BurmaNet News, September 9, 2004

[Editor]

September 9, 2004, Issue # 2555

ON THE BORDER
Irrawaddy: KNU assesses ceasefire, prepares for talks
The Nation: Rights group documents further abuse of women by Burmese junta
S.H.A.N.: Lahu: Rangoon broke its word to us

DRUGS
Irrawaddy: Former Burmese lieutenant arrested with methamphetamines in
Thailand
Kyodo News: Myanmar opium output down 40% in 2004

BUSINESS / MONEY
FEER: Bangkok gusher

REGIONAL
Bangkok Post: Free trade talks' first meeting ends in Bangkok with role
examinations

INTERNATIONAL
Daily Telegraph: Tour companies accused of 'funding' Burmese dictatorship

OPINION / OTHER
Asia Times: The case for sanctions on Myanmar
New Straits Times: Myanmar paves rough road ahead for Asem

PRESS RELEASE
Burma Strategy Group for Democracy
Women's League of Burma: New report exposes nationwide military rape in Burma

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

September 9, Irrawaddy
KNU assesses ceasefire, prepares for talks - By Shah Paung

Top members of the Karen National Union, or KNU, Burma’s largest ethnic
insurgency group, will conclude a three-day meeting today. KNU executive
committee members and key military officers gathered on Wednesday in the
Thai border town of Mae Sot to assess the merits of the months-long
ceasefire negotiations with Burma’s military government and to appoint
delegates to the next round of talks.

KNU foreign affairs secretary David Taw said that negotiations with
Burma’s military leaders to end the 55-year conflict have only been
partially successful.

Since the talks began last November sporadic fighting has broken out
between KNU and Burma Army troops, and hundreds of Karen families have
been displaced from their homes. The Burma Army has also beefed up its
forces and artillery on the frontlines.

The next round of peace talks was originally scheduled for late August,
but was postponed until an unspecified date in September. However, the
meeting has been pushed back until some time in early October, because of
scheduling conflicts, David Taw said. He added that the two sides will
meet some place in Burma, but he did not elaborate.
The five senior delegates to the next truce negotiations are David Taw,
KNU joint general secretary Htoo Htoo Lay, intelligence chief Col Soe Soe,
KNU Brigade 4 Commander Padoh Kwe Htoo, and top KNU health officer Col
Roger, said the foreign affairs secretary.

The delegation will also include some junior members, David Taw said.
Before the conclusion of the meeting on Friday night the KNU will choose
junior delegates and decide upon a specific time and place for the next
round of ceasefire talks, he added.

In January during the second round of talks in Rangoon, the KNU and Burma
Army agreed to a “gentleman’s ceasefire”. That KNU delegation was led by
deputy chairman and commander in chief Gen Bo Mya.

____________________________________

September 9, The Nation
Rights group documents further abuse of women by Burmese junta - Subhatra
Bhumiprabhas

SPDC officials continue to rape and murder women with impunity, says the
Women’s League of Burma (WLB) in its latest report, “System of Impunity”,
released yesterday.

The event was held on the sidelines of a senior official meeting at the UN
building in Bangkok.

The new report detailed 125 cases of sexual violence against women in
ethnic states and central areas of Burma. Almost all of the incidents took
place during 2003 and 2004.

The regime has repeatedly denied the prevalence of military rape in Burma.

“System of Impunity” reveals the same patterns of continuing sexual
violence – rape, gang rape, sexual slavery and the murder of victims –
against women and of denial by the regime, said Nang Hseng Noung,
secretary-general of the WLB, an umbrella group of eleven women ethnic
groups from Burma.

Hseng Noung said the perpetrators are confident of impunity from the
Burmese military regime.

Rangoon’s denials and ongoing sexual violence against women was also
raised in “Licence to Rape” and “Shattering Silences”, published in June
2002 and April 2004, respectively, by two Thai-based women’s-rights
organisations.

“License to Rape” documents 173 incidents of rape and other forms of
sexual violence committed by Burmese soldiers against 625 girls and women
in Shan State. “Shattering Silences” reveals the same pattern of the use
of rape by the Burmese military as a war strategy in Karen State.

The Thai government cracked down on the group after those publications
came out, including intimidation that led to the closure of their office,
forcing them underground.

“How can we achieve peace if the situation keeps going on like this?”
asked Hseng Noung.

The WLB representative called for active support by Asean members for
efforts by the UN and other key stakeholders to achieve peace, human
rights and democracy in Burma.

Hseng Noung also called for Asean members to help women in Burma by not
providing arms to the regime and reviewing their policies.

“Regional cooperation with the regime is placing the lives of women and
girls in Burma at risk,” she said.

_____________________________________

September 9, S.H.A.N.
Lahu: Rangoon broke its word to us

Two Lahu "spokespersons" who recently crossed the border into Thailand
told S.H.A.N. the majority of their people who had been resettled in
southern Shan State 5 years earlier "have had enough of" the Burmese
military authorities' broken promises, reports Hawkeye from Chiangrai:

"Before we moved down from the north," said Joseph (not his real name),
25, a high school graduate from Lashio, "we were given three promises by
the colonel from Kunhing, who said he represented Maj-Gen Maung Bo,
Commander of the (Taunggyi-based) Eastern Region Command."

They were the right to establish their own local government, freedom from
forced labor and exemption from the draft. "These were given to us at the
meeting in October 1999 in Tangyan," said Joseph.

Altogether, 700 families with a total population of 4,000 people from
Tangyan, Mawfah (across the Salween), Monghsu, Lashio, Mongyai and Hsenwi
had agreed to resettle in the Wanzing area in Kehsi township, Loilem
district. Since then, the population in the area (now designated as
Wanzing sub-township) has more than doubled, 90% of them Lahu and the
remainder comprising Shan and Palaung respectively.

It is still less than half of the original population, according to Shan
Human Rights Foundation that had produced the off-quoted to report on the
forced relocations (300,000 people) and extra judicial killings (664
documented total) during the Burmese Army's three year campaign against
the Shan State Army 1996-99. Before the campaign, the area had more than
18,000 people.

"Now they have broken every promise they had given to us five years ago,"
lamented Joseph. "Our leaders cannot do anything without authorization
from Infantry Battalion 287, a unit that was created on our arrival. We
have to take turns and work in their paddy fields confiscated from the
locals. And now they are forcibly recruiting us to serve in their army
units."

In 2002, a month-long battle broke out between the Burma Army and the Shan
State Army, and all Lahus who had received a 6-month training in
Panglawng, 80-miles southwest of Taunggyi, were required to participate in
the fight. "Most of us fled on the first night on our way to the border,"
he said, "because we knew they wanted us to be in the vanguard."

The Lahu, of Tibeto-Burman stock, are distributed widely in northern and
eastern Shan State, with a total population of 360,000, according to some
Lahu sources. During the 1990 elections, one Lahu, Daniel Aung, was
elected as Member of Parliament for Mongpiang township.

_____________________________________
DRUGS

September 9, Irrawaddy
Former Burmese lieutenant arrested with methamphetamines in Thailand

Thai police officers arrested a former Burmese lieutenant and his Thai
spouse on Thursday, in the Thai border town Mae Sot. Lt Kyaw Mya Tun, 34,
and his wife Phimpar Dootsadin, 38, were arrested today for possession of
1,158 methamphetamine pills, locally known as yaba, said Police Capt
Sivichaing Mangkong, of the Mae Sot deputy crime suppression unit. Lt Kyaw
Mya Tun, formerly of Burmese battalions 310, opposite Mae Sot, and 504, in
northern Shan State, was nabbed in Mae Sot’s Baan Nai Fan district. His
wife was apprehended in Mae Kokkin village on her way back from the
Burmese town of Phalu, where she had delivered an undisclosed amount of
yaba pills. Kyaw Mya Tun fled Burma four months ago to live with his wife
in Mae Sot.

_____________________________________

September 9, Kyodo News
Myanmar opium output down 40% in 2004

Myanmar's opium output declined nearly 40 percent in 2004, recording an
eighth consecutive annual decline since 1997, the state-run New Light of
Myanmar newspaper reported Thursday.

A Myanmar-U.S. joint opium yield survey shows the country's opium output
in 2004 went down 39.67 percent to 292 tons from 484 tons in 2003, the
paper reported quoting U.S. Embassy officials in Yangon.

''The results of the Myanmar-U.S. joint opium-yield survey have served as
clear and firm proof to Myanmar's endeavors to wipe out opium
production,'' the paper said.

It said opium output was down almost 89 percent from the 1996 survey
figure of 2,560 tons.

The figures published in the paper show that land in opium poppy
cultivation in Myanmar this year declined to 30,888 hectares from 47,130
hectares in 2003. More than 163,100 hectares were used for poppy
cultivation in 1996, it added.

The Myanmar-U.S. Joint Opium Yield Survey 2004 was conducted from March 3
to 12 in poppy growing areas of Myanmar's eastern Shan State and was the
tenth survey since 1993.

''Myanmar will continue to conduct the joint survey,'' the report said.

_____________________________________
BUSINESS / MONEY

Cover date: September 16, Far Easter Economic Review
Bangkok Gusher: Thailand's partially privatized oil-and-gas giant PTT
plans to spend billions securing fuel sources at home and abroad  - Shawn
W. Crispin in Bangkok

WITH WORLD OIL PRICES having jumped amid continued instability in the
Middle East, Thailand's PTT is expanding aggressively at home and abroad.

Asia's third-largest integrated oil-and-gas company, state-controlled and
publicly listed PTT is set to invest billions of dollars on a laundry list
of projects aimed at boosting Thailand's energy security and offsetting
its traditional dependence on Middle Eastern fuel. As it does so,
investors and securities analysts are watching how PTT strikes a balance
between making money for its private shareholders and helping the
government with its national energy policy.

"We got the message from the government that they would like us to be more
aggressive in investing outside Thailand to secure new supplies," says PTT
President Prasert Bunsumpun. "Whatever we can do [to] create shareholder
value, we just simply do it."

PTT is not alone. Across Asia, which imports about two-thirds of its oil
requirements, mostly from the Middle East, governments are vying to shore
up their energy security by staking out new resources in the region and
around the world.

Big state-energy concerns in China and India are in hot pursuit of
untapped fuel sources, signing deals in politically risky countries such
as Sudan and Equatorial Guinea. PTT and its 65%-owned exploration arm, PTT
Exploration and Production (PTTEP), are similarly wading into unexplored
markets and pursuing bold strategic initiatives that some energy experts
contend threaten to raise the historically conservative company's risk
profile.

"In principle, exploring for energy assets outside of Thailand is OK,"
says Piyasavati Amranand, former secretary-general of Thailand's National
Energy Policy Office, previously a quasi-regulatory agency. "But [PTTEP]
needs to consider these investments very, very carefully."

PTT has plenty of cash to fund its investment drive. The company floated
30% of its shares on the Stock Exchange of Thailand in November 2001. The
$725 million offering was predicated on a government vow not to intervene
in PTT's management or markets, though it retains a 69% stake in the
company.

Since listing, PTT's share price has spurted to about 155 baht ($3.70)
from 35 baht, making the company's $9.9 billion market capitalization the
largest on the Thai exchange, representing almost 11% of the SET's total
capitalization.

PTT's 14.1 billion baht second-quarter net profit this year was its best
quarterly performance ever. Another milestone: PTT entered the Fortune 500
list of the world's biggest companies earlier this year, coming in at No.
456.

Public-Policy Role

PTT's Prasert, 52, a senior government bureaucrat-turned-executive with an
MBA from Utah State University, says all of the company's investment
decisions are made on strict commercial criteria. Still, its public-policy
role is evident. On August 18, for example, PTT and PTTEP teamed up to
form Energy Complex, a holding company that will be advised by Energy
Ministry officials and other industry experts.

In an interview, Prasert outlines PTT's local, regional and global
expansion plans, mostly in natural-gas-related ventures.

In Thailand, for example, Prasert says PTT plans to pump up output from
existing gas fields in the Gulf of Thailand, including a target of raising
PTTEP's production volume 34% when its new Arthit gas field begins
operations in 2006. PTTEP and the Thai unit of ChevronTexaco said in July
that they had jointly discovered large new deposits of oil and gas in Thai
waters.

PTT's engineers, meanwhile, are laying 1,300 kilometres of new pipeline in
the Gulf of Thailand, which, upon completion in 2008, will boost the
country's carrying capacity to 5 billion cubic feet per day from 3 billion
today. PTT also plans to invest nearly $1 billion on three new
gas-separation plants to help fuel Thailand's petrochemical industry.

Those investments, Prasert says, are part of PTT's regional ambition to
spearhead a future trans-Asean pipeline for countries in the Association
of Southeast Asian Nations.

Blueprints for a Southeast Asian gas grid were first drawn up by regional
policymakers more than a decade ago. Conceptually, a regional pipeline
would link resource-rich Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei with fuel
importers such as Thailand. After South Korea, Thailand imports more fuel
as a percentage of GDP than any other Asian country, historically
representing around 4.6% of GDP. New tweaks to the old plan include
extending the pipeline into southern China's Yunnan province.

Bilateral trade spats have hindered progress towards regional economic
integration, including the pipeline project. Now, Prasert contends that
the political crises in the Middle East and high world oil prices have
renewed interest in the pipeline, and that some of Asean's big national
oil companies, including PTT, recently met to discuss forming a
joint-venture energy company.

For its part, PTT is busy laying pipes that Prasert contends could serve
as the transmission backbone of a future regional grid. For instance,
PTTEP signed a $23 million oil-and-gas production-sharing contract with
Burma, representing its latest pipeline investment in the gas-rich,
military-run country. Thailand currently imports nearly 1 billion cubic
feet of natural gas daily from Burma's Yadana and Yetagun gas fields.

Meanwhile, PTT and Malaysia's state-run Petronas say their long-delayed
$700 million gas pipeline project, which includes plans for building
petrochemical and refining complexes in southern Thailand, will be up and
running by early 2005.

PTT also holds stakes in gas fields in Vietnam, and is currently
conducting a joint feasibility study to build a 465-kilometre pipeline
connecting a gas field in its Nam Con Son Basin to Ho Chi Minh City.
Vietnam has budgeted to spend as much as $1 billion for new gas pipelines
through to 2010.

PTT is also gearing up to begin production in a gas field it shares with
Cambodia along their maritime border. "We see these bilateral deals as the
building blocks of a regional network," Prasert says.

Outside Asia, PTT relies on commercial diplomacy to secure deals,
according to Prasert. "We cannot compare with the oil majors like Exxon,
BP or Shell," he says. "When we move ahead to other countries, we have to
look at the relationship between our governments."

Prasert says PTT sometimes gets a diplomatic boost from Foreign Minister
Surakiart Sathirathai, who was the company's chairman in the late 1990s.
One example: The Foreign Ministry played a lead role in securing PTTEP a
liquefied-natural-gas exploration-and-production concession in Iran.

"Iran is one of the countries the Thai government has a very good
relationship with, and Iran would like to have more countries from the
East, like ourselves, to come and invest," says Prasert. "For us, its a
good fit."

PTT teamed up with PetroVietnam last year to find and pump oil and gas in
Algeria. Hanoi's strong ties with the Algerian government were
instrumental in landing that contract, says Prasert. He says PTT is also
exploring investment opportunities in Oman and Russia.

Still, some regional energy analysts doubt that all of PTT's and PTTEP's
investment plans will make commercial sense if world oil prices eventually
stabilize around their recent historical average of $24 per barrel, or
should Thailand's recent robust economic recovery start to lose steam.

Ee-Lin Tan, associate director of Standard & Poor's
corporate-and-infrastructure-ratings group in Singapore, says that PTTEP's
ratings are constrained by its exposure to volatile operating conditions
in the Middle East, Africa and Asia.

"The potential to find oil in these places is high," says Tan. "But
because they are relatively new to these places, there are execution risks
with getting situated and understanding the operating environment."

She notes that 56% of PTTEP's proven reserves in Thailand and abroad --
964 million barrels of oil equivalent -- are undeveloped, and that the
company's execution risks will rise as it starts spending a budgeted $1.7
billion to bring more of those untapped resources on-line by 2008.

Former energy official Piyasavati contends that PTTEP has made some
ill-conceived foreign investments in the past. He points to PTTEP's $225
million purchase of a 34.2% stake in Indonesian oil-and-gas company Medco
in 2001. After three years of low returns, PTT is now looking to sell the
stake. "If they could turn back the clock on that deal, they would," says
Piyasavati.

Some energy analysts also contend that PTT's recent investments in
petrochemicals unnecessarily expose the company to cyclical businesses.
PTT has historically earned a fixed 18% rate of return from its monopoly
pipeline business, they note. Currently, 80% of its gas supplies are sold
to state-owned electricity producers, most of which are locked into
long-term take-or-pay contracts.

In August, PTT announced its purchase of Bangkok Polyethylene, Thailand's
fourth-largest petrochemical producer, from Bangkok Bank and Japan's
Mitsui Group for 3.4 billion baht. Earlier this year, PTT upped its
holdings in three petrochemical-related affiliates, which after the 1997
financial crisis required heavy cash infusions from PTT to stay in
business.

PTT has also been tipped to take a 30% strategic stake in perennially
troubled Thai Petrochemical Industries as part of a Finance Ministry-led
plan to restructure the company's estimated $2.9 billion in debt. Prasert
says they have studied the plan and would consider making an investment in
TPI only at "the right price."

Countering the sceptics, Prasert argues that since listing on the
stockmarket in 2001, PTT's overall efficiency and financial management has
markedly improved. He notes, for example, that PTT's debt-to-equity ratio
has fallen from a high of 85% in 1999 to 49% by the end of 2003.

Citing a presentation he made to potential foreign investors in Singapore
recently, Prasert says that while PTT's revenues have steadily grown since
2001, its workforce has been trimmed by almost 10% over the same period.
"We have become more performance-oriented," he declares.

_____________________________________
REGIONAL

September 9, Bangkok Post
Free trade talks' first meeting ends in Bangkok with role examinations -
Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News

The first meeting of senior officials from countries in the seven-member
BIMST-EC group ended in Bangkok yesterday with a tentative agreement to
determine the general scope of the trade negotiating committee's roles.

This was the first time the seven members of BIMST-EC (Bay of Bengal
Initiative for Multi-sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) have
held talks on a free trade agreement across the region.

Bimstec comprises of Thailand, Myanmar, India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh,
Bhutan and Nepal.

Chana Kanaratanadirok, the assistant director-general of the Trade
Negotiations Department said the members agreed to set up specific working
group on rules of origin to work on the details for negotiations.

Thailand was assigned the task of drafting a text agreement on trade in
goods, with terms for the first sector to be negotiated and scheduled to
be completed by the end of next year.

Negotiations on services and investments are to be discussed at a later
day and concluded by 2007.

"We did not go into details as this is just the first meeting. We just
want to map out the negotiation plans, "Mr Chana said.

_____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

September 4, Daily Telegraph
Tour companies accused of 'funding' Burmese dictatorship - Jeremy Skidmore


Thirty-six travel companies have been placed on a "dirty list" by the
Burma Campaign, which promotes human rights and democracy in the country.

Campaigners claim those on the list are directly or indirectly helping to
finance the military dictatorship there by their involvement with tourism
to the country.


Bales Worldwide, Nikko Hotels and Orient Express, which runs the Road to
Mandalay cruise and part-owns a hotel in Rangoon, are among those
blacklisted.

Orient Express has strongly defended its actions, stating that its tours
do not imply support for the regime and claiming that more than 1,000
workers benefit from its presence in the country.

Abercrombie&Kent is also on the list. In 2003 the company's UK division
said it would no longer include Burma on itineraries, but the US branch
continues to list several tours to the country in its 2005 brochure.

"These companies are helping to keep Burma's military dictatorship in
power," said John Jackson, director of the Burma Campaign UK. "Tourism
doesn't help the majority of people in Burma, it hurts them. The regime
earns millions from tourists visiting the country. It spends half its
budget on the military and just 19p per person per year on health."

Last year Mike O'Brien, the Foreign Office minister, wrote to British tour
companies urging them to pull out of Burma, but received a mixed response
from human rights groups. Amnesty International said it was not in favour
of sanctions or boycotts because they "may make the situation worse".

_____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

September 9, Asia Times
The case for sanctions on Myanmar - Sai Wansai

Lately, a few commentaries have been published on sanctions imposed on
Myanmar by the United States and the European Union. Those against
sanctions are convinced that they are punishing and hurting the
population, rather than the ruling State Peace and Development Council
(SPDC), also known as Myanmar's military junta. But one pro-sanctions
commentary that was recently published argues that while those against
sanctions have roundly rejected the use of sanctions as ineffective and
inhumane, they have failed to come up with a genuine alternative.

In reality, the issue here mainly has to do with "moral posturing", and
both opposing camps seem to have valid arguments to back up their
position. Let's have a closer look through pragmatic and logical lens.

The general argument for those against sanctions is that trade sanctions
hurt and impoverish average wage earners. The example put forward here is
none other than the textile sector, which is one of Myanmar's top export
earners.

The workforce employed in this sector is said to be 300,000 workers
strong, according to the junta's sources. This number, however, is
believed to be cooked up by Prime Minister Khin Nyunt, who created the
Office of Strategic Studies, which is responsible for studying foreign
policy and spinning information to boost the regime's image. According to
a report from the Alternative ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian
Nations) Network on Burma, or ALTSEAN, titled "Ready, Aim, Sanction",
veteran academic on Myanmar David Steinberg estimates that the figure is
closer to 180,000. Neither figure takes into account that many people have
lost their jobs due to the withdrawal of foreign direct investment,
because of the poor investment climate the regime has created, or last
year's banking crisis
.

For the full editorial, please go to:
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/FI10Ae05.html

_____________________________________

September 9, New Straits Times
Myanmar paves rough road ahead for Asem - Syed Nadzri

MYANMAR, long considered a thorn in Asean's side, has now grown to become
an intractable sticking point in an inter-regional agenda. With barely a
month before the fifth Asia-Europe Meeting (Asem) starts in Hanoi, the
military-ruled country seems to be causing a bellicose outlook which may
stall the whole process.

The Oct 8 summit is supposed to feature, for the first time, an Asem
enlarged from the original 25 members to 38, with the addition of 10 new
members of the European Union and three new members of Asean, including
Myanmar.

And it is Myanmar's impending participation that is now the source of
problems. In fact, the meeting is in danger of either being muted and
restrained or even collapsing altogether because of the Myanmar factor.

Up to last week, the EU had threatened to scuttle the meeting if Myanmar
attends and this is due to its poor human rights record and continued
detention of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

That stance seemed to have marginally softened last Sunday when EU foreign
ministers hammered a compromise saying they would now not mind Yangon's
presence provided it is minus the top leaders. And the Asian partners,
particularly Asean members, are nervous over such a stipulation.

It is conditions like this that makes the situation a little testy -
especially if it is imposed by one side on another in an organisation that
is based on a founding principle of equality, mutual respect and benefit.

Which is most unfortunate really, considering the size and importance of
the forum which was inaugurated in 1996 not only to bring together
countries in Europe and Asia - practically Asians and their former
colonial masters - but also to balance out American influence in the
region through the Asia Pacific Economic Co-operation (Apec).

Asem's value as an entity is also worth pondering over - it has in total
about 2.3 billion people accounting for 37 per cent of the world
population. The members' aggregate gross domestic product in 2002 was
US$4,849 billion (RM18,4 billion), about 46 per cent of the world GDP.

Their combined value of trade in goods was US$2,718 billion (RM10,3
billion) or 43 per cent of the world trade.

There's no doubt that Myanmar has been a constant pain for Asean, made
worse by its ruling junta which appears to be in no hurry whatsoever in
reconciliation efforts with the country's pro-democracy movement. Though
the grouping still believes in its rather docile constructive engagement
policy towards the country, the hindrance Yangon now poses to an inter-
regional agenda might be too much to bear - especially when most Asean
members are on the verge of a flourishing economic rebound
.

For the full editorial, please go to:
http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Thursday/Columns/20040909080023/Article/indexb_html

_____________________________________
PRESS RELEASE

September 7, Burma Strategy Group for Democracy
Announcement

The sole aim of Burma Strategy Group for Democracy is to promote and
realize Democratic Principles, practices and systems in Burma where a free
and democratic society is much needed. Many patriots have given their
lives for the struggle to freedom and the people have suffered for more
than 40 years under successive dictatorial regimes and 16 years under this
unlawful military regime known as State Peace and Development Council
(SPDC).

Presently, while Burmese Democratic Leaders including Daw Suu and U Tin
Oo, the leaders of the winning party NLD of 1990 election and Min Ko
Naing, widely popular student leader of the 1988 people’s uprising are
still lingering in SPDC prisons and house arrest, the military regime is
launching an aggressive propaganda campaign with the help of foreign and
Burmese academics to discredit the policies of the democratic forces and
lessen the trust and hope that Burmese people had entrusted upon their
leaders.
In these trying and difficult times in the struggle for Democracy it is
critically important that all democratic forces, within Burma and our
Diaspora, work hand in hand in unity and symmetry. At the same time, it is
important that the role of the people choice, the dutifully elected
National League for Democracy (NLD) and its undisputed leader Daw Aung San
Suu Kyi and other elected Ethic Leaders must not be diminished to the wish
of military authorities. It is the strong conviction of Burma Strategy for
Democracy to protect and respect their role.

To achieve Genuine and Legitimate democracy, acceptable to Burmese people
and the world community of Nations, it is singularly critical that the
struggle and process must be under the leadership and participation of
National League for Democracy and its leader Daw Aung Suu Kyi, who enjoys
the overwhelming support and trust of the Burmese people.

Based of this trust, the Burma Strategy for Democracy pledges to work in
the direction to free our country from the yoke of the military
dictatorship and to build a free, fair and democratic society in Burma. We
bring with this pledge our best efforts to maximize and synergize our
talent, commitment, and experience to identify and analyze policy options
for consideration by those in the democracy movement.

The Burma Strategy Group for Democracy is an independent think tank entity
that is not associated with any organization with the sole purpose to
promote and establish free and fair society in Burma based on Democratic
principles.

_____________________________________
September 4, Women's League of Burma
New report exposes nationwide military rape in Burma

The Women's League of Burma has released a new report System of Impunity
exposing ongoing sexual violence by the regime's armed forces throughout
Burma, as they continue to build up their military infrastructure and
consolidate control in every part of the country.

Women and girls in all the ethnic states, as well as in Central Burma have
suffered experiences of rape by SPDC military personnel, including gang
rape and murder, sexual slavery and forced ‘marriage.’ The report details
ongoing incidents of sexual violence, as recently as July 31, 2004, when a
12-year-old Palaung ethnic girl was raped in Shan State.

Sexual violence by the military is shown to be prevalent not only in the
civil war zones, but also in the ceasefire areas or ‘non-conflict’ areas.
Soldiers, captains, commanders and other SPDC officials nationwide are
committing rape with impunity, making no woman or girl safe from rape and
sexual torture under the current regime.

Most of the documented stories of rapes and gang rapes have either been
perpetrated by senior military officers or authorities, or with their
complicity. Almost all the incidents took place during 2003 and 2004,
precisely while the regime has been repeatedly denying prevalence of
military rape in Burma.

"Military rule and military rape are two sides of the same coin," said
Thin Thin Aung, the Joint - General Secretary of the WLB.  "The regime
should not waste its time denying the prevalence of rape. If they are
really serious about ending sexual violence, they must hand power back to
the people, demobilize their troops, and let the rule of law be restored."

The WLB is appealing to countries in the region to review their policies
towards Burma and to push for speedy democratic reform. "Regional
cooperation with the regime is placing the lives of women and girls in
Burma at risk," said Nang Hseng Noung, the General Secretary of the WLB.

The Women’s League of Burma (WLB) is an umbrella organization comprising
11 women’s organizations of different ethnic backgrounds of Burma. WLB’s
mission is to work for the women of Burma in striving for solidarity,
empowerment and national reconciliation.

The report can be viewed at ( www.womenofburma.org )

For further information please contact:

Nang Hseng Noung             Tel: +66 1 884 4963        Email:
<wlb at womenofburma.org>

Thin Thin Aung             Tel: + 66 7 187 7735 (or) Tel: + 91 989 125
2316         Email: <thinaung at mizzima.com>