BurmaNet News, December 14, 2004

[Editor]

December 14, 2004, Issue # 2619


INSIDE BURMA
AFP: Myanmar opposition party members arrested, NLD official says
AFP: Aung San Suu Kyi's party in dire straits: analysts
Narinjara: Increasing exhortation by the authority in Arakan State

ON THE BORDER
Narinjara: Border landmines have far reaching effects

BUSINESS
Xinhua: Foreign firms sign more oil exploration contracts with Myanmar

HEALTH & AIDS
AIDS Weekly & Law: HIV increasingly striking women in Asia

REGIONAL
Irrawaddy: Thaksin confident of re-election

INTERNATIONAL
AP: Unocal to pay villagers, fund improvements to settle rights case

OPINION / OTHER
Irrawaddy: Cease-fire talks lead to uncertainty for Karen

PRESS RELEASE
Christian Solidarity Worldwide: Burmese regime carrying out genocide
claims new report


______________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

December 14, Agence France Presse
Myanmar opposition party members arrested, NLD official says

Yangon: Thirteen members of Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for
Democracy (NLD) party were arrested in Myanmar shortly before the junta
released thousands of prisoners, an NLD spokesman said Tuesday.

U Lwin said the members of the party's local executive committee in
Bogalay Township southwest of Yangon were arrested on December 6.

"They were initially charged with trying to incite unrest, but the charges
have since been changed twice and we are no longer sure what they are
being held for," U Lwin told AFP.

He said they were arrested during early morning raids on their homes.

"They were fast asleep when authorities came with large numbers of police
and took them from Bogalay Township to the district headquarters," he
said.

The arrests were made even though committee members had called off a
planned National Day event after local junta officials refused permission
for it, said U Lwin.

National Day on December 6 celebrates a student strike in 1920 aimed at
the-then British colonial administration, and is seen in Myanmar as a key
moment in the emergence of the political resistance movement.

The NLD spokesman said there was no indication when the 13 NLD party
members-- currently being held in jail -- would appear in court.

The arrests came one week before the junta released 5,070 prisoners, of
whom only 11 were political dissidents.

Human rights groups say a crackdown on the opposition has continued since
the junta began releasing thousands of prisoners, believed to be mostly
petty criminals, following a political shake-up in October.

The latest figure brings to 14,318 the number of prisoners the junta says
it has set free since November 18, including 50 or more political
prisoners.

The NLD said seven of its members were among the latest release.

On Sunday the junta also freed two prominent opposition leaders --
Democracy Party vice chairman Htwe Myint, aged 76 and an early confidant
of detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, and the party's chairman
Thu Wai, also in his seventies.

NLD leader Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel peace laureate, was detained in May
last year and is under her third stint of house arrest. The NLD announced
late last month that authorities had extended her detention by another
year.

The military has ruled Myanmar since 1962 despite a landslide election
victory by the NLD in 1990 that was never recognised.

______________________________________

December 14, Agence France Presse
Aung San Suu Kyi's party in dire straits: analysts

Yangon: Myanmar's National League for Democracy (NLD) is in a precarious
situation, with its leader Aung San Suu Kyi under extended house arrest
and the ruling junta all too happy to keep it out of a pledged
democratisation process, analysts said.

Given the political impasse, some analysts wonder whether Myanmar's main
opposition force did not make a gross misjudgment in April when it
boycotted a national convention called by the government as a historic
step on a "road map to democracy".

The National League for Democracy declared the convention "illegitimate".

The convention's first session wrapped up in July and its more than 1,000
delegates are expected to meet again in February, tasked with drafting a
constitution in the run-up to a referendum, followed by what the junta
promises to be free and fair elections.

In the absence of the National League for Democracy, the inflexible
generals have even fewer obstacles in their path as they seek to ensure
they will maintain most of their power after any election.

They could content themselves with narrowly opening the door to a few
marginal political parties to try to show the world they are at last
introducing elements of democracy, analysts said.

And the powerful junta could disband the National League for Democracy
under the slightest of pretexts, assuring its ineligibility to run in any
future election.

"They might have that idea," party spokesman U Lwin told AFP. "We have to
wait and see."

The party won the 1990 elections in a landslide but the government refused
to recognise the result.

Today the NLD is not even authorised to have a fax machine.

"They should have joined (the convention), as at least they would have
been inside, which would have offered them a chance to express their views
a bit," a political analyst in Yangon said.

"Now the NLD is following a wait-and-see attitude. Is that the right thing
to do? I seriously doubt it."

Another analyst agreed that the National League for Democracy would have
had more effect operating within the system, rigged as it may be.

"Inside they would have shown they were part of the process, and would be
part of it," said one scholar.

The NLD had prepared everything for joining the convention, readying 54
delegates, but changed its mind when it learned that its conditions for
attending -- namely the release of Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest --
would not be met.

"We do not have any regrets," U Lwin said of the boycott. "At the time
they had refused to release Aung San Suu Kyi and (her deputy) Tin Oo".

Since then its prospects have become even more somber, with the sacking in
October of pragmatist prime minister General Khin Nyunt, seen as the only
senior leader in favour of dialogue with the opposition.

And political observers do not expect an early release of the Nobel peace
laureate, whose house arrest was recently extended by one year.

"When everything falls into place, with the passing of their constitution,
with some articles which could disqualify her forever from any political
role, then they could free her," said one analyst.

And the junta could, for instance, exclude Aung San Suu Kyi, the widow of
a Briton, from politics by enacting a regulation barring citizens married
to foreigners from holding public office, observers said.

In the meantime the charismatic 59-year-old spends her days at home, cut
off from the outside world.

A National League for Democracy without "The Lady", as she is known, has
little political muscle or clout.

"Without Suu Kyi, they are nothing," the scholar said. "The NLD... cannot
make any decision without her. This is a fundamental weakness."

The party is run by a central executive committee of octogenarians
respectfully addressed as "uncles" but seen as hangovers from a previous
era of activism.

"The people in charge of the party are people of the past," said the
analyst, with frustration swelling among younger members seeking a greater
voice in NLD affairs.

"A number of them would like a more confrontational approach," the analyst
said.

The NLD wrote to junta supremo Senior General Than Shwe last week seeking
a "dialogue", but the party has never issued a detailed political
programme for the country that could suggest a way forward.

"The biggest mistake the NLD ever made was to turn their existence into a
struggle for power," the scholar said. "They never engaged with the
government in policy discussion."

_____________________________________

December 13, Narinjara News
Increasing exhortation by the authority in Arakan State

Akyab: After the purge of General Khin Nyunt, the SPDC Prime Minister Soe
Win, SPDC Secretary (1) Thein Sein, and Lieutenant General Shwe Mann
promised that the junta’s first priority is to get rid of corruption and
abusive use of power by military personnel.

Contrary to the promise, there have been an increase in incidents of
exhortation by the local authority and military personnel of the public
through out Arakan State.

Checkpoints formerly controlled by the Military Intelligence are now
guarded by military personnel and police, and they are not just asking for
money from the smugglers, but also from the ordinary people.

“We were told that the soldiers are not to be bribed.  However, if we are
to bribe them, we have to pay no less than what we used to pay to the MI.
So we have to pay 50,000 kyats for our boat,” says an Arakanese trader who
used the sea smuggling route.

The local authority made up out of Army, Navy, and Police demand 30,000 or
100,000 kyats for a smuggle boat.

In the southern Townships of Arakan, namely Kyauk Phyu, Rambree, Taung
Goat, the Township Peace and Development Councils (TPDC) officials were
making the people give money for the furniture and equipment of the TPDC
offices.

The Democratic Voice of Burma based in Norway also reported that the
president of Rambree TPDC, U Myo Tint, exhorted 5,000 kyats from each rice
mill as a “donation” to the TPDC fund.

DVB reports that the local people complain that this exhortation was for U
Myo Tint’s personal use.

Similar cases are reported from Ranmyo, Meegaunghtoo, Moung villages and
Taung Goat Township. In Taung Goat Township, the TPDC president U Saw Aung
collected 300 to 500 kyats per household for the furniture to be used in
the Township office.

If the villagers failed to pay the first time, they will have to pay
double for the second demand from the officials.

Under Khin Nyunt, the Military Intelligence used similar means of
exhortation of money under the pretence of asking donations for many of
the official projects funding schools, roads, and clinics.

During the purge of the Military Intelligence, from the head of Min Bya MI
division Kyat 2 billion; from Maung Phone, the head of Paut Taw, 50
million kyats and 100 kyats of gold; from Aung Zaeya, the head of Maung
Daw MI division, 30 million kyats and 47 kyats of gold; from Sergent Soe
Won, the head of Pone Nar Kyan township, 75 acres of rice field, 50
millions kyat and a rice mill. From those MI stationed in Arakan State,
billions of kyats were confiscated during the purge.

“We can estimate the magnitude of the authoritarianism of the Burmese
junta over the Arakanese by looking at the amount of money confiscated
from the MI,” says a citizen of Akyab.

After the purge, instead of reduction of exhortation, the people of Arakan
are facing more hardship of demanding money with no legitimate reason from
the local authority.

_____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

December 14, Narinjara News
Border landmines have far reaching effects

Dhaka: The demarcation of border areas, under the joint-border forces of
Burma and Bangladesh, have been suspended since 1998, due to the presence
of landmines in those areas.

The absence of joint-border forces of the two countries has increased the
occurrences of cross border arms smuggling, drug and human trafficking,
and cross border robberies, said a report in a weekend journal of
Bangladesh.

The demarcation of the border area under the joint forces of the two
countries began in 1984, but ended after only 14 years.

Between 1995 and 2000, the Burmese army planted a number of landmines
throughout the border areas to prevent the Arakanese insurgent groups from
entering into Burma.

Since then, the Bangladesh authorities have stopped its troop from taking
part in the work to demarcate the border.

Previously, the joint border forces had been able to accomplish some
important work in the border area, including the rebuilding of pillars,
the demarcation of the border line as well as facilitating the exchange of
information between the two forces, said another report.

The joint border force is not likely to resume, due to the number of
landmines still present in the area.

According to border sources, the Burmese Army is currently having
difficulty locating their own landmines, as there are no maps in the army
personnel regarding the locations of previously planted landmines.

Over two dozen innocent people have died in the last few years from the
landmines planted by the Burma army.

____________________________________
HEALTH & AIDS

December 16, AIDS Weekly & Law
HIV increasingly striking women in Asia

Women in East Asia are contracting HIV at a faster rate than in the rest
of the world, and there's a worrying new trend in Thailand: Men who have
visited prostitutes are increasingly passing on the infection to their
wives, the United Nations says.

In many parts of the world, but particularly in Asia, more women than men
are getting the disease because it has spread beyond the brothels where
most infections occurred 12 years ago, said the latest global HIV status
report.

Women have also seen higher rates of infection than men because it is
easier for them to get HIV - the virus that causes AIDS - through
heterosexual intercourse.

Some 2.3 million out of the 8.2 million people currently living with HIV
in Asia are women - an increase of 56% since 2002. Nearly 50% of the 39.4
million people infected with HIV worldwide are women, according to the
report.

The epidemic has claimed about 540,000 lives in Asia so far in 2004.

In Thailand, about 90% of HIV transmission 12 years ago was between
prostitutes and their clients. But now, about half of all infections are
occurring in the wives of men who visit prostitutes.

Most new HIV infections in Asia occur when men buy sex, a practice that an
estimated 5-10% of men in the region - many of them married or in steady
relationships - engage in, said the report, citing household surveys in
several countries.

The disease has spread through Asian countries at various speeds and
levels of severity.

While national infection rates remain lower than in other parts of the
world, particularly Africa, the large populations of many Asian countries
mean that vast numbers of people are stricken with the illness.

While countries such as Cambodia, Myanmar and Thailand were hit early the
epidemic, others - including Indonesia, Nepal, Vietnam and China - are
only beginning to see the disease spread rapidly and must launch efforts
to stop it.

AIDS has now been detected in all parts of China, spreading mainly through
intravenous drug use and prostitution. It is also frequently transmitted
sexually from injecting drug users to their partners in China.

In Myanmar, a large percentage of injecting drug users have gotten HIV,
with as many as 78% testing positive for the virus in some areas of the
military-ruled country last year.

In India's Tamil Nadu state, about half of sex workers have been found to
be infected with HIV.

But Bangladesh, East Timor, Laos, Pakistan and the Philippines, among some
other Asian nations, have particularly low infection rates and still have
the opportunity to thwart serious outbreaks, the report said.

____________________________________
BUSINESS

December 14, Xinhua General News Service
Foreign firms sign more oil exploration contracts with Myanmar

Yangon: A consortium comprising two Chinese and one Singaporean companies
reached two more production-sharing contracts with Myanmar here Tuesday on
cooperation in offshore oil and natural gas exploration.

Under the contracts, signed between the China National Offshore Oil
Company (CNOOC) Myanmar Ltd of China, Golden Aaron Pte.

Ltd of Singapore, China Huanqiu Contracting and Engineering Corporation as
well as state-run Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise, oil and gas exploration
will be carried out at over 10,000-square-kilometer Block A-4 in western
Rakhine state and 15,534-square-kilometer Block M-10 in the gulf of
Mottama in southern Tanintharyi division.

This is the second time for the consortium to reach the contracts with
Myanmar, while the first was signed in last October on similar activities
at onshore Block-M of 7,760 square- kilometers in the Rakhine state's
Kyaukpyu area.

With 19 onshore and three main large offshore oil and gas fields, Myanmar
possesses a total of 2.46 trillion cubic meters ( TCM) of gas reserve and
3.2 billion barrels of recoverable crude oil reserve in the country's
offshore and onshore areas, according to official statistics.

The statistics also show that Myanmar produced 9.79 billion cubic meters
(BCM) of gas and 7.2 million barrels of crude oil in 2003. Gas export
during the year went to 6.45 (BCM), earning 655 million US dollars, while
crude oil import worth 27.85 million US dollars the same year.

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

_____________________________________
REGIONAL

December 14, Irrawaddy
Thaksin confident of re-election - Punnisa Nimmanahaeminda

According to several surveys, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra’s Thai Rak
Thai party is expected to win the majority of votes in Thailand’s February
elections. A poll conducted by Turakigbandit University showed that 75.88%
of Bangkokians support Thai Rak Thai, whereas the Democrats received only
17.96% support. Chat Thai party ranked third in popularity, with 4.67%
support.

The poll was carried out from December 3 to December 4, drawing from a
pool of 1430 people of which 50.5% were male and 49.5% female. The
Turakigbandit Center made the results public on December 12.

This past weekend, Thaksin rallied voters in northern Thailand. In Lampang
province, he boldly told his audience that voting for others was a waste
of time, as it was clear his party would be re-elected.

Although the Prime Minister seemed confident about future victory, he
sought Buddhist blessings in Phrae province’s Long district for prosperity
and for his return to office.

Election season has seen verbal attacks between parties growing
increasingly severe.

According to Professor Thanet Chaaroenmuang of the Faculty of Social
Science at Chiang Mai University, Thaksin’s announcement of his supreme
confidence in his party is his way of invigorating Thai Rak Thai members
for the upcoming election. Thanet believes that Thaksin’s continuation of
several popular campaigns – such as the One Tambon One Product, or OTOP,
initiative, as well as the village loan and SME programs – could gain him
“as much as 350 seats” in parliament.

Earlier, Thaksin announced to the public that he believes he can gain as
many as 400 seats in the upcoming election.

Yesterday, Thaksin visited the southern province of Satun, which has long
been a base of Democrat support. In one part of his speech, the Prime
Minister promised to build a university for the Satun people.

_____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

December 14, Associated Press
Unocal to pay villagers, fund improvements to settle rights case - Paul
Chavez

Los Angeles: Human rights groups lauded the announcement by lawyers that
an agreement in principle has been reached to settle human rights lawsuits
against oil giant Unocal Corp. over a 1990s pipeline project in Southeast
Asia.

Unocal Corp. will settle the lawsuits filed in state and federal courts by
paying villagers and funding improvements to living conditions along the
project route, lawyers on both sides said Monday.

The settlement will compensate 14 anonymous villagers who first sued
Unocal in 1996, claiming it should be held liable for enforced labor,
murder and rape allegedly carried out by the Myanmar military during
construction of the $1.2 billion Yadana pipeline in the country, also
known as Burma.

"We are completely delighted and there is great satisfaction that the
matter has been resolved in this way," said Terry Collingsworth, general
counsel for the Washington, D.C.-based International Labor Rights Fund,
one of the groups representing plaintiffs.

Officials at EarthRights International, another human rights group
representing the plaintiffs, said they were "ecstatic" with the
development.

The lawsuits have been the most visible effort by human rights activists
trying to hold multinational corporations responsible in U.S. courts for
alleged abuses abroad.

As part of the pending settlement, El Segundo-based Unocal will provide
funds to improve living conditions, health care and education in the
pipeline region.

Unocal, which has denied that any human rights abuses occurred, also will
enhance its educational programs to reaffirm its commitment to human
rights, the statement said.

Further details of the settlement, which is still being negotiated, were
kept confidential.

The statement was released on behalf of Unocal's legal team and
plaintiffs' attorneys, which also included the Center for Constitutional
Rights.

The federal case relied on the obscure 1789 Alien Tort Claims Act that was
originally enacted to prosecute pirates.

The pending Unocal settlement proves the statute can be used to take
corporations to U.S. courts in cases involving allegations of "serious
human rights abuses or complicity in serious human rights abuses," said
David Weissbrodt, a University of Minnesota Law School professor and
expert on international human rights law.

The plaintiffs' case was bolstered by a separate U.S. Supreme Court
decision in June that allowed lawsuits under the act if there are alleged
violations of international law, said Connie de la Vega, a law professor
at the University of San Francisco School of Law.

"The fact that there was a ruling that these causes of action are
legitimate is what encouraged the settlement," de la Vega said.

The full panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had been scheduled
to hear arguments on the case Monday in Pasadena, but the hearing was
canceled at the request of both parties.

The federal court set a Feb. 1, 2005, deadline for both sides to file a
joint status report on whether a settlement had been finalized. The
settlement would resolve claims against Unocal that were filed in federal
and state courts.

State Treasurer Phil Angelides, who last year demanded Unocal prove it had
implemented international standards to protect workers, urged the energy
company to release details on the settlement as soon as possible.

"Because the allegations of human rights violations - which include
murder, rape, and slave labor - are so severe, nothing short of full
transparency and a full commitment to human rights by Unocal will
suffice," Angelides said in a statement.

Angelides sits on the boards of the nation's largest and third-largest
public pension funds that together hold more than 2.1 million shares of
Unocal stock.

In the state case, Superior Court Judge Victoria Gerrard Chaney earlier
this year ordered a June 2005 jury trial on the human rights abuses
allegedly committed by the Myanmar military.

Chaney previously ruled that Unocal subsidiaries that built the pipeline
should have been sued instead of the parent company under a legal doctrine
known as "alter ego." She later ruled, however, that Unocal could be held
liable under other corporate liability theories.

The military junta ruling Myanmar has been criticized by Western countries
for its poor human rights record, including the detention of pro-democracy
leader and Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.

Diane Butler, an immigration lawyer in Seattle, said the case should serve
as a warning to corporations doing business overseas.

"If there's one thing to take away here, it's that corporations need to be
mindful that they must be accountable in their overseas operations because
there are human rights groups that are watching them. The world is
watching essentially," Butler said.

On the Net:

Unocal Corp.: http://www.unocal.com/myanmar/

EarthRights International: http://www.earthrights.org/

_____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

December 14, Irrawaddy
Cease-fire talks lead to uncertainty for Karen - Wai Moe

Talks between the Karen National Union, or KNU, and the State Peace and
Development Council, or SPDC, in Rangoon have typically been exercises in
frustration.

Between April and October 2004, the KNU held peace talks with the junta
fifteen times. The only benefit to emerge for the KNU, however, was a
“gentleman’s agreement” for a cease-fire with former Prime Minister Gen
Khin Nyunt. And, although the cease-fire officially began in early 2004,
reports indicate that regime forces have attacked KNU troops on several
occasions since then.

The KNU had high expectations going into the Rangoon talks in October.
Before the talks, spokesman David Taw said: “This time we will settle the
issues of troop demarcation, complete cease-fire, and the resettlement of
internally displaced persons. This is our hope.”

Unfortunately, a number of disagreements arose during the peace talks,
according to some KNU officials. For example, the issue of internally
displaced persons, or IDPs, proved controversial.

The KNU informed junta officials of the large number of IDPs resulting
from the forced relocation strategy of the Burma Army. As of October 2004,
at least 526,000 people have been internally displaced, and currently are
either hiding or living in relocation sites.

However, junta representatives took issue with the term “internally
displaced person,” claiming that no such people exist in Karen State.
Although the KNU delegation changed their terminology, using the term
“refugee from inside Burma,” no conclusive plan for the IDPs was
formulated during the talk.

Forced relocation is by no means a new tactic of the Burma army. It has
been used as one of its main military strategies for decades. The
strategy, called “four cuts,” entails cutting off an enemy’s four main
sources of support: food, manpower, information, and transportation. To do
this, Burmese troops relocate villages, which are suspected of having
contacts with insurgents.

>From a military perspective, the relocation policy has worked well in
controlling insurgent areas, and in recent years, the number of reports of
forced relocations has skyrocketed. Unfortunately, the policy has also
resulted in terrible human rights abuses and the creation of hundreds of
thousands of IDPs.

To add to the KNU’s difficulties, a complete cease-fire has proven
elusive, in spite of the “gentleman’s agreement” reached during the
October peace talks.

In late September, three Burma Army battalions killed three Karen
villagers and one medic in the Mergui-Tavoy area in southern Burma. They
also destroyed 62 homes, five rice barns, a clinic, and a school, and
displaced more than 240 villagers. The Burma Army also attacked the
headquarters of the Karen National Liberation Army’s 203rd Battalion.

A Karen filmmaker, Saw Edward, made a documentary film, “Ceasefire,” to
document the atrocities that have continued in the Taungoo region despite
the “gentleman’s agreement”. The film, presented in Chiang Mai on Nov 16,
shows fighting between Burmese troops and Karen people hiding from battle.
In the film, a Karen teenager is killed by troops, and a Karen girl is
wounded by a landmine.

Not surprisingly, cease-fire issues were cause for heated discussion
during the KNU’s 13th congress, which was held for about three weeks in
the Burmese jungle and which culminated last week. The KNU was especially
concerned because, in the post-Khin Nyunt period, other cease-fire groups
have faced difficulties dealing with the changed regime.

The congress also saw major leadership changes: Gen Saw Bo Mya, 77,
retired from his position as the KNU’s deputy chairman for health reasons
and was replaced by the powerful commander Gen Tamla Baw, 84. Despite the
changes, KNU chairman Padoh Saw Ba Thin says the KNU will not alter its
policy towards the junta.

Meanwhile, the IDP situation remains dire. According to the Karen Refugee
Committee, there are 101,755 people living in the Mae Ramu, Mae Khong Kha,
Mae La, Ban Dong Yang, Umpeim Mai, and Noh Po refugee camps along the
Thai-Burma border, as well as at least 526,000 IDPs hiding in the jungle.
Their fate rests upon the decisions of the KNU leadership and its approach
to future talks with the junta.

_____________________________________
PRESS RELEASE

December 14, Christian Solidarity Worldwide
Burmese regime carrying out genocide claims new report

A joint delegation from Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) and the
Humanitarian Aid Relief Trust (HART) has returned from a visit to ethnic
groups on the Thai-Burmese border with evidence of a campaign of genocide
perpetrated by the ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC).

The report includes first-hand testimonies of forced labour from new Karen
and Karenni refugees, as well as details of the situation facing IDPs. It
concludes with a brief analysis of the case for genocide and crimes
against humanity, and also covers the plight of the Shan.

Hundreds of thousands of Karen, Karenni and Shan continue to face a
humanitarian crisis in eastern Burma. Internally Displaced People in the
jungles are denied access to adequate medical care, food and shelter, they
face the threat of forced labour, forced relocation, widespread rape,
torture and the destruction of villages, crops, rice barns and livestock.

The delegation, which included members of CSW UK, Australia and New
Zealand, visited Karen Internally Displaced People (IDPs) in two sites
inside Burma, as well as Karen and Karenni refugees in Thailand. IDPs in
one village only had enough food for a few more days, and were facing an
uncertain future. "We want to see the heart of the Burmese government
change so we can live in peace," the camp leader told the team. "We hope
to return to our villages but we don't know when. While we are together in
this camp, we really need provision, especially food and medicine."

Reports continue to emerge of fresh assaults on Karen and Karenni villages
by the Burma Army. An estimated 4,781 Karen people have been displaced in
recent weeks in the Shwygn/Hsaw Htee area of Naunglybin District, Karen
State, and are hiding in the jungle, unable to move during the day.

There are an estimated one million people internally displaced in Burma.
The Thailand-based Burma Border Consortium estimates at least 526,000
people have been displaced in Karen, Karenni and Shan areas, with 157,000
of these displaced in the past two years. Since 2002, at least 240
villages have been completely destroyed, relocated or abandoned, and a
total of 2,500 villages in eastern Burma have been destroyed since 1996.

The delegation, which included Baroness Cox, Chief Executive of HART and
Honorary President of CSW-UK, met leaders of the Shan, Karen and Karenni
resistance forces. The Shan people face a particularly severe crisis, with
300,000 internally displaced and at least 200,000 living illegally in
Thailand. Unlike the Karen and Karenni, the Shan have been denied refugee
camps in Thailand. Instead, those who flee persecution find sanctuary
either illegally in Thailand, or in IDP camps in Shan state, Burma.

"We are in need of material and moral help. We need to make our plight
known to the rest of the world," one Shan leader said. "The situation in
Shan state is no different from Iraq with regards to the number of
casualties, but the difference is that there are no reporters or observers
in Shan State. Battles erupt on a daily basis."

Baroness Cox, who has visited the region many times, called on the
international community to investigate claims of genocide and crimes
against humanity, and to increase pressure on Burma's ruling junta.

She said: "Every time we visit the Karen, Karenni and Shan, we find
mounting evidence of gross violations of human rights which we believe may
amount to genocide, crimes against humanity and violations of the Geneva
Conventions. We urge the British Government, the European Union and the
United Nations to recognise the severity of the situation and take
appropriate action. We also appeal to the Association of South-East Asian
Nations [ASEAN] to suspend Burma's membership of the organisation until
significant progress is made towards a transition to a federal democracy
and an improvement in human rights. We call for free and open access to
all areas of Burma for international humanitarian aid groups and human
rights monitors."

For further information, pictures, and a copy of the report, please
contact Richard Chilvers, Communications Manager at CSW, on (+44) (0) 208
329 0045 or email richard.chilvers at csw.org.uk
mailto:richard.chilvers at csw.org.uk Children's drawings depicting the
horrors they have personally witnessed are available upon request.