BurmaNet News December 10, 2004

[Editor]

December 10, 2004, Issue # 2617

INSIDE BURMA
Reuters: Myanmar opposition says Suu Kyi a junta "hostage"
Irrawaddy: Than Shwe shuns politics in speech to Buddhist Summit
Xinhua News Agency: Myanmar committed to political reconciliation—Thai PM

BUSINESS / MONEY
SHAN: Forcible paddy purchase at better price

REGIONAL
Asia Times: Thailand 'tail' wags ASEAN 'dog' over Myanmar

OPINION / OTHER
South China Morning Post: The limit to living with a bad neighbour
Irrawaddy: Prisoner release puzzle: many questions left unanswered

PRESS RELEASE

Initiatives for International Dialogue: Extension of Suu Kyi’s detention
denounced

______________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

December 10, Reuters
Myanmar opposition says Suu Kyi a junta "hostage"

Myanmar's main opposition party will never attend a constitution-forming
National Convention while its iconic leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, remains a
"hostage" of the ruling junta, a top party official said on Friday.

U Lwin, the National League for Democracy's (NLD) octogenarian spokesman,
said Nobel laureate Suu Kyi was being kept out of the way with a lengthy
term of house arrest because of fears she would disrupt the convention's
progress.

"They allow us to discuss but still they are holding her," he told Reuters
in an interview at the NLD's dilapidated headquarters in Myanmar's leafy
capital, Yangon.

The headquarters -- covered in murals and photographs of Suu Kyi -- was
only allowed to reopen last year shortly before the start of the
convention.'

"It is something like taking her as a hostage while we are attending the
convention," U Lwin said, sitting in front of a gold Soviet-style bust of
Suu Kyi, Myanmar's spiritual democracy leader who has spent much of the
last 15 years under arrest.

The military, which has run the former Burma in various guises since 1962,
has embarked on a seven-step "roadmap to democracy", with a National
Convention to draw up a new constitution as its first step.

Europe and the United States have dismissed the plan as a sham, especially
while Suu Kyi, who won a landslide election victory in 1990 only to be
denied power by the military, remains under lock and key in her lakeside
Yangon home.

U Lwin said the opposition had no idea when she or her deputy, Tin Oo,
would be freed.

"We don't insist that she must be present at the National Convention. We
don't ask that. We only want her and Tin Oo to be released," U Lwin said.

NO RELEASE DATE

Despite diplomatic pressure from its southeast Asian neighbours and
sanctions from Europe and the U.S., the junta has refused to budge, even
deciding last month to extend her detention by another year, according to
diplomats and the NLD.

U Lwin said her time in detention had been extended to allow the junta to
draw up a constitution with Myanmar's myriad ethnic groups behind Suu
Kyi's back.

"I don't know how long they will take to complete this so-called National
Convention," U Lwin said.

"At the first stage, it was not very promising. That is why they cannot
take any chances and they had to extend for another year, so they can
cover the National Convention without her disturbing it. They are very
much worried about her," he said.

The NLD is prepared to talk to the military government, U Lwin said, but
he gave only the vaguest notion of an agenda.

"At this moment the country is suffering from a general and very serious
crisis, not only political but also economic and social. We will start
with this - how to overcome the crisis we are facing today. No details -
just like that.

"We are going to talk about the future of our country. Basically we must
build democracy here, just democracy," he said.

Despite being jailed for much of the last 15 years, U Lwin said Suu Kyi,
who is visited three times per week by a doctor, remained in good health
apart from recently requiring extensive dental treatment.

______________________________________

December 10, Irrawaddy
Than Shwe shuns politics in speech to Buddhist Summit

The three-day World Buddhist summit in Rangoon continued Friday under a
mantle of tight security. A resident in downtown Rangoon said in a
telephone conversation that the government appeared to be worried about
the prospect of protests on the edge of the controversial gathering.

More than 1,000 Buddhist monks from around the world are attending the
summit. A number of government leaders from neighboring countries were at
Thursday’s opening.

For the junta, the summit’s religious nature appears to outweigh any
political significance, and junta leaders at the meeting have made little
mention of Burma’s deepening political and social crisis.

In an address to the opening session, for instance, Sr-Gen Than Shwe kept
to religious themes, saying “the timeless teaching of Lord Buddha is very
relevant and essential to save humanity (from) craving, desire and
suffering.”

In today’s times, he said, “the world is witnessing numerous conflicts and
crimes. All those evils result from greed (lobha), anger (dosa) and
delusion (moha). We should rid the world of the roots of all evils and sow
the seeds of goodwill, tolerance, kindness and altruism for the sake of
peace and prosperity.”

Than Shwe recommended the Lord Buddha’s fourfold message of  loving
kindness (metta), compassion (karuna), joy and equanimity (upekkha). They
were the best path for humanity to “peace and harmony.”

In contrast, Than Shwe told visiting Thai Prime Minister Thaksin
Shinawatra yesterday that his government is not ready to release
opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Thaksin said the junta chairman had told him in private talks that Suu Kyi
could not be released because on three previous occasions when she had
been freed from detention “difficulties” had arisen.

Prime Minister Soe Win also prompted controversy in his own speech to the
meeting, by saying: “Myanmar is a country, which received the teachings of
the Buddha in his lifetime. According to religious chronicles, the Buddha
visited Myanmar three times.”

Some Burmese Buddhist scholars reacted to this quickly. Khin Maung Soe, a
Burmese writer who studied Buddhism told The Irrawaddy that during the
time of Buddha there was no Burma or Myanmar nation. According to history,
Buddha traveled only within India. “There was no historical record that he
had been to a land now known as Burma,” the writer said.

Human rights groups and opposition organizations in exile slammed the
summit and called for a boycott of the meeting because of the military
government’s poor human right record.

The Thailand-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma)
said international delegates should stay away from the summit because
about 300 monks were in Burmese jails.

Before the summit, the Burmese government announced that delegates from 37
nations had been invited.

The Japanese Nenbutsushu sect decided not to attend the meeting following
the government shake up in October in which Prime Minister and spy chief
Gen Khin Nyunt was sacked.

According to official figures, there are nearly 400,000 monks in Burma.
More than 80 percent of Burma’s 50 million people are Theravada Buddhist.

The state-run New Light of Myanmar newspaper reported that the summit
would issue a declaration when it finishes on Saturday.

____________________________________

December 10, Xinhua News Agency
Myanmar committed to political reconciliation—Thai PM

Myanmar government was still committed to political reconciliation, but no
specific date has been set to release Aung San Suu Kyi, Thai Prime
Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has said back from Yangon.

"The Myanmar government promises the process for the national
reconciliation won't experience a setback," the Thai prime minister was
quoted Friday by state-run Thai News Agency (TNA) as saying.

"The (political reconciliation) process will go on under the road map plan
for democracy in the country," he said.

The Myanmar government declared a seven-point road map to improve
political reconciliation in last August, when then prime minister Khin
Nyunt just swore in.

However, with Khin Nyunt removed in a major reshuffle in October, many are
afraid that the political reconciliation process would be stopped in
Myanmar, the report said.

Meanwhile, the Myanmar government also promised to release the opposition
leader Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest, but declined to discuss the
specific date, Thaksin told reporters.

"They need time to arrange everything and finish several meetings," said
Thaksin who on Thursday met with Than Shwe, chairman of Myanmar's State
Peace and Development Council in Yangon.
_____________________________________
BUSINESS / MONEY

December 10, Shan Herald Agency for News
Forcible paddy purchase at better price

Shan State's Triangle Region Command has recently instructed the
Kengtung township rice traders association to purchase 100,000 baskets
of this year's harvest at 3,800 kyat ($3.8) per basket, a rate ten
times higher than it was before the scrapping of the compulsory
procurement policy on 23 April last year, reports Tai Touch from
Chiangrai:

"The market price is presently 4,500 kyat ($4.5)," said a businessman
who met S.H.A.N. in Maesai, Thailand's gateway to Kengtung, 160 km up
north. "And the farmers are forbidden to sell their harvest outside
their communities before the quota is filled. The punishment for
defiance is a 5 year imprisonment."

Rice mill owners who mill paddy without official permission are also
under threat of confiscation of their possessions.

As for rice traders, they were required to re-sell their purchase to
the government at 3,500 kyat ($3.5) per basket rate. "It appears, at
first glance, a loser situation," said his colleague. "However, we are
allowed to use 14 pay (1 pay=3.33 liters) measures instead of the
normal 16 pay ones at the official buying centers. And that may save
the day for us."

The rice traders associations were set up by the government in place
of customary government procurers since last year following
announcement by Lt-Gen Soe Win, then Secretary-2 of the State Peace
and Development Council of the end to 40-year old policy of buying
paddy at discount prices. Before his announcement, the official paddy
price was fixed at 350 kyat (0.35) per basket (54 liters).

Shan Human Rights Foundation reported in its November monthly issue
that the rice procurement policy would resume in other townships in
eastern Shan State.

The UN's World Food Program deputy director Sheila Sisulu had said in
September, after a visit Burma, that the government's restrictions on
freedom of movement of agricultural products was impoverishing and
starving the people.
_____________________________________
REGIONAL

December 9, Asia Times
Thailand 'tail' wags ASEAN 'dog' over Myanmar--Sonny Inbaraj

After a series of reactions and counter-reactions by the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) over the past few weeks, what to do with
misbehaving Myanmar remains a baffling question, seeming to indicating
that the apparent facade of unity within the regional grouping over its
unruly member is unraveling.

Last week ASEAN coddled the repressive Myanmar regime that continues to
detain pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi. But this week, in a complete
turnaround, its members appear to be in a scramble to castigate Yangon.

ASEAN leaders, meeting at their summit in the Laotian capital Vientiane
last week, warmly welcomed Myanmar's new prime minister, Lieutenant
General Soe Win, who in October took over from ousted Khin Nyunt. Their
final summit communique harped on every geopolitical tension in the world,
except Myanmar. The days following the ASEAN summit, however, saw a
different drama unfolding.

This week started off on Sunday with Indonesia accusing Myanmar of dodging
the issue of Suu Kyi's detention and saying there was a gap between
official junta statements and reality.

According to Indonesia's foreign ministry spokesman Marty Natalegawa,
Myanmar was asked at the ASEAN summit to clarify media reports that it had
extended Suu Kyi's arrest for another year.
"The matter was asked, clarification requested, but still there was no
explicit answer," Natalegawa told a news briefing." Seeing the reality, it
is difficult for us to conclude there is consistency between what they say
and the reality in Burma [renamed Myanmar by the junta in 1988]," he
added.

The next day, Malaysia fired a second volley at Yangon.

On Monday, Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar told reporters in
Kuala Lumpur that Myanmar should release Suu Kyi to convince the
international community that it remains serious about bringing democracy
to the country.

"Myanmar has re-affirmed [its] commitment towards democratization...but
they have never spoken about the release of Aung San Suu Kyi," said Syed
Hamid. "We don't want to tell Myanmar what to do, but they have to look at
their roadmap [toward democracy] so that it has got credibility and it is
believed by the international community that they are going to proceed as
they have promised," he added.

On November 29, the Myanmar generals extended by another 12 months the
house arrest of Suu Kyi, who has been detained for a total of nine years,
since 1989. The leader of the National League for Democracy (NLD) party
began her latest period under house arrest in May 2003, following a
violent clash between her supporters and a pro-junta mob outside Yangon.

Ironically, the latest leader to join the scramble to put pressure on
Yangon - in order not to be left out it, seems - is Thai Prime Minister
Thaksin Shinawatra, who visited Yangon on Thursday to attend the World
Buddhist Summit.

Myanmar escaped public criticism at the recent ASEAN summit due to
Thailand's intervention. Now Thaksin is expected to raise the issue with
Senior General Than Shwe. The future of a constitution-drafting National
Convention, the first step of a "roadmap to democracy" unveiled last year
by Khin Nyunt, would top the agenda of his visit, Thaksin told reporters.

So why the sudden turnaround after the ASEAN summit? The answer might be
found in the events leading up to the start of regional grouping's summit
on November 27.

Before leaders from ASEAN's 10 member countries - the Philippines, Brunei,
Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam and
Myanmar - gathered in Laos, Thaksin issued a threat saying he would walk
out of the summit if the violence in Thailand's Muslim-dominated southern
provinces was raised by Indonesia and Malaysia.

Thailand has attracted international opprobrium for the deaths, at the end
of October, of at least 85 unarmed Muslim protestors at the hands of
police and soldiers in the province of Narathiwat, which borders Malaysia.

"Thaksin's threat freaked out Laos as the host country," said Debbie
Stothard, the convenor of the Alternative ASEAN Network on Myanmar
(ALTSEAN), a Myanmar rights and democracy advocacy group. "Laos wanted to
show the outside world that as the first-ever host of the ASEAN summit, it
[the summit] would be a success. So they exerted diplomatic pressure, as
the host, to put a lid on contentious issues that might divide the
regional grouping - and Myanmar was also one of them," Stothard told Inter
Press Service.

Kavi Chongkittavorn, assistant group editor of The Nation daily newspaper
and a former media policy officer with the ASEAN secretariat, castigated
Thailand for holding the regional grouping hostage.

"Thailand, under Thaksin, is abrogating its responsibility as a frontline
state to shape policy in neighboring Myanmar, and that's worrying. It was
a win-win situation in Vientiane for Yangon, and Thaksin is to be blamed
for that," he said in an interview. "It's like ASEAN has allowed the tail
to wag the dog."

Many Myanmar observers are frustrated, especially given the fact that at
last year's summit on the Indonesian resort island of Bali, ASEAN leaders
had publicly called for Suu Kyi's release and secured a guarantee from
Myanmar's then-prime minister Khin Nyunt that the regime was serious about
democratic reforms.

Myanmar joined ASEAN in 1997, despite misgivings by some governments and
activists in and out of the region. Yet ASEAN countries said membership
would allow its "constructive engagement" policy to slowly encourage
Yangon to open up its political system.

Now, however, it seems ASEAN's image and relationship with the West has
been negatively affected by Myanmar's unchanged behavior.

Also at the heart of the matter is the torch of leadership of ASEAN.
Malaysia becomes rotating ASEAN chair next year, after which the position
is scheduled to go to Myanmar in 2006. "For that reason," said Stothard,
"Malaysia and its close ally Indonesia are now panicking."

"If these countries can't express their views about Myanmar within ASEAN,
they will make it outside the regional grouping," she added. "That
indicates the level of frustration within ASEAN and also the frustration
that Thailand wants to scuttle things."
_____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

December 10, South China Morning Post
The limit to living with a bad neighbour

Southeast Asian countries shy away from putting collective pressure on the
military rulers of Myanmar to honour their promises of political reform.
They all belong to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, and
membership of this club is premised on a common commitment not to
intervene in each others' internal affairs.

In keeping with this tradition, the joint statement issued by Asean
leaders after their annual meeting, in Vientiane, Laos, at the end of last
month made no mention of Myanmar - despite apparently well-founded reports
that the junta had reversed a promise to release opposition leader Aung
San Suu Kyi and instead extend her house arrest at least until next
September.

But some Asean members are worried about the evident retrogression in
Myanmar since the arrest of former prime minister Khin Nyunt in October
and his replacement by Lieutenant-General Soe Win, a hardliner held
responsible for the crackdown in May last year on Ms Suu Kyi and members
of her National League for Democracy. At the summit, the leaders of
Singapore, the Philippines and Thailand showed their concern. Malaysia has
done so beforehand.

Last Friday, Indonesia accused the military regime in Myanmar of
backtracking on pledges to introduce political reforms and release Ms Suu
Kyi. Indonesia and the others are worried that Myanmar's bad reputation is
tarnishing Asean and undermining ties with the west. The group's calendar
is set to make this worse. Myanmar takes over the rotating chairmanship of
Asean in mid-2006 for 12 months. In this capacity, it will host the annual
ministerial and leaders' meetings of the group.

The contention between the European Union and Asean over Myanmar has
already raised a major obstacle to closer relations between Europe and
Southeast Asia.

Unlike the EU, the United States does not have a summit-level connection
with Asean. But both the US and Europe have imposed economic and other
sanctions on Myanmar in protest at the government's repressive rule. In
contrast, Asean seeks change by engaging, not isolating, Myanmar. Neither
approach, applied partially, will work.

One country that has influence in Myanmar and could help nudge the regime
on to a more flexible path is China. The first evidence of Chinese
activism emerged last July after Premier Wen Jiabao met Khin Nyunt in
Beijing. Mr Wen was quoted in the official media as stressing that what
occurs in Myanmar is its internal affair. But he reportedly added that
China hoped Myanmar could make efforts to speed up political settlements
of existing disputes and move towards democratic progress so as to enhance
stability and peaceful development.

If there is no genuine constitutional and democratic reform in Myanmar
before it assumes the chairmanship of Asean, the organisation will face a
crisis in its relations with the west. Of course, China - which has close
military and economic ties with Myanmar's regime - may benefit from this.

EU policy will harden further, while America has reportedly warned that
unless Myanmar is well on the road to democracy, the US secretary of state
will not attend the annual meeting of Asean foreign ministers or the Asean
Regional Forum on security.

US President George W. Bush issued a pointed reminder that time is running
out for Asean to engineer change in Myanmar. On December 2, the White
House called on the regime to release Ms Suu Kyi and all other political
prisoners immediately and unconditionally, and to start taking steps
towards national reconciliation, democracy and improved human rights.

Michael Richardson is a visiting senior research fellow at the Institute
of Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore.

_____________________________________

December 10, Irrawaddy
Prisoner release puzzle: many questions left unanswered-- Amyotheryei Win
Naing

The day after the State Peace and Development Council, or SPDC, issued its
second prisoner release decree I wrote to secretary-1 Lt-Gen Thein Sein,
offering to help with the release program. I offered to receive the freed
prisoners at the entrances to the jails and to provide them with
necessities such as transportation, food and clothing.

That was on November 26. Two days later, on November 28, the government
announced that the 9,248 prisoners covered by the release decrees had been
freed. That left me hanging in the air with my program.

Many read the November 26 announcement in disbelief. How could the
officials so swiftly undertake such a big operation? There was no public
documentation or clarification on whom had been freed, how and where they
had been released.

Up to this day no one knows exactly who has been freed. Some families are
still inquiring about their jailed fathers, brothers, sisters and in-laws
with the hope that they might be among the lucky ones and on their way
back home.
We continue with our work of trying to trace the prisoners released from
42 jails countrywide, but information is hard to obtain. What we get are
mostly unconfirmed hearsay reports.

According to those unconfirmed reports, freed prisoners included former
dictator Gen Ne Win’s personal body guards, jailed associates of former
ministers Lt-Gen Tun Kyi, Kyaw Ba and others who were ousted from the
State Law and Order Restoration Council, or  SLORC, for unannounced
reasons some years ago. One of  Ne Win’s sons who was serving a sentence
for gambling was also released. Others were criminals serving short
sentences for common crimes— thieves, prostitutes, con artists and the
like.

Drawing quick conclusions based on the large number of criminals released,
many are saying the release program was intended solely to clear the
crowded prisons. It has been widely said for some months now that there
was so little room in Rangoon jail that prisoners had to take turns to
sleep.

Among the released were around 40 political prisoners, many of whom were
members of the National League for Democracy, or NLD. The ratio of
political prisoners was one in 225, or less than 0.5 percent.

The only nationally known political prisoner to be released was Min Ko
Naing, the most popular student leader in the 1988 pro-democracy uprising.
He was kept in prison for the past 16 years without trial, a prisoner of
conscious in the true sense.

Min Ko Naing’s compatriots like Ko Ko Gyi and elderly politicians like Win
Tin of the NLD, Thu Wai of the Democracy Party, Htway Myint and several
others were at first rumored to figure among those to be released, but
they remain in jail. Deputy Foreign Minister Kyaw Thu has something to
answer for, for publicly guaranteeing the release of Win Tin.

What does all this, played out in public, mean? So far no significant
meaning to the whole show can be discerned. Why did the government do it,
if not for public relations effect? I have three possible answers


Firstly, the recent sacking of prime minister and intelligence chief Gen
Khin Nyunt had unexpected repercussions on the military government. Khin
Nyunt and his intelligence branch had successfully deceived the public and
Asean leaders into believing that the general was the most moderate and
“cleanest” member of the SPDC.

Most people did not accept the government statement that Khin Nyunt was
sacked for corruption. Many openly expressed their sympathy over his
plight.

In order to counter this public criticism, the military leaders hastily
decided to do something to taint Khin Nyunt’s image. They came up with
this prisoner release program, claiming that those to be freed had been
wrongfully jailed by Khin Nyunt and his military intelligence office.

Did they achieve what they intended?  They did not, for the following
reasons:

The number of freed political prisoners was too small in relation to the
released criminals; only one well-known politician was freed; people are
asking why it was said that the common criminals who were released had
been “wrongfully jailed”. Is the government admitting that the Justice
Department is totally corrupted? Has the judiciary become defunct?

I also believe that Sr-Gen Than Shwe ordered the prisoner release in order
to convince the people that he is going to clean up the armed forces and
the SPDC. This would be in conformity with what the new prime minister,
Lt-Gen Soe Win, promised to the nation last month, when he pledged to
create a clean and dynamic government.

Finally, I believe that the prisoner release move was made in an attempt
to console last month’s Asean meeting in Laos, where the Rangoon military
government feared criticism of its failure to restore democracy to Myanmar
(Burma).

The military government did succeed in stifling any criticism of its
policies. The Asean countries remained silent on the issue.

After ruling the country for 16 years the generals have become skilful in
winning support from our neighbors, in countering international criticism,
in controlling the local opposition—and in many other political tasks.

So who’s their teacher? You don’t have to look far for an answer to that
question: the world’s most populous country and our big next-door
neighbor, of course.

Amyotheryei Win Naing leads a new democratic force called “National
Politicians Group, Myanmar”.
_____________________________________

PRESS RELEASE

December 9, Initiatives for International Dialogue--www.iidnet.org
Extension of Suu Kyi’s detention denounced

An international non-government organization involved in advocating for
genuine peace, justice and democracy in military ruled Burma today
denounced the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), the name of the
military government in Burma, after the latter extended for another year
the detention of Burmese opposition leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.
The Initiatives for International Dialogue (IID) which is based in the
Philippines said that the extention of Suu Kyi’s detention under house
arrest is another “sign of cowardice” and insincerity of Burma’s junta
government to truly institute fundamental democratic changes in the said
territory.

Suu Kyi has been under house arrest since May of 2003, following a bloody
clash between her supporters and pro-junta mob where the junta with its
truckloads of hired thugs attacked a motorcade rally led by the opposition
party National League for Democracy (NLD).
“The problem with the junta government has always been its refusal to
correct, nay acknowledge its mistakes. It finds telling lies to the
international community a comfortable pastime and preserves nothing but
its personal interests. Suu Kyi has been in and out of house arrests since
1989 despite domestic and international condemnation. More than a decade
after, the ruling generals, still find detaining Suu Kyi a good habit. But
there is no way they can make this acceptable to the international
community. This is unjustified. ” IID Executive Director Gus Miclat said.

He added, “The SPDC has a mouth designed to articulate lies. It parrots
and brags in front of many nations its so-called roadmap to democracy but
in reality, it is incessantly crafting ways to further block any genuine
road to such.”
IID also issued criticism on the reported release of more than 9,000
inmates who were freed at the day of the ASEAN summit in Laos.
“Of 9,248 inmates they announced released, it is disgusting to know that
only 40 of them are political prisoners while the remaining are common
criminals. It is obvious that the junta released these prisoners to
beguile ASEAN that it is proceeding with reforms after cosmetic regime
change. We just hope that the ASEAN would not be easily swayed by the
junta’s cheap strategy,” Miclat stressed.

The IID reiterated its call to block Burma as chair of ASEAN in 2006 and
oust Burma as a member of the grouping if no reforms will be instituted to
achieve genuine democracy. They also demanded the immediate and
unconditional release of Aung San Suu Kyi and other political prisoners.

The group also urged the Philippine government to make “critical
engagement with Burma” instead of continuously adhering to the policy of
non-interference which according to them, “is just a license being used by
the military regime to escape from its supposed democratic
responsibilities.”

Isagani Abunda II
Advocacy Officer, Burma Program
Initiatives for International Dialogue (IID)
Telefax:  (63) (2) 9110205
Tel:  (63) (2) 4352900
Web:  www.iidnet.org