BurmaNet News, May 20, 2005

[Editor]

May 20, 2005 Issue # 2723

CORRECTION: Yesterday’s BurmaNet falsely identified John Macgregor as the
author of the Bangkok Post editorial, “Burma trivialises terrorist
attacks” published May 19, 2005. Mr. Macgregor did not write this
editorial, nor has he ever written for the Bangkok Post, under his byline
or any other.

However, he did write the International Herald Tribune article (for which
he was not credited), also published in yesterday’s BurmaNet, entitled “A
witness's plea to end Myanmar abuse.” BurmaNet’s editors will take care
not to see this mistake repeated.


INSIDE BURMA
DVB: Su Su Nway’s case continues in Rangoon Kawmoo Township
DVB: All change: Burmese junta reshuffles officers again
AFP: Myanmar postpones international trade fair after bomb blasts

ON THE BORDER
Kao Wao News Group: Border closure at Three Pagodas Pass
SHAN: Hundreds fleeing from hot spot township
Bangkok Post: Salween dam idea revived again with Burma

HEALTH / AIDS
Mizzima: Where the victim turns activist

REGIONAL
Irrawaddy: Operation to trace Burmese tsunami victims underway
Xinhua News Agency: 14 trafficked Myanmar people rescued in Thailand

PRESS RELEASE
UNPO: UNPO urges Asian democracies to oppose Burma's chairmanship of ASEAN
for 2006

______________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

May 19, Democratic Voice of Burma
Su Nway’s case continues in Rangoon Kawmoo Township

The hearing on the case Su Su Nway who successfully sued her local village
authorities for forced labour practice continued on 18 May at Kawmoo
Township court in Rangoon Division.

After suffering a humiliating defeat in the forced labour case, Htan
Manaing village authority members took revenge on Su Su Mway by accusing
her of “besmearing their reputation” and allegedly swearing at them.

The elected representative (MP) of Kawmoo, Myamngmya Ba Swe told DVB that
witnesses from both sides were cross-examined at the court and the hearing
will finish soon.

He added that Su Su Nway could either be fined, or released without
sentence or imprisoned up to three years if the court decides to punish
her for the “crime” she never committed.

Su Su Nway told DVB that the authorities will do everything to ruin her
life when she sued them for subjecting the villagers to forced labour
practice. The court will decide on 27 May whether it is going to accept
the accusation of the authorities or not.

____________________________________

May 19, Democratic Voice of Burma
All change: Burmese junta reshuffles officers again

Burma’s military junta, State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) has
made more changes within its army and appointed at least five officers
above the rank of brigadier generals as ambassadors.

Reports of the reshuffle emerged after many Burmese diplomats posted to
the European Union and USA, who were close to the ousted “Prime Minister”
Gen Khin Nyunt, were removed from their positions.

More than 10 officers above the rank of lieutenant colonel were also
transferred to the junta’s Foreign Office. The promotions of officers from
combat forces to diplomatic service seem to be prompted by the defection
of its senior diplomat Aung Linn Htut, former intelligence officer in
Washington, according to observers.

At the same time, there have been some changes for the positions of
brigade and tactical commanders, and more changes could follow for the
positions from the rank of general to lieutenant, according to army
experts.

“For example, the commander of Military Operations Command (MOC) – 7,
Brig-Gen Myo Lwin, MOC-9 commander, Brig-Gen Myint Aung, MOC-19 commander,
Brig-Gen Ye Win and Brig-Gen Win Myint from Thandaung combat forces were
appointed ambassadors,” U Htay Aung, an exiled Burmese army expert told
DVB. “And Brig-Gen Hla Myint was appointed the head of Burmese Red Cross.”
Htay Aung added that the army tended to transfer its “untrustworthy”
officers to civilian positions as a way of sidelining them.

“If they appoint the commanders as military attachés and diplomats, and
send them to faraway countries, this virtually means exile for them,” he
said. The appointments of combat officers as diplomats could damage the
junta’s diplomatic services, but the junta has been sending its officers
as diplomats in the past and there could be more changes ahead, Htay Aung
warned.

“There are many cabinet ministers within the junta and army commanders who
still support Gen Khin Nyunt. We think that the junta is likely to remove
and clean away all those elements.”

____________________________________

May 20, Agence France Presse
Myanmar postpones international trade fair after bomb blasts

Military-ruled Myanmar has indefinitely postponed an international trade
fair after a series of deadly bomb blasts in Yangon, senior officials and
trade representatives said Friday.

"The Yangon International Trade Fair 2005, which was to be held May 25-29
at Myanmar Convention Centre... is postponed indefinitely," the ministry
of commerce said in a statement.

It did not provide a reason for the decision or a new date for the fair
but the event's co-sponsor, the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of
Commerce and Industry (UMFCCI), said it was partly due to bad weather and
security needed to be beefed up.

"We are trying to resume as soon as possible," UMFCCI general secretary
Sein Win Hlaing told AFP.

"We also have more time to prepare our financial situation to hold a trade
fair, and for public security," Sein Win Hlaing added.

More than 100 local and 30 foreign companies had planned to participate in
the event.

The postponement comes after at least 19 people were killed and 150 others
injured when a series of blasts rocked the capital on May 7. The
explosions hit three separate locations, including a different Yangon
convention hall where a Thai trade fair was taking place.

Myanmar's junta has blamed the attacks on an unlikely alliance of ethnic
rebel groups, pro-democracy organisations and student groups, who have
denied involvement.

It also insinuated the US Central Intelligence Agency as well as Thailand
were involved in training the attackers and providing the explosives,
accusations that have been rejected.

Yangon has been on heightened alert in the aftermath of the explosions.

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

May 20, Kao Wao News Group
Border closure at Three Pagodas Pass

Sangkhalaburi: In the early morning at around 6:00 a.m. May 20, the border
between Burma and Thailand at Three Pagodas Pass opposite Kanchanaburi was
closed by the Burmese authorities with only pedestrian traffic being
allowed to cross over.

“We don’t know the reason for the closure,” said a Mon resident on the
Thai side Mr. Nai Sak.  All vehicles including motorcycles were being
prevented from crossing over by the local State Peace and Development
Council (SPDC) and only people are allowed to walk across the border, Sak
added.  The order to close the border is probably from a high ranking
general for there is no other reason here to close the border.

Another Three Pagodas Pass town resident said that vehicles are not
allowed to cross the border because some are carrying furniture into
Thailand to be sold.  The SPDC wants to stop vehicles from carrying
furniture into Thailand.  “How are we to do business if they (SPDC) close
the border all the time?” said a Thai business woman who exports goods to
Burma.

The SPDC’s Karen State Township authority came here last February to
discuss ways to stop furniture from being exported into neighboring
Thailand.

_____________________________________

May 20, Shan Herald Agency for News
Hundreds fleeing from hot spot township

Some 500 people have abandoned their homes and fields in Southern Shan
State's Laikha township to Thailand following the Burma Army's sweeping
crackdown on supporters of the "Interim Shan Government' formed in exile
on 25 March, reports King Cobra from the border:

Some 250 people have arrived within the last week and at least another 250
are still on their way to the border, according to Shan relief workers in
Fang, 150 km north of Chiangmai. "The average of arrivals until April is
about 700", the source whose job is to keep track of Shan refugees coming
to the districts of Fang, Chaiprakarn and Mae Ai told S.H.A.N.. "This
month, we are expecting more than a thousand, mostly from Laikha."

Laikha, 79 miles (126 km) northeast of Taunggyi, plunged into turmoil
following reports that the populace had held rallies in support of the
"Interim Shan Government" led by Sao Surkhanpha, 67, son of Sao Shwe
Thaike, the first president of the Union of Burma (1948 - 1952) and his
declaration of Independence on 17 April.

According to the arrivals, the Burma Army column, made up of troops from
Laikha - based Infantry Battalion 64 and Light Infantry Battalion 515,
surrounded the village of Wanpang, Wanheng tract, on 4 May and rounded up
Rev Tejinda, the village abbot, and other elders. "The temple was razed to
the ground before they left with the detainees," said a monk who was among
the refugees.

The abbot and several others were then forced to speak at rallies held by
the authorities in condemnation of the Interim Shan Government and the
resistance in general, first in Laikha on 8 May and later in other
townships. Other villagers meanwhile were forced to attend the rallies.

"We were unhappy to hear on our return that supporters of the Shan
Government were furious over our participation in the rallies, despite the
fact that we had attended them under duress," said a 41-year old source,
who had been serving as a village headman before his abrupt departure with
his family. "So we decided we had had enough of being the dyke between two
buffaloes' (Shan expression meaning being caught in the cross fire)
locking horns with each other and left."

So far no reprisals from the pro-Shan government group have been reported
except for one incident when a village elder was kicked by a supporter for
joining the rallies. "The poor man had to be carried back home on a
bullock cart as he was not able to walk anymore," said a witness, who
declined to name the perpetrator.

According to border-based Shan Human Rights Foundation, more than 95,000
Shans have arrived in the Fang area alone since 1996, when the Burma Army
launched a massive forced relocation campaign that displaced more than
300,000 people in 11 townships. In Laikha alone, more than 40,000 were
dislodged of which at least 58 were recorded extrajudicially killed.

Laikha is also where the Shan State Army's 758th Brigade, commanded by
Lt-Col Moengzuen, is active. The 758th had, on 25 April, announced its
support for the Interim Shan Government. Col Yawdserk, leader of the SSA,
is yet to make any public comment on his erstwhile commander's turnabout.

_____________________________________

May 20, Bangkok Post
Salween dam idea revived again with Burma

A decade-old proposal for Thailand and Burma to co-invest in a massive
hydroelectric development project on the Salween River Basin is being
revived again.

Energy Minister Viset Choopiban said his officials would sign an agreement
on May 30 with their Burmese counterparts at the Ministry of Electric
Power to conduct a feasibility study on the multi-billion-baht venture.

The project entails developing dams on part of the 2,400-kilometre river
that flows from China through Burma and into the Gulf of Martaban. Burma
plans to use electricity generated from the project for local needs and to
export the remainder to Thailand.
"Five hydropower dams can be built on this single river with a combined
capacity of 15,000 Megawatts," Mr Viset said.

The most recent agreement between Thailand and Burma, in April last year,
proposed developing four dams on the Salween, with one having a capacity
of 5,600 MW and the other three between 600 and 900 MW each.

It was the latest in a series of proposals dating back to 1994 when the
countries signed their first memorandum of understanding for Thailand to
purchase up to 1,500 MW of power from four dams to be built on rivers in
Burma.

The new agreement calls for the Electricity Generating Authority of
Thailand (Egat) and Burma's Electricity Authority to jointly study in
detail the exact locations for hydroelectric dams and the appropriate
generating capacity of each.

The study will also identify sites that will be most appropriate for dam
construction and least likely to attract protests from conservationists.

Proponents say that since hydroelectric dams are the cheapest method of
generating power, their construction would spur competition in the
electricity supply industry by forcing providers of electricity generated
from fuel sources to be more efficient.

Mr Viset said he was not concerned about potential risks tied to investing
with Burma, saying the two countries has co-operated closely in other
energy-related ventures such as extracting natural gas from the Yadana and
Yetagun fields.

The construction of the dams would take seven to eight years to complete.

Thailand, in the meantime, needs to secure other sources of energy for
generating electricity to replace natural gas. One option is coal, which
benefits now from more sophisticated technology that is capable of
eradicating sulphur and reducing the impact on the environment.

A ministry source said the projects were not expected to be eligible for
loans from international financial institutions, particularly the World
Bank or Asian Development Bank, given their refusal to support any
ventures involving Burma as long as it is under military rule.

Besides on-and-off plans to exploit the Salween for electricity by
Thailand and Burma, the Chinese government has announced its intention to
construct at least 13 dams on the Upper Salween in Yunnan province.

Energy expert Piyasvati Amranand said that although the investment needed
for the Salween project was low, the development would take time and would
be opposed by conservationists and non-governmental organisations.

In the short term, he said, Thailand should look for other sources of fuel
for generating electricity and reduce its reliance on natural gas, adding
that coal remained the best alternative.

_____________________________________
HEALTH / AIDS

May 20, Mizzima
Where the victim turns activist

Guwahati: While the fear of social stigma has kept thousands of HIV/AIDS
victims away from public glare, a brave woman of the Burma bordering
North-East India, herself carrying the dreaded virus, has come to the
forefront to launch an awareness campaign.

Coming out in the public eyes, the Assamese lady has established herself
as a crusader against HIV and AIDS, in an untiring effort to ensure that
no one else fell a prey to the humanly transmitted virus as she did, when
she became the first such victim in the North-East.

Meet Jahnabi Goswami, a victim of circumstances, who was married to a
young businessman at the age of 18 and turned to a HIV positive patient at
20. Today Jahnabi is a woman, who society loves to hate. But she is
determined to carry on her activities till reaching the final goal.

Approaching 30, Jahnabi has already lost her husband (at his age 32), who
in fact, carried the virus for her.  Her two-year-old daughter also
succumbed to the complications caused by the virus that was transmitted to
her by Jahnabi.

Jahnabi is one of around 100,000 HIV-positive patients living in
North-East India. A recent US study that predicted around 20-25 million
Indians to be HIV-infected by 2010, has inspired the United Nations to ask
the Indian Government to take swift and decisive action to prevent AIDS
from being epidemic.

With an adult HIV infection rate of about 1.2 per cent, the phenomenon is
also alarming in Burma, the bordering country. The UN has warned the
military rulers to take immediate action. According to UNICEF, Burma has
been maintaining the highest HIV infection rate in Asia. "Every year in
Myanmar (Burma), at least 10,000 HIV-positive women become pregnant,
giving birth to at least 3,000 to 4,000 children who are infected with
HIV," UNICEF's representative Carroll Long said in a recent statement.

A documentary based on Jahnabi's real life turmoil and agony has been
produced by a Kolkata-based charitable organisation, Sonata Foundation.
Directed by Saswati Bandopadhyay, the 27 minute docu-feature, titled "A
Day With Jahnabi", was premiered at Nandan in Kolkata. Jahnabi now attends
lectures, demonstrations and seminars, organised in different parts of the
country.

Revealing her own story, Jahnabi tries to boost the morale of the affected
people and also enlightens the mass about the prevention of AIDS. "Till my
last breath, I will continue my awareness drive campaign," said Jahnabi,
who is living under constant medication. She was recently in Japan, where
she had undergone training for enhancing her creative exercise to promote
the morale of the HIV positive people.

Today Jahnabi proposes, "Go for blood test before marriages. It is more
important than matching the Kundalis (Horoscope) for the prospective bride
and grooms." The soft-spoken lady narrates her pathetic story. Jahnabi was
a simple girl chosen as bride for a businessman in Guwahati. It was the
winter of 1994, when Jahnabi left her paternal house as a newly-wed bride
to start conjugal life. But the destiny had a different script for her.

It was like a bolt from the blue for Jahnabi, when her husband died in
1996 aftersuffering from prolonged "unknown" diseases. There were even
more sufferings waiting for her. After her husband's death, she was thrown
out of the in-laws' house and Jahnabi had to take shelter in her father's
house.

Without losing heart, she fought back and made her in-laws' family return
all her belongings and daughter, Kasturika. But meanwhile, her daughter,
who was infected by HIV, died in 1998. Still not a full-blown AIDS
patient, Jahnabi has a special appeal for one and all, "As I am living HIV
Positive virus for the last 10 years, l know how cruel the society is to
us. But I declared my physical status with an aim to help the hundreds of
thousands sufferers of the killer virus to come forward fighting the
menace and also make the general people aware of the situation. However, I
want to live a life with dignity and I argue the same for all those
victims."

_____________________________________
REGIONAL

May 20, Irrawaddy
Operation to trace Burmese tsunami victims underway

An operation is under way to trace missing Burmese tsunami victims in
Thailand through a process of DNA matching at a special center in Phuket,
Thailand.

The program went into action after the Phuket-based Thai Tsunami Victim
Identification’s Information Management Center approved the proposal late
last month. A working group has been formed by the Thai Action Committee
for Democracy in Burma and the Law Society of Thailand, said Nassir
Achwarin, coordinator of the TACDB.

The program aims to assist migrants’ relatives in their search for family
members and help with such tasks as filling out lengthy application forms
in Thai and English, making travel arrangements and forwarding information
to the Phuket center, where DNA matching will take place.

“We have now 52 cases [submitted by relatives of Burmese victims],” said
Nassir.

He added that relatives of victims will be able to find their loved ones
and, after the initial identification process, the working group will seek
compensation for Burmese victims from the Thai Labor Ministry. The task
has been made more difficult, however, because of the migrants’ lack of
knowledge about the process and security related problems.

“They [the Burmese migrants] are difficult to locate because most of them
scattered after the tsunami struck,” said Ko Htwe, a Burmese social worker
and member of the TACDB working group in Nam Khem, Phang Nga Province.

A Burmese grassroots group, the Human Rights Education Institute of Burma,
estimated earlier this year that between 700 and 1,000 migrants had died
in the catastrophe. An estimated 30,000 Burmese migrant workers had been
registered with the Thai government in the tsunami-affected area,
according to the Thai Labor Ministry.

_____________________________________

May 20, Xinhua News Agency
14 trafficked Myanmar people rescued in Thailand

Some 14 people trafficked from Myanmar were rescued from their locked
custody in central Thailand during a police crackdown on human trafficking
on Thursday.

Fourteen people of Myanmar nationality, 11 men and three women, were found
locked inside a house in the central province of Suphanburi, the state-run
Thai News Agency reported on Friday.

They appeared starved and thirsty when they were found by police, who
provided them with food and water later.

The Thai couple who resided at the house were arrested.

They confessed to have taken illegal immigrants to work in Thailand.

They also admitted having sold male immigrants to business owners for
5,000 baht (about 125 US dollars) each and females to entertainment
businesses for between 10,000-15,000 baht (250-375 dollars) each.

The couple said they had transferred 70 illegal immigrants to other places
in Thailand just hours before the police raided the house.

_____________________________________
PRESS RELEASE

May 19, Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organisation
UNPO urges Asian democracies to oppose Burma's chairmanship of ASEAN for 2006

Democratic nations in Asia must oppose the appointment of Burma as chair
of the Association of South East Asian Nations in 2006, a group of leaders
of human rights and pro democracy organizations from more than 20
countries urged today.

The group issued its appeal in a letter to the Prime Ministers of
Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, countries that members of the
Community of Democracies (COD) and have committed themselves to uphold
democratic practices and human rights since 2000, when the COD was
launched in Warsaw, Poland.

The COD unites over 100 democratically elected governments and countries
in transition to democracy. It seeks to improve cooperation among
democratic states in global and regional institutions, coordinate efforts
to deepen respect for human rights and democracy, and support emerging
democracies.

The letter, drafted by the Transnational Radical Party, together with the
Democracy Coalition Project and Freedom House, states that “Granting the
chairmanship of ASEAN to Burma would be an unjust reward for a Government
that throughout its 8 years of ASEAN membership, has repeatedly failed to
fulfill its promises to open its political system. It has lost the trust
of the international community, including the United Nations, its ASEAN
neighbors and its own citizens.”

“This appeal reflects growing worldwide concern over the profound
deterioration of democracy and human rights in Burma since a military
junta subverted the democratic process in 1990 and began its brutal reign”
said Sergio Stanzani, President of the Transnational Radical Party.

The letter points out the ongoing detention of Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of
the National League for Democracy and Nobel Peace Prize winner, and
appeals to the COD to demonstrate solidarity with her and to isolate the
Burmese government. In June 2003, the COD Convening Group issued a
statement deploring violent government attacks against Aung San Suu Kyi
and other democratic political leaders and called for their immediate
release and a prompt return to democracy and respect for fundamental human
rights.

”Years of pursuing constructive dialogue with the Burmese regime has not
led to a relaxation of its anti-democratic policies or its severe
repression of the political opposition,” said Ted Piccone, Executive
Director of the Democracy Coalition Project.

“It is time for the member states of the Community of Democracies to honor
and answer the personal appeal made by Aung San Su Kyi in Warsaw to
“please use your freedom to promote ours,” said Freedom House Executive
Director Jennifer Windsor. “It’s time for a wide circle of democracies to
work collectively to prevent Burma from chairing ASEAN.”