon guerillas, after
shouting at them they were taken outside of their village and shot dead in
cold blood.

When the villagers asked about their headmen, the SPDC soldiers said the
two were shot dead, but Colonel Soe said they were jailed in Moulmein, the
capital of Mon State.

The villagers later found the dead bodies in a dug out hole, the group
said. Some men in the group recognized the dead men as their headmen who
had been taken by the soldiers.

Later on, the men in the village were ordered to stand by and wait for
hours until the SPDC called for them to porter for the soldiers to
crackdown on Mon guerillas.

“We were forced to porter about once a week in rotating system since last
year to date,” said the group. They all had experienced portering by the
BA.

They receive no treatment of any kind and are often beaten and left alone
to die in the jungle if they collapse. They are provided with no medicine,
no rest time, and have no mosquito nets, an important item in a malaria
infested jungle. Some of porters, not having enough strength to carry
stuff for the battalion often break their hands and legs lugging heavy
equipment and most will later contract malaria, which is lethal without
the assistance of drugs, the group said.

They say that the main reason they leave their village is they cannot go
and work on their farms and plantations. They need to farm food to
survive; there is no other way to survive without farming.

“We were allowed only once in two weeks to go to our farm and
plantations,” Mr. Nai Soe Mon said.

According to a young student Nai Lwe Mon, age 17, he left the school
because there is no income in his family and decided to go to work in
Thailand to support his family like so many thousands of other Mon.

The army also tortured a Buddhist monk in the village, accused as a rebel
supporter. He was strung upside down from a tree, his legs were bound and
then he was tied to the branches of a tree, his head hanging just above
the ground while the soldiers beat him.


BUSINESS
______________________________________

August 4, The Hindu
Take Stilwell Road to boost trade in East

Stilwell Road passes through China and Myanmar and if it could be
restored, movement of goods among the three countries will be eased to a
great extent.

Kolkata: Stressing on road connectivity between India and Myanmar via
China to ensure goods flow in a smooth manner, the Federation of Indian
Export Organisations (FIEO), eastern region, has suggested the
reconstruction of the old Stilwell Road, built during the Second World War
from Ledo in Assam to Burma Road connecting Kunming in China.

Making a presentation at a workshop here recently on `Trade with India's
eastern neighbours: Issues & prospects,' organised by The Bengal Chamber
of Commerce & Industry (BCCI), Mr S. K. Jain, Regional Chairman of FIEO,
said if the road, which passes through China and Myanmar, could be
restored, movement of goods between the three countries will be
facilitated to a great extent.

On trade with Myanmar, which also has border trade arrangements with China
Thailand and Bangladesh he said the poor infrastructure facilities within
the region have led to a situation where each of the North-Eastern States
is looking more to neighbouring countries rather than to mainland India
for economic relations.

Following the signing of Indo-Myanmar border trade agreement in 1994, two
trade routes at Champai in Mizoram and Moreh in Manipur were opened in
1995.

Indian exports consist mainly of items like cement, cycles, drugs and
pharmaceuticals, auto parts and accessories and cotton yarn. Major items
entering India from Myanmar are blankets, electronic goods, betel nut,
pulses, teak, groundnut, iron scrap, gold, silver and precious stones.

Mr Jain said that although the large volume of illegal trade is still a
problem, it shows the export potential of the North-East region as a
whole.

On Bangladesh, Mr Jain said the recently created India-Bangladesh Joint
Working Group (JWG) to identify obstacles and opportunities in bilateral
trade is expected to enhance business and investment activities between
the two neighbours in a big way.

The JWG tasks include easing of customs clearances, visa procedures,
settling trade disputes and recognition to quality standards. He said
Bangladesh is also willing to allow a pipeline through its territory to
carry natural gas from Myanmar to India, if there is a `win-win" situation
for that country. Lower duties following the obligations (faithfully
adhered to by Bangladesh) under the Sapta agreement, Mr Jain felt, made it
possible for a large number of Indian products to have easy market access
in Bangladesh.

Pointing out that the north-east had a special importance in trade with
Bangladesh, Mr Jain said it is a matter of concern that illegal trade far
exceeded legal trade. Quoting a study by the South Asia Enterprise
Development Facility (SEDF), a wing of the World Bank, he said illegal
exports from north-east to Bangladesh in 2001-02 was almost through the
legal channels. Legal imports into the north-east from Bangladesh for the
same year was at $12 million, while illegal imports were said to be around
eight times the above, at $97 million.

While items like coal, non-basmati rice limestone and ginger mainly
feature in the legal exports basket to Bangladesh other goods like spices
textiles sugar drugs and pharmaceuticals processed foods cereals fish
fruits paper and products are sent illegally. On the import side products
like hilsa fish and chillies are illegally sent to the north-east while
products like elctronic items jute plastic products palm oil and cosmetics
are smuggled in. Indo-Bangla trade is conducted mainly through the land
border routes along the international boundaries of West Bengal Assam and
Meghalaya.

Calling for major infrastructure development at some of the busy land
customs stations in Bengal, like Mahedipur, for raising exports to
Bangladesh, Ms Lipika Majumdar Roy Choudhury, Commissioner of Customs
(Preventive), Kolkata, called for development of the riverine route to
Bangladesh so that trade could use transaction costs.

Suggesting a joint venture between private transporters of both the
countries, she said bulk products, if sent by the river route, can bypass
the waiting time at customs points, as they could be moved out directly
from Kidderpore Docks directly by barges to Haldia and then moved up. She
also suggested container movement straight from the inland container depot
(ICD) of one country into another for minimising border checks.


REGIONAL
______________________________________

Aug 3, Nation
Focus on Europe: A Burmese test for the future of Asem - Natee
Vichitsorasatra

It is a just two months until the next Asia Europe Meeting (Asem) summit,
this time in Hanoi. These two remaining months will stand as a test as to
whether Asem, a forum that has been variously described as "lacking in
substance" and "forum-fatigued" to "ambitious" and "indispensable", is
considered valuable enough to receive a lifeline from all parties
involved.

Equally importantly, the results of this test will be an indicator of
exactly how much interest the Asian and European Union (EU) sides of Asem,
especially the latter, have left in the ongoing process.

The Asem process has never been so endangered since its initiation in
1996. The inaugural meeting in Bangkok was filled with high expectations
and the promise of equal partnership and reciprocity, occurring within an
informal dialogue. The optimism was watered down with the ensuing Asian
economic crisis and few people took much notice of the Copenhagen Asem IV
Summit, a meeting that focused largely on the control of terrorism.

Instead of growing into a mature and structured framework for cooperation
in its fifth upcoming summit, the Asian and European counterparts of Asem
are instead wrangling over the issue of Burma.

Indonesia and Thailand have already criticised the decision to cancel two
ministerial meetings, which they said had been made without proper
consultation with Asean.

This seems to point towards an increasing disinterest in Asem from its
European members. The focus of the Asem process has been mainly on the
economic side and trading figures show that the Asian side of Asem has
been the main beneficiaries of closer channels of access to their European
counterparts.

Even today, the EU's trade deficit with their Asem partners remains an
issue on the table at Asem Summits. Eurostat figures show EU's external
trade with China, one of the main motivations for cooperation in the Asem
process, begin to see a widening trade deficit which quadrupled from
ค11.6 billion (Bt579 billion) in 1995 to ค44.6 billion in
2000. Similar, though less drastic trends exist within the trade figures
of EU trade with the rest of the Asian Asem members.

If the EU's interest in Asem had waned due to the Asian economic crisis
and the continued trade deficit with Asia, the lack of interest would have
increased with Asean+3's almost complete refusal to discuss sensitive
political issues, denying the EU a coveted position in becoming a major
actor in the region. Since Asem I, human rights have constantly been a
European concern, whereas Asian participants have preferred an exclusive
focus on trade.

At Asem II, Europe informally raised the issues of human rights, labour
practices, arms control and non-proliferation issues. It received little
cooperation from countries such as Indonesia, China, and Burma, on the
issues of East Timor and internal affairs, respectively. At Asem III, the
EU embarrassed itself by not being able to make a common response to the
question of establishing diplomatic relations with North Korea, despite
the "Declaration for Peace" announced in Seoul.

The Copenhagen Summit yielded little beyond issues of economic
cooperation, as the Council of Minister was only able to express its
dissatisfaction with the slow progress of democratic restoration in Burma,
but little else. By then, the EU obviously realised that it was not
benefiting from either the political or the economic pillars of Asem.

The "New Partnership with Southeast Asia" communication from the
Commission drafted in 2003 appears to be the EU's new means to fix what
might have become a deadlocked Asem. It is clear that while it offers an
increased flexibility in the EU's relationship with Asean, issues of
conditions have been placed as a further bargaining chip in the
cooperation process between the two regions.

According to the European Commission, an "essential element" clause must
be included in all future bilateral agreements with countries of Southeast
Asia. At present only Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia have signed this, while
other present bilateral agreements lack this clause. This clause also
offers a way out for the EU, which would be more reluctant in placing
conditions into its relationship with potentially lucrative China than it
would with Asean member states.

It appears that the EU may have already decided that the Asem process is
expendable and highlighting the issue of Burma with apparently little room
for negotiation makes a mockery of Asem's principles of "equal
partnership" and "reciprocity". If an April 2004 report from Burma
Campaign UK is any indication, Britain, one of the most vocal against
inclusion of Burma in the Asem process, ranks as the second largest
investor in Burma in the past decade, with US$1.4 billion (Bt57.8 billion)
of approved investment.

Current EU sanctions against Burma are also widely perceived as
ineffective and lacking in impact. In addition, the EU is clearly guilty
of double standards because it is not demanding the exclusion of one-party
communist states such as Laos, Vietnam or China.

A debate on whether Burma deserves to join international forums which
would definitely benefit the military regime needs to continue, but if the
EU's member governments do not soften their stance concerning Burma's
inclusion in Asem, the forum's principles of equal partnership,
reciprocity and flexibility are thrown out of the window.

Meanwhile, Asem's credibility as a promising and much-needed forum between
Asia and Europe takes a large hit. If the Asem V Summit in Hanoi does not
contain more substance and full top-level cooperation from all member
states, it will be difficult for anyone to take the already struggling
process seriously.

______________________________________

August 4, Associated Press
Cambodian PM calls on ASEAN to stand firm on Myanmar's admission into
summit 2004

Phnom Penh: Cambodia's prime minister urged Southeast Asian nations
Wednesday to block the participation of 10 new EU members in an upcoming
summit if military-ruled Myanmar is not allowed to join.

The summit between European and Asian nations has been thrown into doubt,
with the European Union and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations at
loggerheads over whether to allow Myanmar to take part.

The EU, which has long deplored Myanmar's human rights record, insists
that the country's junta first release pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu
Kyi from house arrest -- a demand ASEAN labels as interference into the
internal affairs of Myanmar.

"We must not give a wrong signal to anyone that ASEAN is fractured over
ASEM," Hun Sen said Wednesday, referring to the Asia-Europe meeting slated
to take place in Vietnam in October.

Hun Sen called on his neighbors to stop the EU's 10 newest members from
joining the talks if Myanmar is banned.

ASEAN comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Laos,
Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines and Vietnam.

______________________________________

August 4, The Nation
BIMST-EC leaders ask for regional cooperation - Jeerawat Na Thalang

Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra called on leaders from South and
Southeast Asian countries to join forces while building their respective
economies to make the seven-nation gathering “more than a small blip” on
the radar in the eyes of the rest of the world.

In his opening speech to the BIMST-EC summit, Thaksin said member
countries, all classified as developing or least-developed nations, should
closely cooperate and stand by their strengths and diversity to withstand
the whirlwind effects of globalisation.
Thaksin beat the drum on regional cooperation, with a side reference to
the International Monetary Fund’s economic prescription for Thailand and
other Asian nations following the 1997 economic crisis.

“We have learned that ‘common economic wisdom’ is not always wise or
correct and that self-help and mutual assistance with close neighbours
remain valuable even in this age of complex interdependence,” he said.

The 1.3 billion people living in BIMST-EC countries (Bangladesh, India,
Burma, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Bhutan and Nepal) represent almost a quarter
of the world’s population. But Thaksin conceded the economic performance
of BIMST-EC nations was far from impressive.

“That is not news. But there is a danger that after so long we run the
risk of getting used to life at the bottom,” the PM said.

Leaders from the seven member nations yesterday discussed ways to bring
prosperity to the region via cooperation in six areas: trade and
investment, exchange of technological know-how, transport linkages,
energy, tourism and fisheries.

They also agreed to endorse a plan to create a BIMST-EC-encompassing free
trade area by 2017 to push regional trade and investment. Nepalese Prime
Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba said his land-locked country saw the proposed
FTA as a historical step to expanding trade and investment.

“Nepal hopes that its special needs will be addressed in the course of
implementing the FTA arrangement,” Deuba said.

In his first overseas visit since taking office, Indian Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh said that BIMST-EC was an integral part of his country’s
‘Look East Policy’.

“Yours are the countries with which we have enduring historical bonds,” he
said, adding that BIMST-EC would revive international links that had been
weakened over the last century through colonialism.

Singh has called for a united front in the fight against terrorism,
religious extremism and arms and drug trafficking to ensure peace and
security in the region.

The scourge of terrorism “is unfortunately one with which we all must
grapple as a global phenomenon and as an everyday reality. The areas of
conflict are coming closer to us,” Singh said.

He added that two projects, the trilateral India-Burma-Thailand Highway
proposal and the proposed Optical Fibre Telecommunication Link to run
alongside the highway would be considerably important to BIMST-EC.

Singh announced that India would set up a BIMST-EC Centre on Weather and
Climate in New Delhi that would share expertise in remote sensing for the
purposes of agriculture, environmental surveillance and disaster
management. India will also offer a number of scholarships for
human-resources development purposes.

“The world continues to be driven by poverty, inequity, disease and highly
skewed access to resources at a time when science and technology have
placed solutions within our reach. The global political environment
fosters insecurity, making our task even more complex and our endeavours
more urgent,” he said.

In a rare public speech, Burmese Prime Minister General Khin Nyunt called
for closer economic cooperation among member nations, especially in
tourism promotion, to alleviate poverty and bring prosperity to rural
areas.

Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga said summit leaders were in a
fast-growing region of the world and member nations were variously capable
of working in tandem to synergise growth to ensure benefits to all people.

“It requires careful nurturing and bold initiatives. For example joint
action can be taken to broaden the rules of origin criteria applied in the
GSP [Generalised System of Preferences] regime to encompass both South
Asia and Southeast Asia,” she said.

Prime Minster of Bhutan Jigmi Y Thinley said his country had observed
Thailand’s economic recovery from the Asian economic crisis with
admiration. He said Thailand’s achievement had inspired countries in South
Asia.

Bangladeshi Prime Minister Khaleda Zia urged BIMST-EC to develop regional
human-resources development and said the grouping must address gender
issues.


PRESS RELEASE
______________________________________

August 4, Burma Campaign UK
More travel firms quit Burma

Four companies come off 'Dirty List'

The Burma Campaign UK today welcomed news that two more travel firms have
dropped Burma from their 2004-2005 brochures. As a result Magic Of The
Orient and Explorers Tours have both been removed from the 'Dirty List' of
companies directly or indirectly funding the regime in Burma. This follows
the announcement by Carnival Corporation/P&O two months ago that it is
ending cruises to Burma.

Two publishers have also been dropped from the list as they have stopped
promoting tourism to Burma. Highbury House Communications has stopped
facilitating tourism on its travel website, and Oddessy Guidebooks have
informed the Burma Campaign UK that it has no current plans to produce
another guide to Burma. The last guidebook was published in 1999 and is no
longer widely available.

"This is welcome news," said Anna Roberts, Campaigns Officer at the Burma
Campaign UK. "It continues the steady flow of travel companies ending
their involvement in Burma. The British public are boycotting Burma as
they know travelling there helps fund the military dictatorship. Travel
companies that have refused to pull out for ethical reasons are being
forced to pull out for economic reasons."

Swiss travel company Kuoni is not now expected to return to the 'Dirty
List'.  Despite telling the Burma Campaign UK last year that is was ending
tours to Burma, Kuoni subsidiaries in the US and Germany continued selling
tours to Burma. Another subsidiary was also considering tours to Burma in
their 2004-2005 brochure. German subsidiary Euro Lloyd is now stopping
tours to Burma, and US subsidiary Intravel will end tours from October
2004. A review earlier this year led to Kuoni deciding not to resume tours
to Burma.

Burma's democracy movement has called for a tourist boycott of the
country. In no other country are human rights abuses and tourism so
closely linked. Slave and child labour was widely used to build tourist
infrastructure. Burma's regime claims it earns $100 million a year from
tourism. It spends around 50 percent of its budget on the military. The
Burma Campaign UK is publishing an updated version of its 'Dirty List' on
August 24th. More than 20 companies from the travel industry are expected
to be on the list.

For more information contact Anna Roberts, Campaigns Officer, on 020 7324
4711, or Mark Farmaner, Media Officer, on 020 7324 4713.

______________________________________

August 4, Reporters Without Border (RSF)
Burma: Documentary film-maker arrested

Reporters Without Borders and the Burma Media Association today condemned
the arrest of documentary film-maker Lazing La Htoi on 27 July in
Myitkyina (in the northern state of Kichin) as ³a new attempt to suppress
the news² and called on the head of the Burmese government, Gen. Than
Shwe, to release him at once.

The owner of the Htoi San Press production agency,  Lazing La Htoi was
arrested for making a film about last month¹s severe flooding in Burma
which, according to the official version carried by the pro-government
newspaper Kyemon, caused no damage or loss of life.

Lazing La Htoi¹s documentary showed a victim¹s body and interviewed a
witness who put the total number of dead at about 50. He made 300 copies
of the documentary but was arrested before he could distribute them.

Together with a local NGO, the Metta Development Foundation, he has been
making documentaries about humanitarian issues for some 10 years.