BurmaNet News, November 13-15, 2004

[Editor]

November 13-15, 2004, Issue # 2601


INSIDE BURMA
AFP: Three members of Myanmar's opposition arrested for distributing
pamphlets
Reuters: Myanmar generals make possible gesture to Suu Kyi
Xinhua: Former anti-govt armed groups in Myanmar urged to work for
national development
DVB: Two Burmese Supreme Court judges removed from office
AFP: Aung San Suu Kyi link man among 16 charged over corruption in Myanmar
Kao Wao: DKBA: never surrender to SPDC
Sunday Times (Perth): Change is sweet

ON THE BORDER
AFP: Prisoner group calls for boycott of Buddhist summit over monk arrests

DRUGS
S.H.A.N.: Business catches up with politics

BUSINESS
Kyodo News: Myanmar nets $35 million at mid-year jade and gem sale

REGIONAL
Xinhua: India to provide more educational aid to Myanmar

INTERNATIONAL
AFP: Myanmar refuses to allow in German parliamentarians
DVB via BBC: Nobel laureates demand immediate release of Burma's Suu Kyi

OPINION / OTHER
Dallas Morning News: Musical superstars rally support for democracy
champion Aung San Suu
Bangkok Post: All quiet on the western front

ANNOUNCEMENT
Scholarships are still available for the New School University’s Democracy
& Diversity GRADUATE SUMMER INSTITUTE to be held in Cape Town, South
Africa, January 6—22, 2005
Applicants from Southeast Asia are encouraged to apply. For an application
please visit: http://www.newschool.edu/tcds/ More information below.


______________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

November 15, Agence France Presse
Three members of Myanmar's opposition arrested for distributing pamphlets

Bangkok: Three members of Myanmar's opposition have been arrested for
distributing pamphlets to party members, an opposition legal adviser said
on Monday.

The three were arrested on November 5 and face jail terms of up to seven
years if charged and convicted, U Win Myint, of the National League for
Democracy (NLD), told AFP.

The party has written to premier Lieutenant General Soe Win asking him to
quash the arrests of the three party organisers at Danubyu, near the
capital Yangon. "We havent got any response up until now," U Win Myint
said.

The military has ruled Myanmar since 1962 and has drawn widespread
international sanctions for stifling democratic reforms.

Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of the NLD and a Nobel peace prize winner,
has been under house arrest since May 2003 following a violent clash
between her supporters and a pro-junta mob.

The party won elections by a landslide in 1990 but has never been allowed
to rule.

______________________________________

November 13, Reuters News
Myanmar generals make possible gesture to Suu Kyi

Yangon: Myanmar's military rulers, in a move which might indicate a change
in attitude to detained democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, has sent
condolences on the death of one of the last independence heroes led by her
father.

The military, which has ruled the former Burma in one form or another
since 1962, had never before sent condolences on the death of a colleague
of General Aung San, who mostly supported his daughter in her battle for
democracy, veteran politicians said on Saturday.

Senior generals went to the residence of Bohmu Aung, one of the famed
"Thirty Comrades", led by Aung San, who led the country to independence
from Britain, a relative said.

One of the top members of the regime, Lt General Thein Sein, led the
delegation late on Friday and it passed on the condolences of Myanmar's
paramount leader, Senior General Than Shwe, U Zaw, a son-in-law of Bohmu
Aung, told Reuters.

"He quoted the Senior General as saying that the present day Myanmar armed
forces were born out of the 'Thirty Comrades' and he mentioned our father
as a selfless leader," U Zaw said. "He sent us his deepest sympathy at the
demise of our father."

Wahkheima Thakhin Thein Pe, an 86-year-old veteran politician and close
colleague of Bohmu Aung, said the condolence messages were a good sign.

"They seem to have changed their attitudes," he said. "I hope we will see
them make further positive changes."

"I am so glad to hear this news," said Bo Ye Htut, 82, another surviving
member of the "Thirty Comrades".

The condolences were sent just weeks after the regime purged Prime
Minister Khin Nyunt and his power base in the military intelligence, which
he had headed.

The junta first announced Khin Nyunt had been allowed to retire on health
grounds, but then said he and his family had been deeply involved in
corruption.

It was an accusation which drew scorn from foreign analysts of Myanmar who
regard the military as thoroughly corrupt, but it was followed by
widespread arrests of senior military intelligence officials.

Among them was Brig Gen Than Tun, Khin Nyunt's liaison with Suu Kyi, who
is under house arrest.

Khin Nyunt was thought to be willing to talk to Suu Kyi, whose National
League for Democracy won an election in 1990. The generals ignored the
result.

Than Shwe is believed to be keen to ignore Suu Kyi, who inherited the
mantle of a charismatic father assassinated in 1947 while preparing for
independence.

In 1962, General Ne Win, another of the "Thirty Comrades" seized power
from a democratically elected government and jailed several dozen
politicians, including many colleagues in the group like Bohmu Aung,

After their release, they urged successive military governments to work
for national reconciliation by holding meaningful talks with the
opposition led by Suu Kyi.

______________________________________

November 14, Xinhua News Agency
Former anti-govt armed groups in Myanmar urged to work for national
development

Yangon: Myanmar leader Lieutenant-General Thein Sein has urged former
anti-government armed groups in the country to work for national
development under the framework of law, state newspaper The New Light of
Myanmar reported Sunday.

So far, 17 anti-government ethnic armed groups have returned to the legal
fold and have been joining with the government in regional development
since the government introduced a national reconciliation policy in 1989.

"The national race organizations, on their part, are to work together with
the government within the framework of law in peace for achieving progress
in economic and social sectors," stressed Thein Sein, first secretary of
the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), while meeting with the
leadership of the Democratic Kayin Buddhist Association (DKBA), a group
splitting from the Kayin National Union (KNU) in 1995 and being backed by
the government.

Meeting with DKBA Chairman U Tha Htoo Kyaw in Kayin state's Hpa- an on
Friday, Thein Sein reaffirmed that the government's policy toward the
turned-in armed groups would remain unchanged despite recent change of
prime minister, urging the groups to join the efforts for the realization
of the government's political roadmap to democracy laid down in August
last year.

Myanmar's political roadmap was outlined as undergoing a national
referendum on the draft of the constitution through the national
convention, holding a general election to produce parliament
representatives and forming a new democratic government .

Accordingly, as the first step of the roadmap, the national convention was
resumed on May 17 this year but was adjourned again on July 9 until now
after month-long discussions on detailed principles for power sharing in
the sectors of legislature, executive and judiciary. The convention was
boycotted by the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD).

The government has declared that the national convention would be resumed
in the open season as originally scheduled.

_____________________________________

November 12, Democratic Voice of Burma
Two Burmese Supreme Court judges removed from office

DVB has already reported on the removal of military and civilian officials
as an emergency need for the country. According to latest reports, those
who were removed yesterday were 12 high-level officials from the judiciary
and the legal system including Supreme Court Judge U Thet Tun, director of
Upper Burma Supreme Court, and Rangoon Supreme Court Judge U Tun Shin.

According to a law official, who wished to remain anonymous, the judges
and law officials who were removed included those who were connected with
former Prime Minister Gen Khin Nyunt and those who refused a request by
Gen Thura Shwe Mann to give legal advice to convict Gen Khin Nyunt and the
military intelligence units.

_____________________________________

November 13, Agence France Presse
Aung San Suu Kyi link man among 16 charged over corruption in Myanmar

Yangon: A link man between detained democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and
Myanmar's military regime was among 16 senior intelligence officials
sacked and facing corruption charges, a military source said Saturday.

Brigadier General Than Tun was among the latest victims of a purge against
the military intelligence body once headed by former premier Khin Nyunt,
who was accused of corruption and sacked on October 17.

Khin Nyunt was the figure within the State Peace and Development Council,
the junta's official name, most in favour of dialogue with Aung San Suu
Kyi who has been kept under house arrest for more than a year.

The pair launched a timid secretive dialogue four years ago and Than Tun
was involved in shuttling between the two sides.

But the talks stalled after Aung San Suu Kyi's arrest in May 2003
following an attack on her supporters by a pro-junta mob.

Khin Nyunt's downfall deepened the pessimism over an early release for the
Nobel peace prize winner as the junta's top man Senior General Than Shwe,
a military hardliner, strengthened his hold on the leadership.

The military intelligence wing had been seen as becoming a threat to the
safety of top military figures especially Than Shwe, according to
analysts.

The military has now removed the threat from the intelligence wing after a
crackdown on corruption which was also seen as a move to wrest control of
lucrative business interests once controlled by intelligence officials.

Some 186 people, including intelligence officials, have already been
punished over a smuggling racket at a town near the border with China in a
prelude to the crackdown.

The latest 16, who have been discharged from the military, include two
senior intelligence men involved in foreign relations and contacts with
overseas media.

"Graft charges are being compiled against them," the military source told
AFP.

The only senior intelligence officials to remain in their jobs are one
involved in the nation's anti-drugs crackdown and another known to be a
Than Shwe loyalist.

Meanwhile, Myanmar's ambassadors serving abroad have arrived back in the
capital Yangon to be briefed about the latest developments. At least three
of them have backgrounds from military intelligence.

The military has ruled Myanmar since 1962. The opposition headed by Aung
San Suu Kyi won elections in 1990 but was not allowed to take power.

_____________________________________

November 14, Kao Wao News
DKBA: never surrender to SPDC - Taing Taw

Democratic Karen Buddhist Army says that it will fight against SPDC in
response to a rumor that the DKBA must give up their arms to the military
junta.

Captain Lay Winn of the DKBA at the Three Pagodas Pass said that the SPDC
forced its party to draw up a list of its arms and members and give it to
them, a Mon politician quoted Lay Winn as saying.

He says that Lay Winn had looked at the probable area of confrontation,
which is about three, or four kilometers from the Thai Burma border town
in preparation to fight back when its troops were pressured to give up
their arms.  Karen National Union (KNU), he added, is also being deployed
around the area, which is not so far from the Three Pagodas Pass.

Reflecting the tense nature of relationship after General Khin Nyunt and
MI (Military Intelligence) were dismissed, the Burma Army commander in the
Three Pagodas Pass has threatened Lay Winn and the DKBA group on a number
of occasions, says another resident.

“Lay Winn was forced not to join a religious ceremony while the (Burma
Army) Commander was there,” says the resident to Kao Wao under condition
of anonymity.

Secretary 1, Lieutenant Generals Thein Sein and Mauna Bo, the chief
commanders of the southern Burma command and other ministers, called on
the cease-fire groups in Southern Burma two days ago to talk about the
condition of the cease-fire agreements.

New Mon State Party (NMSP) liaison office in Sangkhlaburi said that its
leaders including Vice-President General Htaw Mon recently met the SPDC
leaders to talk about the process of the cease-fire agreement.  “The SPDC
told our leaders not to change the truce process because of the ousting of
Prime Minister Khin Nyunt,” Chief Liaison Officer Mr. Nai Ong Shein said.

Today, the leaders of Democratic Karen Buddhist Army and the SPDC met in
the capital of Karen state.

_____________________________________

November 14, Sunday Times (Perth)
Change is sweet

Rangoon: Shopkeepers in impoverished Burma are giving customers candy and
cigarettes -- not as enticement to return but as change because of a
shortage of small banknotes.

"I feel bad giving sweets in exchange for small notes but I have no
choice," said the proprietor of a medical store.

Some shopowners are fighting the trend.

U Pyone, a coffee shop owner, complained he was breaking large bills at a
loss because of the scarcity of small notes, and said: "I have to because
I don't want to disappoint my customers."

Some shops are getting their supplies of small bills from beggars,
car-parking fee collectors and even Buddhist nuns who receive cash instead
of food as alms.

_____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

November 14, Agence France Presse
Prisoner group calls for boycott of Buddhist summit over monk arrests

Bangkok: A prisoners rights group on Monday called for the boycott of an
international Buddhist conference in Myanmar next month because of the
detention of an estimated 300 monks by the military regime.

The fourth World Buddhist Summit due to take place in December has already
been hit by the pull-out of its main sponsor in a blow to a government
trying to promote religious tourism.

The report by the Thailand-based Assistance Association for Political
Prisoners (AAPP) out later this week cites new accounts of brutal
interrogations of monks over the last 16 years.

Monks, widely respected in Myanmar where 85 percent of the population are
Buddhist, have been stripped of their robes, beaten inside jails and sent
to labour camps, according to the report: "Burma (Myanmar's former name):
A land where Buddhist monks are disrobed and detained in dungeons".

Many monks have been jailed under a law designed to suppress dissent and
are seen as posing a danger to the junta's rule because of links with the
pro-democracy movement, according to the group.

It says many of the monks were given only perfunctory trials before being
jailed for terms up to life.

"Torture is still going on," said AAPP joint secretary Bo Kyi. "They don't
get good enough medical care, water or sanitation."

The report, based on interviews with more than 20 monks released from
custody, focuses on the period after the crushing of pro-democracy riots
in 1988 when monks were among the leaders. It says at least 100 monks have
been arrested since 2003.

The AAPP called on the regime to release an estimated 300 monks and a
couple of nuns among the country's 1,400 political prisioners, according
to the group's sources in Myanmar. Amnesty International in its 2004
report said more than 1,350 political prisoners remained imprisoned.

The AAPP, which plans to deliver the report to the UN, foreign embassies
in Thailand and religious groups, also called on worldwide Buddhist
organisations to boycott any religious events hosted by the regime.

The military authorities have denied the existence of political prisoners
in Myanmar and are trying to promote religious tourism to the "Land of
Pagodas" to help its ailing economy suffering under international
sanctions.

The internationally isolated regime has built a new convention hall and
spruced up temples in preparation for next month's summit but its main
sponsor, Japan's Nenbutsushu sect, has already pulled out.

Most participants have refused to attend after the junta last month sacked
its premier General Khin Nyunt and put him under house arrest for
corruption, according to the organisers.

They said it could no longer use the summit to spread its message of world
peace and called on Myanmar to cancel the event. However Yangon has said
it planned to press ahead with the conference on December 9-11.

The military has ruled Myanmar since a coup in 1962. The opposition,
headed by Aung San Suu Kyi, won elections in 1990 by a landslide but has
not been allowed to rule.

_____________________________________
DRUGS

November 13, Shan Herald Agency for News
Business catches up with politics

Two weeks after Gen Khin Nyunt and his associates were "permitted to
retire", business has almost returned to normal in northern Shan State,
reports Hawk eye from the border:

"Business is picking up again," replies a shopkeeper from Muse, opposite
Yunnan province's Ruili, to S.H.A.N.'s query, "with more dust (meaning
heroin) leaving for China than the pills (meaning methamphetamines) and at
a good price too."

The price of low-quality yaba (methamphetamines) remains high, Kyat 70,000
per 200-pill bag since the flap that followed Khin Nyunt's abrupt
dismissal while heroin is Yuan 33,000 ($ 4,125), much to the delight of
the traders, he says. The high-quality yaba, meanwhile, remains stable,
around 100,000 kyat ($ 100) per bag.

Kickbacks for all commodities also remain the same as before, he claims.
"The only difference is that the new guys on the landscape are the police
instead of the MI (Military Intelligence) people".

The rate of pay-offs has not gone down with the departure from the scene
of the MI either, at least in the case casino operators, says another
source. "The cut for the MI now goes to the military commanders here."

Along the Thai border, the refineries, closed after Khin Nyunt's ouster,
are reopened and functioning as "usual" reports an insider source, who
remarks, "Now, we can believe that, with or without Khin Nyunt, life does
go on."

A transcription of a speech given by Secretary-1 Lt-Gen Thein Sein, then
Commander of Kengtung-based Triangle Region Command, given on 9 May 2001
in Mongla, says, "I was in Mongton and Monghsat for two weeks. Very
friendly with U Way Shauk Kan (Wei Hsuehkang) and U Pao Youyi (Bao Youri,
elder brother of Bao Youxiang) from the Wa group."

_____________________________________
BUSINESS

November 14, Kyodo News
Myanmar nets $35 million at mid-year jade and gem sale

Myanmar earned nearly $35 million through the sale of jade and gems during
its mid-year Gems Emporium earlier this month, the semiofficial weekly
Myanmar Times reported Monday.

The weeklong sale in Yangon ended Nov. 4 with sales reaching $34.88
million, the state-run Myanmar Gems Enterprise was quoted as telling the
paper.

Jade sales were the biggest earner, contributing more than 70 percent of
sales ($24.55 million), followed by gem lots at 27 percent ($9.56 million)
and the rest coming from jewelry and pearl sales.

Myanmar is a well-known producer of jade, rubies and sapphires.

The emporium drew about 700 gem dealers, mostly from China and Thailand.

_____________________________________
REGIONAL

November 14, Xinhua News Agency
India to provide more educational aid to Myanmar

Yangon: India will provide more educational aid for Myanmar public
servants in terms of scholarship to help develop the country's human
resources, a local news journal reported Sunday.

Under the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) Scheme, 140
scholarships would be offered by India to Myanmar during the current
fiscal year ending next March, an increase of 40 from two years ago, the
Myanmar Times quoted Indian Embassy sources as saying.

The scholarships provide training in agriculture, rural development,
finance and diplomacy and foreign policy, they said.

Such scholarships have been available to Myanmar public servants since
eight years ago.

The scholarships include those provided under the Colombo Plan, a regional
organization aimed at increasing economic and social cooperation in the
Asia-Pacific region, according to the sources.

In most recent years, economic and technological cooperative ties between
the two countries have grown. Recently, India extended to Myanmar a line
of credit of 7 million US dollars for telecom projects and a grant of 3
million dollars for implementation of information and communication
technology projects, the newspaper said.

_____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

November 12, Agence France Presse
Myanmar refuses to allow in German parliamentarians

Berlin: Myanmar has refused to issue visas to an all-party delegation of
German parliamentarians, a senior Christian Democrat member of the lower
house of the Bundestag (parliament) said Friday.

According to Klaus-Juergen Hedrich the Myanmar embassy had said that the
country could not receive the delegation in the capital Yangon (Rangoon)
because of preparations for the meeting of the Association of South East
Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Laos at the end of the month.

Hedrich, chairman of the parliamentary committee with responsibility for
ASEAN affairs, said he had "strong doubts" about the reasons put forward
by the Myanmar authorities.

He also expressed irritation at the "manner"in which the deputies had been
treated.

Passports and visa forms had been at the embassy "for more than a month"
yet the delegation members had been told only a few days before their
planned departure that their requests had been turned down.

_____________________________________

November 13, Democratic Voice of Burma via BBC
Nobel laureates demand immediate release of Burma's Suu Kyi

More than 20 Nobel laureates demanded on 12 November the immediate and
unconditional release of Burma's democracy leader and fellow Nobel
Laureate Daw Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest.

The demand was made at the annual World Summit of Nobel Laureates in Rome,
Italy and an official said a letter containing the demand will be sent to
the chairman of the State Peace and Development Council Sr Gen Than Shwe.
He said the Nobel laureates expressed their concerns over the detention of
Nobel Peace Laureate Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. Since she is the symbol of
democracy and non-violent struggle, they cannot stand idly by over her
house arrest. If they do nothing it would tantamount to surrendering to
the Burmese military junta. The meeting strongly urged and called upon the
Government of Myanmar [Burma] to restore the civil, human, and political
rights of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and her followers.

The attendants of the meeting included former Soviet Union leader Mikhail
Gorbachev, former South Korean President Kim Dae-jung, former Polish
President Lech Valesa, East Timor's Foreign Minister Ramos Horta, and
Mairead Corrigan Maguire from Northern Ireland.

_____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

November 14, The Dallas Morning News
Musical superstars rally support for democracy champion Aung San Suu Kyi -
Rena Pederson

Cause célèbre

What do Paul McCartney, Pearl Jam, Sting, Bonnie Raitt, U2, Eric Clapton,
Peter Gabriel, Coldplay and April Lavigne all have in common?

Nope, it's not their guitars. Or their presidential preferences.

The rock superstars from all around the world have pitched in songs to
rally support for Aung San Suu Kyi, the only Nobel Peace Prize winner
being held at gunpoint. At this very moment, the petite Oxford graduate is
being held hostage in her home in Rangoon by the Burmese military, unable
to see anyone other than the physician who visits occasionally and the
woman who brings her food.

Her gutsy struggle to bring democracy to the long-oppressed Burmese has
been eclipsed by the fight to bring democracy to the Middle East, and
understandably so, considering the explosive threat level there. But a
much-needed chorus of support for Burma is growing louder, and it is in a
universal language: rock music. The biggest names in music have donated
tracks for a two-CD set called For the Lady, which is going on sale this
month. MTV is helping spread the word, which means young people all over
the world will hear about a real live heroine who is in peril.

The irony – no, make that the outrage – is that the United Nations
continues to stand by and do virtually nothing about the deteriorating
situation in Burma, which has become a cauldron of AIDS and drugs. The
so-called "special envoy" sent by U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan was
only a part-time envoy who has business deals with the brutal junta. Not
surprisingly, he has gotten nowhere.

Mr. Annan – who's supposed to retire in 2005 – has one last chance before
he goes to make a difference. He should throw the weight of his office
into a full-scale investigation of the massacre of Aung San Suu Kyi's
followers and her abduction by military goons in 2003. The suave
secretary-general's record has been sullied by the crooked "Oil for Food"
program. He needs to do something right and just.

The United States is chairing the Security Council this month, so there's
an ideal opportunity at hand to ratchet up U.N. pressure on the junta. To
its credit, the Bush administration has been leading the way on the Burma
issue, supporting tougher sanctions and voicing support for Aung San Suu
Kyi. President Bush even took care to single her out during his speech to
the General Assembly this fall, saying, "In the words of the Burmese
democracy advocate, Aung San Suu Kyi, 'We do not accept the notion that
democracy is a Western value. To the contrary; democracy simply means good
government rooted in responsibility, transparency and accountability.' "
(And, yes, he pronounced her name correctly – awn-sawn-soo-chee.)

Burma presents a chance for the new Bush administration to prove that its
push for democracy in Iraq and Afghanistan is truly part of a Big Idea.
The fate of the world does hang on freeing people in countries that are
destabilizing their neighborhoods, like Korea, Sudan, Iran, Burma.
Supporting democracy with vigor is not just a Big Idea, it is the Right
Idea.

Burma presents a chance to show the administration can indeed work in
concert with others to spread democracy. The European Union recently
approved new sanctions on Burma. The trick is getting the U.N. to help and
getting the players in Asia – China, India, Thailand, Japan – to quit
playing footsie with the military regime under the table.

Do the Burmese people need help? Reports filter out weekly of village
women raped by the military, children forced to serve in the military,
thousands of refugees pouring across the borders.

Do the Burmese people want help? In recent weeks, thousands of Burmese
have started circulating nationwide petitions for democracy, signing their
full names and including their addresses. In a country where people are
thrown in prison just for complaining out loud to their neighbors about
the government, that is an act of enormous courage.

In the meantime, junta strongman Than Shwe reacted swiftly to the For the
Lady CD on the first day of its release: He banned it.

Let's hope the producers slap a "Banned in Burma" sticker on the CDs and
sell them in the U.N. lobby.

Rena Pederson is editor at large of The Dallas Morning News. Her email
address is repederson at dallasnews.com.

_____________________________________

November 14, Bangkok Post
All quiet on the western front

Even in the most stable of times, which these are not, the tension is
never completely gone from the Thai-Burmese border - Sombat Raksakul

Looking over the calm waters of the Mekong into Burma from a restaurant in
Chiang Saen district in Chiang Rai province, you would not think you were
viewing a country whose endless conflicts involving government troops,
ethnic groups and drug warlords have repeatedly spilled over onto Thai
soil.

The recent leadership change in Rangoon has made the Thai army beef up
security forces along the Thai-Burmese border. Thousands of soldiers from
the Pa Muang and Naresuan task forces were sent to reinforce those already
deployed along the border.

The army is heightening its readiness even though many Burma watchers
expected that the new Burmese leadership's tough stance towards minority
rebel groups would contribute much to the fight against drugs along the
border. Thai businesses are hoping that Burma's latest political turmoil
will have only a limited impact on border trade and economic ties with
Thailand.

Total bilateral trade between the two countries reached 47 billion baht in
the first eight months of this year. It was 55 billion for the whole of
2003. Thai exports to Burma have increased by 30 percent since 2003,
thanks to eased trading barriers between the two countries.

Despite the present quiet, the latest leadership change in Burma is
keeping Thai military and business leaders on their guard.

_____________________________________
ANNOUNCEMENT

Program Announcement:
Democracy & Diversity GRADUATE SUMMER INSTITUTE
Cape Town, South Africa, January 6—22, 2005

Building upon the interest generated by our region-based institute in
South Africa during the past five years, we are pleased to announce the
sixth Democracy & Diversity Graduate Summer Institute in Cape Town, South
Africa. In this intensive program, an international body of civic-minded
junior scholars will examine critical issues of challenges to democracy
and democratization as they manifest themselves in the host region and
beyond.

Ten years after launching its imaginative program for the creation of a
post-apartheid society, economy, and state, South Africa provides an
exceptionally stimulating setting for study and debate on democratic
transitions and consolidation. The Democracy & Diversity Institute is
designed and organized by the Transregional Center for Democratic Studies
at the New School for Social Research, New York, in partnership with
collaborating scholars and public intellectuals from the region, under the
auspices of the Political Information and Monitoring Service (PIMS) at the
Institute for Democracy in South Africa (IDASA). The program will bring
together 45 young scholars and civic leaders, primarily from the countries
of Sub-Saharan Africa but also from the United States, Latin America,
Southeast Asia, and Central & Eastern Europe.

For more information and to download an application, please visit:
http://www.newschool.edu/tcds/