BurmaNet News, September 3, 2004

[Editor]

September 3, 2004, Issue # 2552

INSIDE BURMA
DVB: NLD leaders still not allowed to meet with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi
DVB: NLD petition campaign continues in central Burma

BUSINESS / MONEY
Xinhua: Chinese, Myanmar companies sign petroleum exploration contract
Xinhua: Myanmar seeks European market for direct timber export

REGIONAL
S.H.A.N.: Karen envoy defends choice of venue
AP via Irrawaddy: Megawati Urges SEA to Embrace Free Trade

INTERNATIONAL
Reuters: Myanmar slams British interference
AP: EU seeks face-saving way to rescue October summit

OPINION / OTHER
IHT: Will Europe sit down with Burma?
NCGUB Press Release: NCGUB Welcomes European Parliament’s Conditions on Burma
Excerpt of Republican party platform
ALRC Press Release: ILO told to tackle Burma's forced labour bred by
absence of rule of law

______________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

September 2, DVB
NLD leaders still not allowed to meet with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi

Rangoon-based foreign diplomats are said to be very interested in the
request of the National League for Democracy (NLD) to meet with its leader
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi who is under arrest.

But the military junta, State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) still
hasn’t responded to the request, prompting many kinds of speculation.

During the five-day long meeting at the NLD HQs last week, regional
leaders and elected representatives of the NLD suggested more active
political actions among the people and some advised the overhaul of top
leadership, substituting them with younger leaders.

The request to the junta came after the party’s central executive
committee (CEC) members told the regional representatives that this kind
of overhaul could only be done after consulting with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.

An unnamed diplomat said that the NLD would not do anything drastic
without first consulting with her and pointed out that NLD members are
willing to wait for her reaction.

Another diplomat pointed out that the junta is not likely to allow the NLD
leaders to meet with her knowing their predicament.

The diplomat added that the junta knows that the NLD could widen its
political strides if the permission is granted.

Another diplomat warned NLD members not expect the meeting to happen for
sure, and advised them to prepare to take alternative actions if their
request is not granted.
____________________________________

September 3, DVB
NLD petition campaign continues in central Burma

Despite the ever present harassments and intimidations from the local
military authorities and their thugs, members of Union Solidarity and
Development Association (USDA) members, the National League for Democracy
(NLD) members are continuing to up the tempo of the signature collecting
campaign calling for the release of all political prisoners including Daw
Aung San Suu Kyi and her deputy U Tin Oo.

The local authorities at Thazi and Wuntwin townships, Mandalay Division in
central Burma have been summoning responsible NLD leaders and told them to
discontinue the campaign.

But the NLD leaders refused to be cowed by their threats citing that they
are doing their duties handed down to them by their leaders at the HQs.

The elected representative of Thazi Township Constituency-2, U Maung Maung
Lay told DVB that NLD members in his townships are still showing warmth
and interest when he went to see them despite the fact that they are
living under constant fear of punishment meted out by the authorities.

‘The situation is not like when we won the election anymore,’ he said. But
some of the people even volunteered to sign the petition and do whatever
they could for the party.

He added that most people are living in constant fear of the authorities
as the NLD was never allowed to get close to the people during 14 years
since it won the landslide victory in 1990.

_____________________________________
BUSINESS / MONEY

September 3, Xinhua
Chinese, Myanmar companies sign petroleum exploration contract

A Chinese oil company and a state- run Myanmar oil company reached a
production-sharing contract here Friday on cooperation in petroleum
exploration.

Under the contract, signed between the Dian-Qian-Gui Petroleum Exploration
Bureau of SINOPEC of China and the Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise,
petroleum exploration will be carried out at Block D, an onshore block in
Myanmar's western Rakhine state.

The onshore block covers about 12,000 square-kilometers.

With 19 onshore and three main large offshore oil and gas fields, Myanmar
possesses 3.2 billion barrels of recoverable crude oil reserve in the
offshore and onshore areas, according to official statistics.

The statistics also show that Myanmar produced 7.2 million barrels of
crude oil in 2003. Gas export during the year earned 655 million dollars,
while crude oil import worth 27.85 million dollars the same year.

Since Myanmar opened to foreign investment in late 1988, such investment
in the sector had reached 2.5 billion dollars as of the end of 2003, the
figures also reveal. Foreign oil companies engaged in the oil and gas
sector also mainly include those from Britain, Malaysia, Australia,
Indonesia and Canada.

_____________________________________

September 3, Xinhua
Myanmar seeks European market for direct timber export

Myanmar is seeking European market for the direct export of its
value-added timber products rather than logs for more foreign exchange
earning to boost the industry.

Previously, Myanmar's timber products reached Europe via India, Thailand
and Malaysia where logs were processed with value added.

A large timber exporter delegation, organized by the Myanmar Timber
Association (MTA), is currently on a visit to France, Germany and Italy to
seek direct trade links with European consumers and will also participate
in a furniture trade fair in Germany to be held on Sept. 5 to 7 where
50,000 traders look for furniture suppliers annually, according to a
latest disclosure of the MTA.

The MTA revealed that Myanmar exported over 200,000 cubic-tons (283,000
cubic-meters) of teak every year mainly to India, Thailand, Japan and
Malaysia, of which India was the biggest buyer.

Meanwhile, Myanmar has been establishing wood-based industry, giving
priority to manufacturing value-added finished wood products for export.
Accordingly, a number of wood-based industrial zones is being set up for
the purpose since export of wood log is being restricted and export of
teak log by the private sector has been banned since 1992 when the
government enacted the Forest law.

According to official figures, the country earned about 377 million US
dollars through timber export in 2003-04 ended in March, accounting for 15
percent of the total export value.

Timber stands as the country's third largest export goods after mineral
and agricultural products.

Myanmar is rich in forest resources with forest covering about 50 percent
of its total land area. The country has grown over 32, 400 hectares of
teak since it launched a special teak plantation project in 1996. It
produced 342,000 cubic-meters of teak and 1.98 million cubic-meters of
hardwood annually.

_____________________________________
REGIONAL

September 3, S.H.A.N.
Karen envoy defends choice of venue

The Karen National Union's top negotiator, on his way to join his Shan
counterpart on a lobbying tour of Europe, told S.H.A.N. the Karen
acceptance of East Timor's recent offer to serve as a neutral ground for
future peace talks with Rangoon could not be read as rejection of
Thailand.

"The Royal Thai government has already been very helpful setting up and
underwriting the costs of previous talks without ever trying to pressure
or influence any of the parties concerned," said Saw Sarky in response to
S.H.A.N.'s query on 1 September report by Dictatorship Watch entitled East
Timor offers to host KNU-SPDC ceasefire talks. "Thai leaders have already
shown admirable political judgement by facilitating our trips to Rangoon
as well as allowing both sides to meet on the Thai soil without the
slightest interference. Moreover, we are not forgetting that Thailand is
hosting more than 100,000 Karen refugees on its soil."

Saw Sarky who had informed the Karen leadership of the East Timorese
invitation said the Karen would very much like Thailand to be one of the
host countries during the many rounds of talks he envisaged. "It is not us
who will decide who's going to be our host," he explained. "The matter
must be decided by the respective governments of the countries who are
concerned with Burma's plight."

There are several reasons why East Timor is an ideal rendezvous, he
elaborated:

•	It is non-aligned
•	It has no influential political or trade ties in the region, therefore
not in a position to influence or pressure, much less manipulate either
party
•	Its leaders, especially President Xanana Gusmao and Dr Jose Ramos-Horta,
have a lot of prestige in international circles
•	They have also never made any hostile public statement against the
ruling military council of Burma (Dr Ramos-Horta had even publicly spoken
against Burma sanctions)
•	The traveling distance to East Timor either from Rangoon or Bangkok is
not prohibitive

What is more, it had volunteered publicly to be supportive of any
political dialogue in Burma.

"It goes without saying that both EU countries and the United States are
out of the question not only because of their strong SPDC stand but also
the geographical distances that would make logistics and transportation
costs a nightmare," he added.

It remains to be seen how Rangoon will respond to the Karen proposal to
choose East Timor as a neutral venue. So far it has repeatedly turned down
any suggestion of a non-partisan meeting place.

_____________________________________

September 3, AP via Irrawaddy
Megawati Urges SEA to Embrace Free Trade - Michael Casey

The leader of Indonesia on Friday urged economic ministers from Southeast
Asia to put aside their differences and work toward economic integration
akin to the European Union’s.

President Megawati Sukarnoputri said such a step would help draw crucial
foreign investment into the region.

Last year, the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or Asean,
pledged to form by 2020 an EU-like economic community that would permit
the free flow of investment, trade and labor in Southeast Asia, which has
annual trade worth more than US $700 billion.

In her speech to Asean economic ministers who have been meeting in Jakarta
since Thursday, Megawati expressed wholehearted support for the plan and
said Asean’s decision to integrate 11 sectors—from agriculture to the
automotive industry—within the next few years is a good start.

“The whole Asia Pacific region, and nearly the whole world, is watching
us,” Megawati said.

 “Let us not allow economic development to grow into sharp differences and
hinder integration growth,” she said, noting that the wide disparities in
economic strength among Asean members should not cause disunity.

“Let us show the world our real strength by becoming the economic
community that we aspire to,” she said.

She said Asean countries must prepare for integration by better training
their work forces, standardizing education and, in some cases, improving
infrastructure.

Asean must also strengthen internal mechanisms for settling trade disputes
and standardizing investment rules, she said.

In addition, Megawati urged Asean to move ahead in forging free-trade
agreements with non-members, including China, South Korea, the European
Union, New Zealand and Australia.

“I support free-trade agreements concluded with important economic
players, since their main objective is to widen the market for goods
produced in Asean and enable us to gain access to cheaper sources of
capital goods and products,” she said.

_____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

September 3, Reuters
Myanmar slams British interference

YANGON (Reuters) - Military-ruled Myanmar has said Britain is interfering
in the internal affairs of its former colony, jeopardising relations
between Europe and Asia.

Yangon's statement on Friday came hours before European Union foreign
ministers were due to discuss a compromise on Myanmar's proposed
membership of the Asia-Europe (ASEM) group, which aims to forge closer
ties between the two continents.

Britain has refused to accept Myanmar in ASEM because of the junta's
suppression of political opponents, in particular the house arrest of
democracy campaigner Aung Sun Suu Kyi.

"Many in Europe believe that Britain's extremely negative attitude of
'Britain knows best policy' towards Myanmar and unfair practices towards
ASEAN are jeopardising the goodwill of the entire continent," the
government said.

In a veiled reference to Nobel Prize winner Suu Kyi, who is under house
arrest at her Yangon home, the junta said Britain should "focus on the
entire population of Myanmar instead of a single individual".

"Myanmar therefore urges Britain to abandon its miscalculated attempt to
destabilise its former colony and honour the independence and sovereign
rights granted to her in 1948," the statement said.

Britain has led European efforts to influence Yangon, but some EU partners
fear London's hardline stand endangers the bloc's summit with Asian
nations in Vietnam in October and risks its ties with the emerging region.

Junior Representation

Former Dutch foreign minister Hans van den Broek, who toured Asian
capitals in July to try to salvage the ASEM summit, was to propose a
compromise to EU foreign ministers at a meeting in the Netherlands on
Friday.

The deal would allow Myanmar to attend the annual conference for the first
time, but at a lower level than other states to satisfy British-led
concerns about its human rights record, EU diplomats said.

Myanmar's statement made no reference to the October 8-9 summit in Hanoi.
Officials in Yangon were not available for comment.

The 10 Asian nations which belong to ASEM had insisted that Myanmar,
Cambodia and Laos should be allowed to join the club along with the 10
new, mainly east European, members of the EU.

Indonesian Foreign Ministry spokesman Marty Natalegawa said the compromise
was a potential way out of the dispute.

"I think that idea has been expressed on several occasions and probably
that would be the nature of the compromise," Natalegawa said in Jakarta.

However, Indonesia was against European nations dictating who should
represent a sovereign Asian state at an international meeting.

"It can set a precedent," he said. "We still feel that this issue should
best be left to the country concerned in terms of who they send to this
particular meeting."

_____________________________________

September 3, Associated Press
EU seeks face-saving way to rescue October summit with Asian leaders in
Hanoi – Robert Wielaard

The EU searched for a face-saving compromise Friday to prevent a meeting
of three dozen European and Asian leaders in Vietnam next month from being
canceled over the participation of Myanmar, a country widely denounced for
abusing human rights.

The European Union wants Myanmar to stay away from the Oct. 8-9
Asia-Europe summit. The Asians have said if the former Burma is excluded,
they do not want to see the leaders of Cyprus, Malta and eight East
European nations that joined the EU last May.

The stand-off over Myanmar - a military dictatorship with a long record of
human-rights violations - has soured the EU's relations with Asia at a
time when the Europeans are keen to boost relations with a region that is
experiencing an economic boom, driven by formidable growth in China.

Dutch Foreign Minister Ben Bot, the meeting's host, said he and his
colleagues sought "a balanced approach" and that "a large number of
options are on the table."

He declined to elaborate. Sources said one option was to have a low-level
participation by Myanmar at the Hanoi summit.

Hans van den Broek, the former Dutch foreign minister, briefed the meeting
on his recent tour of Asian capitals in search of a solution to the
Myanmar dispute.

ASEM comprises 15 EU nations plus China, Japan, South Korea, Brunei,
Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. In
May, 10 nations joined the EU, and the Europeans want them in ASEM while
the Asians want Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos to join.

In Europe, Britain most strongly opposes ASEM membership for Myanmar. The
dispute has already forced the cancellation this year of two meetings
between European and Asian finance and economic affairs ministers.

British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw told reporters, "We are all faced
with the difficult situation, because we want to attend (the Hanoi summit)
as 25" EU nations. He would not speculate on a solution.

Human rights debates have long made for testy EU-Asian relations.

The Europeans insist Asian nations must respect democratic rights if they
want Europe's business and respect, but Asians see that as meddling in
their affairs.

The EU has imposed a travel ban on Myanmar's military leaders and frozen
their financial assets in Europe to add muscle to the demand they free
opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and give her National League for
Democracy party - winner of the 1990 elections - a role in drafting the
country's constitution.

Suu Kyi is the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize laureate. She has been detained
since May last year, following a violent clash between her followers and a
pro-government mob in northern Myanmar

The EU had hoped Myanmar's neighbors, notably Thailand, could pressure
Yangon into easing its crackdown on the pro-democracy movement, but that
has not happened.

The EU foreign ministers also debated the deadlocked Middle East peace
process, Iraq and international efforts to persuade Iran to stop
developing nuclear arms.

"It is no secret that the EU is deeply concerned about the Iranian nuclear
program," Bot told reporters.

He said it was casting "a long shadow" over the EU's "constructive
engagement" policy that emphasizes consultations over confrontation to get
Tehran to respect human rights and meet its nonproliferation commitments.

U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said this week Washington will urge
the United Nations' nuclear watchdog group Sept. 13 to refer Iran's
nuclear arms program to the U.N. Security Council for action.

He spoke after the U.N.'s Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency
said Iran plans to process tons of raw uranium and restart its centrifuges
- activities that could be used to make nuclear warheads.

_____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

September 3, International Herald Tribune
Will Europe sit down with Burma? - Morton Abramowitz and Brian Joseph

European Union foreign ministers face a choice with few material
consequences but profound political and moral ones: whether to continue to
refuse to allow Burma to attend the periodic meetings of Asian and EU
foreign ministers.

It is remarkable that the question remains in doubt. Europe's previous
decisions to exclude Burma have stemmed from the Burmese military regime's
refusal to reform and its continuing dismal human rights record. Fifteen
months ago, after the regime organized a violent mob to attack the
followers of the opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, and arrested her once
again, European leaders vigorously denounced the action and insisted that
she be released.

Burma's miltary rulers have the distinction of being the only government
to keep a Nobel laureate in detention. Indeed, you have to hand it to
them; they have been enormously successful in getting the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations, or Asean, and many world leaders, including some
Europeans, to forget about Aung San Suu Kyi and go about their business as
if Rangoon were Bangkok.

The UN secretary general, Kofi Annan, recently insisted that the Burmese
regime release Aung San Suu Kyi and other leaders of her party and engage
in substantive talks with the political opposition. Not only did Annan
demonstrate a personal commitment to helping break the political stalemate
in Burma, he let it be known politically that the regime's current process
of drafting a new constitution will be "incomplete" and "lacking in
credibility" without the participation of the political opposition.

In other words, engaging with the regime on its own terms is no longer an
acceptable option. It is too early to know whether Annan's statement has
had any impact in Rangoon. It is not clear that Europe has heard it.

Meetings of Asian and EU foreign ministers are not earthshaking, but they
offer useful opportunities to improve diplomatic, economic and cultural
cooperation. The meeting this year, in Hanoi on Oct. 8 and 9, has some
different wrinkles. The Asean countries are insisting that since the EU's
10 new members have been invited, all of Asean's new members - Cambodia,
Laos and Burma - must be able to attend.

If the EU does not agree to Burma's participation, Asean countries will
probably try to prevent the EU's 10 new members from participating. There
are also rumors that the EU might accept a compromise that allows a
Burmese deputy minister to represent Burma.

Excluding Burma from the meeting is not likely to change the basic
policies and practices of the Burmese government. With China, Thailand and
India all competing for influence in Burma, it is difficult to put the
kind of pressure on Burma's government that would make it mend its ways.

But that is not the end of the story. The question is whether, given the
lack of any progress toward democracy in Burma, the Europeans will support
Annan's efforts by making it clear to Burma and its Asean partners that
participation in meetings of foreign ministers is not a God-given right,
and that Europe is not prepared to acquiesce to blackmail and further
detention for Aung San Suu Kyi.

Most important, the EU should indicate starkly to Asean that it must use
the next meeting of Asian and EU foreign ministers to apply real pressure
on Burma now, before Burma assumes the Asean presidency in 2006.

Talking to Burma's foreign minister at a meeting is not going to
facilitate change in Rangoon. When Burma's military boss, General Than
Shwe, releases Aung San Suu Kyi and her senior party leaders, there may be
an opportunity for serious dialogue.

Morton Abramowitz, a senior fellow at the Century Foundation, is a former
president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Brian Joseph,
a program officer for Asia at the National Endowment for Democracy, writes
here in a personal capacity.

_____________________________________
September 1, NCGUB Press Release
NCGUB Welcomes European Parliament’s Conditions on Burma

The NCGUB is heartened by the reports that following the Debate on the
Human Rights Situation in Burma organized by the Development Committee of
the European Parliament on 30 August, the Members of European Parliament
are convinced that the military junta in Burma has yet to meet its human
rights obligations and should not be accepted to the Asia-Europe Meeting
(ASEM) between ASEAN and European Union countries.

Dr Thaung Htun, NCGUB representative for UN Affairs, who rebutted the
testimony of the regime's ambassador Dr Kyaw Win, and presented NCGUB's
paper on the human rights situation in Burma at the hearing, said: "The
Committee will be sending a letter to the European Council to translate
the Parliament's recommendations into policy and not accept Burma until
the conditions that have been set in March this year are met."

The conditions set by the European Union to be allowed to attend the ASEM
meeting, among others, are: (a) Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and other NLD leaders
are released. (b) The NLD is allowed to participate freely in the National
Convention (c) The National Convention procedures are modified and a
definite time frame for its completion is established.

The NCGUB also fully agrees with the recommendations set by the European
Parliament in its resolution on Burma adopted on 11 March 2004, including
the use of targeted sanctions, if the Burmese generals continue to deny
the legitimate representatives of the people to be part of the process
that determines the political future of Burma.

The NCGUB delegation is presently discussing Burma with members and
officials of the European Parliament and will be meeting governments of
the European Union, including the new members, Hungary, Poland, and the
Czech Republic, to discuss the role of the European Union, and the
international community in general, in helping the Burmese democracy
movement determine a democratic future for Burma.

_____________________________________

Republican Party Platform Excerpt

The Republican party is committed to democracy in Burma, and to Nobel
Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and other democratic leaders whose election in
1990 was brutally suppressed and who have been arrested and imprisoned for
their belief in freedom and democracy. We share with her the view that the
basic principles of human freedom and dignity are universal. We are
committed to working with our allies in Europe and Asia to maintain a firm
and resolute opposition to the military junta in Rangoon.

_____________________________________

September 3, ALRC Press Release
ILO told to tackle Burma's forced labour bred by absence of rule of law

Hong Kong - The Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC) has urged the
International Labour Organisation (ILO) to find new strategies to help end
the practices of forced labour in Burma that have been bred and sustained
due to the absence of the rule of law.

The Hong Kong-based ALRC calls on the international body to take up two
cases in particular, in which the victims have been jailed or threatened
with legal action by the authorities for failing to comply with forced
labour orders and seeking redress.

"The real problem relates not to narrow questions of what constitutes
forced labour and how a mechanism for complaints may be established to
deal with it, but more broadly, to the non-existence of the rule of law in
Myanmar (Burma)," ALRC executive director Basil Fernando said.

In a letter to the ILO Committee of Experts, Fernando said victims in
Burma could be turned into the accused through the manipulations of the
authorities and be punished for trying to assert their rights.

He pointed to difficulties in establishing an effective regime for making
complaints about forced labour in the absence of the rule of law in the
country.

The ALRC, which promotes human rights and the rule of law in theregion,
drew the attention of the ILO to the case of Ko Khin Zaw and U Ohn Myint,
in which both victims were sentenced to jail for failing to serve as
sentries at the Buddhist monastery in their village in Henzada Township
last year.

Ko Khin Zaw was imprisoned for a month for "omitting to assist a public
servant when bound by the law to give assistance", while U Ohn Myint was
given a six-month jail term for the same charge and for threatening to
injure a public servant.

The two have been accused of defaming the village tract peace and
development council and its chairman after they filed a complaint to court
that their punishment was in violation of government orders issued in 1999
and 2000.

The court is understood to have summarily dismissed their complaint and
action is now pending against the two for defamation, the ALRC said.

In another case, a 34-year-old woman Ma Su Su Nwe made a complaint in
court that she and other villagers of Tanmanaing in Kawmhu Township were
told to work on a road construction, or else would be fined or put in
detention.

The village authorities denied her accusation and insisted that the labour
was a voluntary undertaking.

The ALRC said there were well-founded fears that the case would be ruled
against Ma Su Su Nwe and subsequently she would face legal action similar
to that of Ko Khin Zaw and U Ohn Myint.

"When any allegation about wrongdoing by a government officer is
aggressively used against the complainant without regard to the validity
of the complaint, how can an effective or independent complaint mechanism
be properly established?" Fernando asked.

Those people who complain about state authorities through the courts in
Burma, whether for forced labour or other rights violations, cannot expect
any kind of independent review of their cases, he said.

"That a victim of a rights violation has no channel for effective redress
is in itself a major problem; that in Myanmar this situation is compounded
by punitive action against persons attempting to exercise their rights is
of extreme concern," Fernando said.

"The evidence that exists at present is of a growing trend towards such
practices, and one that the ILO must properly account for if it is to have
any effect in bringing about change to forced labour practices in Myanmar,
and offer genuine protection to victims," he noted.