BurmaNet News April 20, 2005

[Editor]

April 20, 2005 Issue # 2701

INSIDE BURMA
Irrawaddy: Junta blasts Shan independence; attacks on Shan continue

ON THE BORDER
Bangkok Post: PM wants farm projects in Burma to continue
Bangkok Post: Drug kingpin moves into porno business

ASEAN
AFP: Philippine Senate passes resolution against Myanmar's ASEAN chairmanship

REGIONAL
Bangkok Post: Alien survivors of tsunami in need of more state assistance

INTERNATIONAL
Thai Press Reports: US expected to pressure Thailand over Myanmar
Deutsche Presse-Agentur: New Zealand rules out trade sanctions on Myanmar
AFP: Europe seriously concerned about Myanmar: Danish PM
Reuters: Belgium to reopen rights probe on Total in Myanmar

OPINION / OTHER
Irrawaddy: Shan independence declaration is nothing new

PRESS RELEASE
USCB, BCUK, Altsean: 60 Days to 60th Birthday of Aung San Suu Kyi

____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

April 20, Irrawaddy
Junta blasts Shan independence; attacks on Shan continue - Kyaw Zwa Moe

Burma’s military government has strongly rejected Sunday’s Shan
independence declaration by a group of exiles, saying the move jeopardized
the country’s peace and stability.

In a statement issued Tuesday by the Ministry of Home Affairs, the junta’s
top leader, Snr-Gen Than Shwe, said “the aims and acts of the
group
.endanger the law enforcement of the Union of Myanmar [Burma],
stability of the State and peace and tranquility of the entire people.”

The Shan declaration of independence was issued by a group of exiles led
by 67-year-old Sao Surkhanpha, eldest son of Burma’s first president, Sao
Shwe Thaike. Sao Surkhanpha lives in Canada.

The group said they were declaring independence for Shan State because the
Shan people had been oppressed by the military government for years.

Some ethnic groups and the country’s main opposition party, the National
League for Democracy, joined in criticizing the move. NLD spokesman U Lwin
said the party would not accept any activity contravening its
policy—“including forming a parallel government or any secession.”

A spokeswoman of the Shan State Army-South, Nam Khur Hsen, said: “Out of
the blue, they formed a government and declared independence. We have no
idea why they did it and what they will continue to do.”

However, most observers inside and outside Burma believe that the move is
an outcome of the junta’s oppressive rule and say one of the main reasons
is the junta’s recent arrest of Shan leaders and attacks on Shan groups.

The military government arrested 10 ethnic Shan leaders in early February
on charges of planning the disintegration of the Union. Among the arrested
are Hkun Htun Oo, chairman of the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy,
and Sao Hso Ten, president of the Shan State Peace Council, which
comprises two Shan ceasefire groups.

Most of the arrested are detained in Insein prison and reportedly face a
secret trial.

Meanwhile, the United Wa State Army, a ceasefire and notorious drug group
backed by the junta, is involved in military action against the Shan State
Army in the Mong Ton area of southern Shan State, opposite Thailand’s Mae
Hong Son province.

SSA Spokeswoman Nam Khur Hsen said Wednesday fighting is continuing. She
claimed that more than 100 Wa soldiers had been killed while Shan
casualties were light. The Wa group could not be reached for comment.

Nam Khur Hsen appealed for support from the international community,
especially Thailand, in the SSA fight with the Wa. She said that any
government wanting to suppress drugs should back her group because the
UWSA is involved in drug production and trafficking.

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

April 20, Bangkok Post
PM wants farm projects in Burma to continue - Wassana Nanuam

Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra wants the national anti-drug agency to
carry on crop substitution and farm projects at Yongkha village in Burma
opposite Chiang Rai, while the agency wants to know Rangoon's stance
before spending 15 million baht more on this.

Last week, Third Army commander Lt-Gen Picharnmet Muangmanee said the
Third Army and the Doi Tung Royal Project had already halted assistance to
various development projects for ethnic Wa, including the 30-million-baht
Yongkha village development project and development of twin villages at
the border costing 20 million baht, because the minority group did not
stop producing drugs.

Pol Lt-Gen Krisna Pol-anan, secretary-general of Office of the Narcotics
Control Board, said the prime minister wanted the ONCB to continue helping
the Red Wa with farming development and crop substitution, especially
those at Yongkha village opposite Chiang Rai's Mae Fa Luang district.

''The ONCB, Third Army and Doi Tung Royal Project have already withdrawn
all our staff [from the projects] because we need the Burmese government's
confirmation that it still wants us to continue the projects,'' he said.

He said the Yongkha village project was being run by Burmese and Red Wa
staff trained by the ONCB and Doi Tung Royal Project until the Gen Maung
Aye-led Burmese government confirms its stance on the project, approved by
former Burmese prime minister Gen Khin Nyunt.

The United Nations also wanted the ONCB and Doi Tung Royal Project to
introduce farm and crop substitution projects to several areas of Laos and
Afghanistan.

Pitthaya Jinawat, director of the Northern Narcotics Control Centre, said:
''I believe the Burmese government still wants both the ONCB and Doi Tung
Royal Project to carry on the Yongkha project because we have prepared 70
million baht for it and would this year spend 15 million baht.''

An answer from Rangoon was expected during a Thai-Burmese anti-drug
meeting to be held in Pagan, Burma, on May 8-11 and the ONCB plans to run
similar projects to other areas of Burma if approved by the junta, Mr
Pitthaya added.

On the third phase of the national anti-drug war, Pol Lt-Gen Krisna said
all areas nationwide would be ''x-rayed'' again to round up drug dealers
who remained in the country and those who had returned from their hideouts
abroad.

Continued cooperation would be sought from Burma since there were still
drug production sources there, and the Red Wa was still producing drugs
and might expand drug smuggling routes to Laos, the ONCB secretary-general
said.

The ONCB recently bought four specially-equipped vehicles worth 50 million
baht each and was renting two mobile x-ray and drug test units to be
deployed to the deep South to help detect the carrying of explosives by
people.

To improve work efficiency of the Regional Police Bureau 5's drug sniffer
dog division which now had 112 dogs to serve the North, canines considered
too old or ineffectual would be discharged and replaced with new ones.

_____________________________________

April 20, Bangkok Post
Drug kingpin moves into porno business - Wassana Nanuam

Wei Hsueh Kang runs VCDs into Thailand

Drug kingpin Wei Hsueh Kang has diversified into producing pirated
pornographic VCDs near Thailand's northern border with Burma and customs
officials are now trying to block their influx.

Last month, customs officials began finding the illegal VCDs on searching
people who returned from Tachilek in Burma to Mae Sai district of Chiang
Rai.

The products included pornographic films, sexually-provocative karaoke
VCDs and pirated movies, said Chuchai Udompote, chief of the Mae Sai
Customs House.

In Tachilek, they were sold at only 10-80 baht apiece depending on
quality. Some Thai people managed to buy them in big lots for distribution
in Thai markets.

His unit had seized thousands of copies and will destroy them. Customs
officials seized only big lots to protect morals in Thailand but tended to
be lenient on ordinary Thais and foreign tourists who bought a few copies
each for personal viewing in order to maintain a good tourist atmosphere,
Mr Chuchai said.

''If we seize all pirated VCDs, we will shake the tourist atmosphere and
tourists will be irritated. If they buy a few copies each, we can be
lenient,'' he said.

He said about 1,000 tourists cross the border from Thailand to Tachilek
every day, rising to 6,000 a day during a holiday. About 80% buy pirated
VCDs in Burma so the illegal business is lucrative there.

A source said most illegal and pirated VCDs came from the multiple illegal
business network of Wei Hsueh Kang. The Burmese junta does not make a
serious effort to control production so pirated copies of Hollywood, Thai,
Chinese and Taiwanese films are rampant in Tachilek.

Meanwhile, Mr Chuchai said that after Gen Maung Aye had replaced Gen Khin
Nyunt as Burmese prime minister, the Tachilek border checkpoint banned 15
imports from Thailand including all kinds of fresh fruit, energy drinks,
alcohol, beer, cigarettes, biscuits and plastic products.

The ban cut the value of Thai exports to that region of Burma from 10
million baht to 2-3 million baht a month.

But Thai customs authorities do not impose tariffs on the import of fruits
that people under the control of the United Wa State Army grow to comply
with Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's order. He wants the Wa people to
turn away from narcotic production, Mr Chuchai said.

Also widely available at Tachilek markets were Chinese-made sex
stimulants. Customs officials always seized them from returning tourists
because the products are not approved by Thailand's Food and Drug
Administration.

Mr Chuchai said he had sought permission from the National Security
Council to extend the opening hours of the Mae Sai border checkpoint from
6.30am-6.30pm to 6.30am-10pm to stimulate border trade. He was still
awaiting a response.

_____________________________________
ASEAN

April 20, Agence France Presse
Philippine Senate passes resolution against Myanmar's ASEAN chairmanship

Manila: The Philippine Senate unanimously approved a resolution Wednesday
calling for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to strip
Myanmar of the group's chairmanship next year.

Myanmar "should not assume the chairmanship of ASEAN in 2006 unless there
has been compliance with the principles of human rights law, particularly
those which necessitate the freedom from house arrest of Aung San Suu
Kyi," the resolution said.

Nobel Peace Prize winner and democracy fighter Aung San Suu Kyi has been
in various stages of house arrest, and Myanmar's ruling junta has ignored
international calls to free her.

Myanmar is to assume the rotating chairmanship of the 10-nation ASEAN next
year. The European Union and the United States have warned they would
boycott ASEAN meetings if Myanmar was allowed to steer the grouping.

The issue has exposed divisions among ASEAN members Brunei, Cambodia,
Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand
and Vietnam.

Officials from the Philippines, Singapore and Malaysia have been urging
that Myanmar not be allowed to chair the group, but other members said
that would be turning back on ASEAN's principle of non-interference in
each other's internal problems.

Foreign ministers from the group failed to reach a consensus on the issue
during a retreat in the central Philippine island of Cebu early this
month.

They instead deferred a decision on the chairmanship until July, when they
will meet again for ministerial meetings in Laos.

_____________________________________
REGIONAL

April 20, Bangkok Post
Alien survivors of tsunami in need of more state assistance - Penchan
Charoensuthiphan

Human rights activists again called on the government yesterday to help
alien workers affected by the Dec 26 tsunami as they were still in dire
need of assistance.

Supang Chantavanit, immigration study director from the Institute of Asian
Studies, told a seminar on ''The Impacts of Tsunamis on Alien Workers'' in
Bangkok yesterday that it was estimated that the giant waves had taken the
lives of at least 1,000 workers from Laos, Burma and Cambodia, and also
left about 60,000 others without jobs. The survivors could not do without
government assistance, she said.

The ones who survived also lost their important documents in the tsunamis.
She asked the government not to arrest these people and conduct a process
to verify their identification and issue them new papers. She also urged
vocational training for the aliens.

Adisorn Kerdmongkol of the Campaign for Popular Democracy in Burma said
the alien workforce had little access to government assistance because the
government did not prioritise them in its assistance checklist. Pranom
Somwong, from the Network of Operations for Alien Labour, said the alien
workers were in an odd situation because without the presence of their
employers or job agents they could not seek state help.

Pinyo Veerasuksawasdi of Migrant Workers and Their Families said no state
agencies had so far set aside any budget to help the aliens and it was
believed that at least half the bodies left unclaimed from the disaster
were alien immigrants.

Patrawut Persalae, an expert at the Employment Department, said the Labour
Ministry's alien labour committee had sought approval recently from the
Comptroller General's Department to spend a portion of the funds raised
from the previous registration of alien labourers to help the
tsunami-affected aliens.

He said the panel had agreed that the relatives of a dead alien worker
should receive 20,000 baht, and the family of a missing alien 15,000 baht.

According to official counts, he said only nine alien workers (four in
Ranong, three in Phangnga and two in Phuket) had been killed, and 106
injured by the tsunamis, and two others still missing.

The ministry earlier gave 9,000 baht in compensation for each alien death
and the injured received free medi-care.

_____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

April 20, Thai Press Reports
US expected to pressure Thailand over Myanmar

The US Congress is expected to put pressure on Thailand for stance towards
Rangoon, treatment of refugees, The Nation reports.

Despite unprecedented goodwill in the Bush administration, Thai-US
relations could face a major storm in the coming months, if not sooner.
The US Congress will put Thailand under intense scrutiny for its policy
towards Burma, including the repatriation of Burmese refugees, and for
violations of human rights.

Juxtaposed views of Thailand will play out in the open in Washington when
Congress debates the Burma Freedom and Democracy Act, before a vote on its
renewal.

Both Republican and Democratic sources in the Congress say that the law,
which has banned all Burmese exports to the US since 2003, will be renewed
because the situation in Burma has worsened. The sources say the debate
will again focus on Thailand's support of the Rangoon regime, and Prime
Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's business interests in the pariah state will
also be questioned.

Furthermore, Thaksin's reputation and credibility in the eyes of US
lawmakers will be further diminished by the erosion of freedom of
expression in Thailand, the sources said. Last year, the Congress
authorised a special budget of US$ 1 million (Bt39.7 million) to promote
press freedom and democracy in Thailand. It was the world's first free
country to receive such assistance from the US.

On April 26, the New York-based media advocacy organisation Freedom House
will release its latest assessment of the state of Thai media. It is
expected to further downgrade the Kingdom's overall media freedom rating,
which last year ranked 88th out of more than 190 countries surveyed. The
report will do little to improve the mood of Congress regarding relations
with Thailand.

In the next three months, three prominent Asean leaders will visit
Washington to further cement their countries' ties with the US.
Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loon, Indonesia's President Susilo
Bambang Yudhoyono and Vietnam's Prime Minister Phan Van Khai are scheduled
to visit Washington before US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice makes
her first visit to Southeast Asia in July.

An administration source says relations between the US and Vietnam will be
further boosted this year with mutual agreements to promote religious
freedom in Vietnam, an issue Hanoi has previously been reluctant to
discuss. Washington also views Hanoi as an important player in Asean.
President George W Bush will also visit Hanoi later in the year.

Analysts in Washington have commented that Thaksin has not made an
official visit to Washington since his visit in June 2003, which was
upgraded to working-visit status at the last minute. Official visits
indicate levels of importance and comfort attached to US-Asean
relationships.

Senior administration officials, including US Ambassador to Thailand Ralph
Boyce, have praised Thaksin's quick and decisive response to assist
tsunami victims, allowing US humanitarian teams to set up operations at U
Tapao air base for relief efforts in the region.

But Thaksin's record of human-rights violations, especially the
extra-judicial killing of drug suspects and his handling of the southern
violence, has raised eyebrows.

A senior administration source has confirmed that Rice will visit the Lao
capital, Vientiane, to attend the Asean Regional Forum and
post-ministerial meeting in July. But it remains to be seen if she will
make a stopover in Bangkok as part of her tour.

US lawmakers from both parties are also concerned over the Thai policy of
pushing back Burmese refugees. Hundreds out of the 3,000 Burmese exiles
waiting for asylum in third countries have been forcibly transferred to
refugee camps in Ratchaburi, Kanchanaburi and Tak since the end of March.
Many who have failed to cooperate have been treated as illegal immigrants
and deported.

US lawmakers say Thaksin's strong backing of the Rangoon regime
strengthens the military dictatorship and Congress is expected to increase
pressure on Thailand to change its course.

_____________________________________

April 20, Deutsche Presse-Agentur
New Zealand rules out trade sanctions on Myanmar

Wellington: New Zealand's government on Wednesday ruled out trade
sanctions against Myanmar (Burma), saying stopping its limited exports of
milk powder would only hurt the general population.

"Withholding products needed by families for basic nutrition makes
absolutely no sense," Foreign Minister Phil Goff said.

"We would simply be punishing ordinary people in Myanmar for the sins of
their government, when they are already victims of the repressive nature
of that government."

Goff made his comments after meeting a visiting delegation of exiled
leaders, including colleagues of Nobel Peace prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi
who was placed under house arrest by the regime after winning a democratic
election in 1990.

The delegation has publicly called for sanctions and urged New Zealand
tourists to boycott Myanmar.

Goff announced that New Zealand would help victims of repression in
Myanmar by accepting 125 refugees this year.

New Zealand has applied targeted sanctions which refuse visas to the
military leaders and their families and would be an outspoken critic of
the regime as long as human rights abuses and suppression of democracy
continued, Goff said.

"New Zealand will continue to work with others to apply pressure for
change in Myanmar, although so far neither direct punitive action through
sanctions nor positive inducements to change have had any effect on the
behaviour of the military rulers."

But like most other countries including the European Union and the United
Nations itself, it would not impose economic sanctions, Goff said.

Noting controversy over Myanmar's membership of the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Goff said New Zealand would prefer the
regime opt out of its scheduled turn to chair the organisation and host
the ASEAN Regional Forum next year.

"If, however, the Forum is held in Myanmar, this will provide an
opportunity to bring unprecedented pressure on the regime, allowing
exposure and direct criticism of the Myanmar government in its own
country," he said.

_____________________________________

April 18, Agence France Presse
Europe seriously concerned about Myanmar: Danish PM

BANGKOK, April 18 (AFP) - Europe is "very much concerned" over the
political situation
in military-ruled Myanmar and wants to see tangible democratic progress
there, Danish Prime
Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen said Monday.

But the premier, on a visit to Thailand where he met his Thai counterpart
Thaksin Shinawatra,
avoided criticism of Myanmar's regional neighbours for not pressing the
junta hard enough
to reform.

Rasmussen told reporters that in talks with Thaksin, "I expressed my
concerns about the political
situation in Burma."

"In Europe we are very much concerned about this situation. And we think
real progress takes
efforts from the neighbouring countries as well," he said.

"We would very much like to see development towards democracy in Burma and
improvement
of the human rights situation," he said, adding that an important first
step should be the release
of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been detained for much of
the past decade,
and other political figures.

_____________________________________

April 14, Reuters
Belgium to reopen rights probe on Total in Myanmar

Brussels: Belgium is set to reopen an investigation into alleged crimes
against humanity committed by French oil giant Total (TOTF.PA: Quote,
Profile, Research) in Myanmar following a court ruling, the plaintiff's
lawyer said on Thursday.

The probe is the first to involve a company rather than an individual
under a controversial human rights law claiming universal jurisdiction
that has caused Belgium diplomatic grief, especially with the United
States.

A magistrate opened the investigation in 2002 after four political
refugees filed a lawsuit against Total, accusing it of supporting
Myanmar's military junta.

The refugees also sued Total Chief Executive Thierry Desmaret and another
executive of complicity in the torture and forced labour of workers who
were building a pipeline in the country, formerly known as Burma.

But the investigation was later suspended pending a court ruling on
whether a refugee had the same right as a Belgian citizen to use the law,
which empowers courts to try perpetrators of these crimes committed
anywhere in the world.

On Wednesday, the constitutional court granted that right to one of the
refugees, Aung Maw Zin.

"The examining magistrate can start where he left off," the refugee's
lawyer, Alexis Deswaef, told Reuters.

Total spokesman Philippe Gateau said the company would review the
tribunal's ruling before making a comment.

Total has previously denied funding the military in Myanmar but has said
the junta paid soldiers to protect the company's installations and
workers. The pipeline was completed in 1998.

Total and other Western multinationals have been under pressure from
activists to withdraw from Myanmar, shunned for its human rights record
and suppression of political opponents.

The United States and European Union have imposed sanctions on its
military government.

In December, U.S. oil company Unocal (UCL.N: Quote, Profile, Research)
settled two lawsuits filed by 15 villagers who accused it of ignoring
rights abuses by soldiers while the pipeline was being built.

Unocal, recently acquired by ChevronTexaco (CVX.N: Quote, Profile,
Research) and a partner of Total in the pipeline project, nevertheless
denied any responsibility. Asian companies have quickly stepped in to
replace Western firms that have withdrawn, vying for Myanmar's natural
wealth in oil and gas, timber, gems and minerals.

Belgium revised the human rights law in 2003 to make it more difficult for
foreigners to use it for politically motivated or frivolous lawsuits.

The country had suffered a diplomatic nightmare after scores of lawsuits
flooded its courts against Israeli leader Ariel Sharon and U.S. leaders.

____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

April 20, The Irrawaddy
Shan independence declaration is nothing new

Consternation at home and abroad has greeted Sunday’s declaration of an
independent Shan State by a group of elderly Shan activists in exile. Both
the Rangoon junta and the main opposition party, the National League for
Democracy, criticized the secession move made by an exile group headed by
67-year-old Sao Surkhanpha, eldest son of Burma’s first president, Sao
Shwe Thaike.

Their proclamation declared that the “Federated Shan States” had been
formed “by the will and in the name of all peoples of the Shan States.”
Its relevance, however, was put in question in Burma and abroad

Sao Surkhanpha—who now claims the title of President of the Federated Shan
States from his home in Canada—is not very well known and considered
“politically irrelevant” among exile groups. A number of ethnic parties
and armed groups joined the NLD in rejecting the idea of an independent
federation of Shan states, some of them pointing out that the independence
declaration could give the regime cause to crack down still further on
Shan dissidents.

The Rangoon government issued a statement saying that “the aims and acts
of the group led by renegade Sao Hkam Hpa (Sao Surkhanpha), son of the
late Nyaungshwe (Yawnghwe) Sawbwa Sao Shwe Thaike, its members and other
related groups and individuals endanger the law enforcement of the Union
of Myanmar (Burma), stability of the State and peace and tranquility of
the entire people.”

Some Shan analysts argued that the independence declaration was the result
of an on-going government crackdown on Shan leaders which began in
February this year. The prominent Shan leader Hkun Htun Oo and several of
his party members were arrested and some are now under house arrest. Some
Shan leaders who had planned to attend the military-sponsored National
Convention were also apprehended.

Not only the Shan are deeply frustrated with Burma’s political deadlock
and slow pace of reform. Other ethnic groups, including Burmans, are
disappointed with political developments in their country.

It should be remembered in the current discussion of the Shan exiles’
action that the right of secession has been debated, off and on, since
Burma regained its independence in 1948.

A 10-year secession clause for the Shan State was included when a
constitution was drawn up in 1947. But that right was never exercised, and
effectively disappeared when Gen Ne Win took power in 1962.

Ne Win and military leaders warned at the time that the country was in
danger of disintegration. Several Shan leaders were suppressed by the
military government and Sao Shwe Thaike and another prominent Shan leader,
Sao Kya Hseng, died in custody.

But the issues of a constitutional right to secession and of federal union
continue to dominate the country’s political elites at home and abroad.
The government, however, is understandably reluctant to disturb this
hornet’s nest.

At the recently-adjourned National Convention there was little chance for
ethnic delegates to raise questions of self-determination and the right to
secession. The military leaders make sure that the country continues to be
ruled by the men in uniform and proposals by the military government must
be given full support.

Though the independence declaration now by a group of Shan in exile does
not carry much weight and substance within mainstream politics in Burma,
it surely won’t be the last of its kind. As long as human rights and
self-determination are denied and ethnic groups continue to face
discrimination and inequality the country will remain divided.

_____________________________________
PRESS RELEASE

April 20, USCB, BCUK, Altsean
60 Days to 60th Birthday of Aung San Suu Kyi

Jointly Issued by the US Campaign for Burma, Burma Campaign UK and
Alternative ASEAN Network on Burma

Campaigners Organize Global Day of Action to Free World's Only Imprisoned
Nobel Peace Prize Recipient On Her 60th Birthday

"As long as she remains under arrest, none of us is truly free," says
South Africa's Desmond Tutu.

Effort To Free Aung San Suu Kyi Modeled on "Mandela at 70" Campaign in 1988

(Washington, DC, London and Bangkok)  Sixty days before the 60th birthday
of the world's only imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize recipient, leading
organizations and individuals working for freedom and democracy called on
individuals, organizations, and leaders around the world to take action to
free Burma's Aung San Suu Kyi.

The effort is modeled on global demonstrations and rallies in 1988 to free
former South African leader Nelson Mandela when he was still imprisoned on
Robben Island.

On her 60th birthday Aung San Suu Kyi will have spent a total of 2,523
days in detention.

"We need the world to stand tall for Aung San Suu Kyi on June 19th," said
spokespersons from the United States, Europe, and Asia.  "Just as the
world rallied to free Nelson Mandela, we must free Aung San Suu Kyi."

Said Desmond Tutu, 1984 Nobel Peace Prize recipient from South Africa, "We
call on individuals, and governments, to support publicly Aung San Suu
Kyi, on her birthday, June 19th.  I support activities that call for her
immediate and unconditional release; I applaud all human rights
campaigners who are working on her behalf, and that of her countrymen and
women.  As long as she remains under arrest, none of us is truly free."

The actions include scores of events around the world, from the USA to
European, South Africa, the Middle East, and Asia, including coordinated
demonstrations at over one dozen embassies of Burma's ruling dictator Than
Shwe on Friday, June 17th--two days before Suu Kyi's 60th birthday.  In
the United States, the US Congress will host an event dedicated to Aung
San Suu Kyi on June 16th, while organizers have planned 60 events in 25 US
states on June 19th.  Organizers of these events will "arrest" themselves
for 24 hours in their homes, to show support for Aung San Suu Kyi, who has
been held under arrest for nearly 10 of the past 15 years.

Added the organizers, "We call on current and former world
leaders--including heads of governments and the United Nations--to issue
public demands for Aung San Suu Kyi's freedom on her 60th birthday.  Use
your liberty to free her."

Since 1988, Aung San Suu Kyi has led an international campaign to end over
40 years of brutal military rule in the Southeast Asian country of Burma.
After a nationwide uprising was crushed in 1988, she led her political
party the National League for Democracy to an 82% victory in a national
election in 1990.  The ruling dictatorship refused to recognize the
results and has kept her locked for ten of the past 15 years.

In the meantime, Burma's regime has recruited up to 70,000 child soldiers
(far more than any other country in the world), instituted a nationwide
system of modern-day slavery, and imprisoned over 1,400 political
activists.

"We also call on the United Nations Security Council to end its deafening
silence.  While the Security Council dithers, Burmese people are dying.
Kofi Annan should immediately call for Burma to be placed on the Security
Council agenda."

Annan has refused numerous requests to bring Burma before the UN Security
Council.  His envoy to Burma, Razali Ismail claims that Annan does not
have the power to do so, even though such authority is clearly spelled out
in Article 99 of the UN charter, which states: "The Secretary-General may
bring to the attention of the Security Council any matter which in his
opinion may threaten the maintenance of international peace and security."

Last year, MTV organized a campaign in which 100,000 individuals emailed
Annan calling for action, while the US Senate, Australian Senate, and The
Netherlands Senate all passed resolutions and motions calling for the
Security Council to act.  Meanwhile, leading governments in the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations have been threatening to revoke
Burma's scheduled chairmanship of the organization in 2006 unless it
carries out concrete reforms.

Organizers and for more information:

United States:
US Campaign for Burma: Jeremy Woodrum or Aung Din, 202-223-0300

Europe:
Burma Campaign UK, Mark Farmaner, mark.farmaner at burmacampaign.org.uk, (44)
(0) 7941239640

Asia:
Alternative ASEAN Network on Burma, Debbie Stothard, (66) 1 686 1652