BurmaNet News, July 13, 2005

[Editor]

July 13, 2005 Issue # 2759


INSIDE BURMA
AP: Myanmar women's group urges junta to send Aung San Suu Kyi back to UK
Chan Mon: Mon literature and culture association leader, NLD members arrested

ON THE BORDER
Irrawaddy: Border closing blamed on sneaky business tactics

HEALTH / AIDS
Mizzima: HIV/AIDs stalks Burmese migrant workers

BUSINESS / FINANCE
International Oil Daily: Myanmar mulls gas export schemes

ASEAN
The Jakarta Post: ASEAN's problem with Myanmar

INTERNATIONAL
Irrawaddy: Aung Hlaing Win case goes to UN
Irrawaddy: Burmese exiles mount anti-Total protests worldwide
Bangkok Post: PM 'will see light' on Burma: Thaksin will agree to US demands

OPINION / OTHER
Nation: Time for ASEAN to stop dithering


____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

July 13, Associated Press
Myanmar women's group urges junta to send Aung San Suu Kyi back to UK

A women's group in Myanmar linked to the ruling junta has accused
pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi of being a troublemaker and urged
that she be deported to England, according to a report in a state-run
newspaper.

Suu Kyi, the head of the opposition National League for Democracy party,
has been detained at her home in Yangon since May 2003, after a
pro-government mob attacked her entourage as she made a political tour in
northern Myanmar. She has not been charged with any crime.

"Daw Suu Kyi should not be released," Aye Theint Theint Tun, a
representative of the Myanmar Women's Affairs Federation, was quoted as
saying in the Myanma Ahlin daily on Tuesday, using an honorific title for
the pro-democracy leader. "If she is placed under house arrest, some
western nations demand her freedom. Therefore, Daw Suu Kyi should be sent
back to England to prevent problems within the country and to satisfy the
wishes of the West."

Newspapers and mass organizations such as the women's federation are under
the tight control of the ruling military, and the publication of such
remarks can be taken as a reflection of official opinion.

Nobel laureate Suu Kyi returned to Myanmar from her home in England in
early 1988 to look after her ailing mother. She has not left Myanmar
since.

Her current detention is the third time since 1989 that she has been
confined to her residence for an extended period. Her party vice chairman,
Tin Oo, was also detained.

Leaders of many Western nations, as well as U.N Secretary-General Kofi
Annan, have repeatedly called for her release.

Aye Theint Theint Tun made her remarks at a ceremony to mark Myanmar
Women's Day on July 3 in Myanmar's southern Tanintharyi division.

"Daw Suu Kyi, born of Myanmar parents, does not join hands with the people
for national development but is pushing the nation to fall into
servitude," said Aye Theint Theint Tun. "Since her arrival to Myanmar, she
has done nothing good for the country."

Another member of the women's alliance said Suu Kyi needed to be kept in
detention to maintain stability in the country.

The United States and other Western nations maintain political and
economic sanctions against Myanmar because of the junta's poor human
rights record and its failure to hand over power to a democratically
elected government. The NLD was the landslide victor of a 1990 general
election, but wasn't allowed by the military to take power.

The Myanmar Women's Affairs Federation, the central organization of
various women's associations in the country, claims 1.5 million members.

____________________________________

July 12, Chan Mon, IMNA
Mon literature and culture association leader, NLD members arrested

The chairman of a Township Mon Literature Culture Committee (MLCC) in Mon
state was arrested by a local Burmese army commander on July 8, according
to committee members.

Former Mon National Democratic Front (MNDF) senior leader Nai Sein Aye,
currently the MLCC chairman, was detained at the Thanpyuzayat town police
station by No. 4 Military Training School commander Col. Khin Maung Zee,
who is based in Wae-kali village ln Thanpyuzayat.

No. 4 Military Training School is under the command of  the South-East
Military Command in Moulmein, the capital of Mon State.

The 55-year-old MLCC leader was arrested after the commander called him
for a meeting and detained him in the police station without a proper
trial. The commander gave no reason for the arrest.

Nai Sein Aye was very active in community activities and his committee was
denied registration to legally perform committee activities by the local
township authorities, according to a committee member who was a close
friend of the detained leader.

When the registration was denied, committee members were forced to sign a
document promising they would not conduct any activities, a member who
signed the document said.

Although the military government recently released 200 prisoners including
National League for Democracy (NLD) members, it has still been arresting
opposition NLD members in Pegu town east of Rangoon,.

“NLD members in Pegu town U Win Myint and his wife, and U Hla Myint Than,
a former high school teacher, were arrested,” said a friend of U Win
Myint.

An NLD headquarters source said he received the arrest report on U Win
Myint and other NLD members, who were arrested on July 4 , said the
source, who did did not confirm details on their trials.

U Win Myint’s friends claimed that NLD youths were also arrested in Pegu,
capital of Pegu Division.

The NLD source did not clarify why U Win Myint was arrested, but said he
only heard that  uthorities called the leader to a meeting and immediately
detained him.

The SPDC authorities arrested nine people in all, including NLD members.
Three of those arrested were released on July 6, according to the friend
of U Win Myint.

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

July 13, Irrawaddy
Border closing blamed on sneaky business tactics – Shah Paung

Thailand’s sudden closure of the border crossing for traffic to and from
Burma at the Three Pagodas Pass in Kanchanaburi province has led to food
shortages and rising unemployment, according to one furniture factory
owner.

Thai authorities are thought to have closed the border in late May because
of suspicions that factory owners were illegally cutting down trees on the
Thai side of the border, smuggling them into Burma and using them to make
furniture that was then sold in Thailand.

While the official reason for the closure remains unconfirmed, the
consequences are clear. “People here cannot run their furniture factories
and have to shut down,” said Daw Kyu, a factory owner in the Burmese
border town Peyathosu, whose business depends on furniture exports to
Thailand.

Factory closures have led to growing unemployment in the township, which
some suggest also explains a rise in incidents of petty crime.

Since the border closure, and because of ongoing suspicions of illegal
logging, factories in Peyathosu have not been able to sell any furniture
or lacquerware in Thailand. Those who have tried to sneak items across the
border for sale have been arrested and their goods seized. Factories have
also been prohibited from selling items manufactured prior to the border
closure.

Peyathosu Township has more than 80 furniture factories, and the majority
of residents make their living from the sale of timber, furniture and
lacquerware.

____________________________________
HEALTH / AIDS

July 11, Mizzima News
HIV/AIDs stalks Burmese migrant workers – Marwaan Macan-Markar

It was fear that drove Ma Ne from her home in Burma's Mon state to this
port town famous for its seafood processing factories. She wanted to
escape the forced labour policy of the Burmese military regime.

Yet that flight led to a job that brought with it respiratory problems and
skin diseases for this 33-year-old who is among thousands of Burmese
migrant workers in this town, 28 kms south of Bangkok, labouring in a dank
atmosphere that reeks of fish and prawns.

''We start very early, sometimes at dawn,'' she said as she cleaned a
basket-load of small fish destined to be transformed into fish balls and
fish cake at a processing plant. '''I know about those health problems,
but can't stop.''

However such health hazards that stalk Ma Ne, who earns 145 baht (3.50
dollars) a day cleaning shrimp and fish, appear benign compared to a more
deadly disease threatening the Burmese migrant worker community here -
HIV/AIDS.

Few among them know just how worrying this threat is as Aung Min, a 43-
year-old Mon migrant who has been living here for the past 13 years. ''I
know of 300 migrant workers having died from AIDS in recent years,'' he
said, thoughtfully. ''Some who are very ill with HIV go back to Burma.
Last year there were over 30 of these.''

According to Caroline Naw, a nurse from Burma's Karen state, the fate of
migrant workers in this area could worsen because ''almost half of those I
have counselled know little about how HIV is spread.''

Others echo similar concern about the increasingly vulnerability of
Thailand's migrant communities are to the virus. It is a reality made
worse by the fact that there are ''few government sponsored HIV/AIDS
prevention or care activities targeting migrant populations,'' states the
brochure of a programme run by an alliance of non-governmental
organisations (NGOs) championing the cause of migrant workers.

''Various factors related to their occupation and migrant status, create
barriers in accessing health services or information, increasing their and
their partners' vulnerability to HIV/AIDS,'' states a report by the Raks
Thai Foundation (RTF), a Bangkok-based NGO.

Many who get infected with HIV will ''not know, and may infect others they
are in sexual contact with,'' adds the report, which was released ahead of
the 15th International AIDS Conference in Bangkok last July.

In fact, a study by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
reflects how high HIV prevalence rates among migrant women are when
compared to Thai women. In Samut Sakhon, there was a 4.3 percent HIV
prevalence rate among pregnant migrant workers tested, as opposed to two
percent among Thai pregnant women according to the study.

Thailand has close to 670,000 people living with HIV in a population of 64
million. Over 300,000 people have died from AIDS-related causes since the
pandemic was first detected here in the 1980s.

At the same time, there are over 1.2 million migrant workers in this
South-east Asian country, the majority of whom, over 900,000, are from
Burma. Migrant workers from Cambodia and Laos make up for the rest.

And Samut Sakhon is in the province that has one of the largest
concentrations of migrant workers - over 130,000 registered workers. Yet
it is a figure that could be much higher, even nearing 200,000, if
unregistered workers and their families are accounted for, say volunteers
who work with the migrants.

The numbers pose a daunting challenge to RTF, which runs five drop-in
centres here, disseminates reader-friendly pamphlets and books about the
importance of condom use and also conducts visits to factories and homes
to reach the migrant workers.

It is an initiative that is part of a broader effort to help as many
migrant workers as possible under this programme, Prevention of HIV/AIDS
Among Migrant Workers in Thailand (PHAMIT), that receives funds from the
Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria.

PHAMIT's aims to improve reproductive health practices among migrant
workers, make the Thai public health system more accessible to them, help
strengthen migrant community networks and secure the right to health and
treatment.

''The money we received has helped to dramatically increase coverage of
those who need help,'' Promboon Panitchpakdi, RTF's executive director,
told IPS. ''We now work in 22 provinces where migrant workers are present
compared to just six to seven provinces before.''

The NGOs involved in PHAMIT have set their sights on reaching out to
nearly 400,000 migrant workers by 2008, when this five-year Global Fund
programme ends.

''This intervention is important because it ensures long-term change,''
says Promboon. ''The scale of this project will make it difficult for the
Thai government to deny the HIV problems faced by migrant workers.''

Such grassroots focus was one of the missions of the Global Fund, which
was backed by world leaders at the June 2001 U.N. General Assembly session
on HIV/AIDS. It sought to give money with the aim of being a
'democracy-builder,' by getting more civic-group and community-group
involvement in AIDS prevention programmes.

Aung Min, typifies the bottom-up involvement. The deaths of 300 migrant
workers from AIDS has only made him more resolute in helping raise
awareness among vulnerable migrants about the dangers from this killer
disease.

''Protection, that is my message to them,'' he said while walking through
a run-down building that houses migrant families in stuffy, airless rooms
close to a shrimp market here. ''I also tell them about behaving properly
and how HIV is spread.''

_____________________________________
BUSINESS / FINANCE

July 13, International Oil Daily
Myanmar mulls gas export schemes

Regional ne'er-do-well Myanmar wants to set itself up as a Southeast Asian
energy provider under an ambitious plan to monetize its large natural gas
reserves and provide a crude oil transit point for neighbor China.

Myanmar is looking at building two 3.5 million ton per year LNG plants
using gas from the recently explored A-1 field offshore Myanmar's western
coast, as well as at exporting the gas to India via pipeline and possibly
also Thailand, according to U Soe Myint, director general of the energy
ministry's energy planning department.

"If we have the maximum that we've expected from the wells then we've got
room for all the options together," said Myint after a presentation
Tuesday to the 2005 ASEAN Energy Business Forum in Siem Reap, Cambodia.

South Korea's Daewoo has found large natural gas deposits that could total
between 11.3 trillion cubic feet and 19.1 Tcf in several blocks, including
a latest discovery in April. Daewoo operates the block and holds a 60%
stake, along with Korea Gas Corp. (Kogas) and India's Gail (IOD Apr.1,p9).

In his presentation, Myint said that Myanmar is looking for $4 billion in
investment to develop the fields. Potential buyers of the gas include
India, South Korea and Thailand. Myint believes that first gas from the
project could come as early as 2010. He said that Daewoo and its partners
are carrying out a further drilling program to assess the blocks, which
should be completed by the second quarter of 2006.

Plans to construct a pipeline from Myanmar across Bangladesh to India may
be faltering as the traditional antipathy between India and Bangladesh
rears its head. Myint presented two plans to the conference, which showed
an undersea pipeline directly to India's shore and an onshore pipeline
across Myanmar over the top of Bangladesh and into India.

"At the political level we want to have all three countries together.
India is very keen on having this thing done soon," he said. A later slide
in his presentation did note the trans-Bangladesh system.

Block A-1 may also provide additional exports to Thailand. Myanmar's
existing natural gas exports to Thailand generate $1 billion in revenue to
the country, which has been saddled with economic sanctions.

Myanmar is also considering construction of a pipeline from the coast to
the Chinese city of Kunming, which could transport Middle Eastern crude
oil into China and allow oil bound for China to avoid passing through the
Strait of Malacca.

Additionally, the country is expanding its exploration efforts by offering
new offshore blocks. The 13 blocks consist of five located offshore the
state of Rakhine in the west and eight blocks in the Gulf of Moattama,
near the 650 million cubic foot per day Yadana project.

Myint said deals for the blocks would be made on a bilateral basis, with
companies expected to approach the government. "We are not having a
tender, really. If you are interested, come talk to us," he said. A final
decision on awards could be made within two or three months.

In April, Myanmar signed a contract with Indian company Essar Oil for the
offshore Block A-2 and the onshore Block L, in Rakhine state, despite a
proclamation in March that no new onshore blocks would be offered to
foreign companies.

There seems little concern that political pressure on companies will keep
them out of Myanmar. Myint noted that Total has stayed in the country for
10 years and continues to operate the Yadana project despite calls for it
to divest is position.

The most likely companies to invest, he admitted, were regional national
oil companies such as Malaysian Petronas and India's Gail, as well as
Petro China and China National Offshore Oil Corp.

____________________________________
ASEAN

July 13, The Jakarta Post
ASEAN's problem with Myanmar – Jusuf Wanandi

Since its inception in 1967, ASEAN has had a dream -- the One Southeast
Asia. In 1984, its original five members invited Brunei to join the
grouping. Then Vietnam joined in 1995. At the 30th anniversary of ASEAN in
1997 in Kuala Lumpur, Laos and Myanmar were welcomed in. Cambodia's
entrance was delayed by a year due to its internal problems.

Expansions of ASEAN's membership always happened when countries were ready
to join. The body extended the invitation to join without the need for any
preconditions or negotiations.

The One Southeast Asia project was completed in an exuberant mood.
Unfortunately, this was followed by the 1997 financial crisis that
affected several of its members. Since then, ASEAN development has been
lackluster. Indonesia, ASEAN's informal leader and the anchor, was hardest
hit by the crisis and was in political turmoil. Gradually, Indonesia has
come back, and in the chairmanship in 2003 it provided leadership in
shaping the vision of an ASEAN Community that encompasses economic,
security and socio-cultural aspects. However, what later became apparent
was the growing divide within ASEAN between the older members and the
newer ones. The emergence of a two-tier ASEAN could not be prevented.

The biggest problem for ASEAN is Myanmar. The usurpation of power by the
military after the general elections of 1990, when the NLD (National
League of Democracy) party led by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi won overwhelmingly,
has become a problem for the entire region. It has constrained ASEAN's
role because the international community could not work with an
illegitimate regime that continues to drag up excuses for its existence.
In the past 15 years, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has been detained for most of
the time under all kinds of charges.

The abuses by the military regime of the populace in general, and towards
the minorities in particular, are totally unacceptable. In addition, the
government has done little to develop the country and to lessen the plight
of the people. The regime cannot hide from world attention and criticism
and its behavior also affects its neighbors. Its inability to take
responsibility to protect its people creates great stresses and strains
along the border with Thailand. It has made declarations to eliminate the
drug production and trade in the country, but Myanmar is still one of the
world's biggest sources of illicit drugs.

In dealing with Myanmar, ASEAN has not achieved much because of its
outmoded principle of non-intervention into member nations' affairs. This
is also due to the split in ASEAN about the attitude, the assessment of
and the policies on Myanmar.

Thailand, Myanmar's closest neighbor and at one time the champion of the
so-called "constructive engagement" with the country, has become
more-or-less a defender of the regime due to the vested interests of some
of its leaders. With the growing instability in southern Thailand, the
Thai government has become more reluctant to intervene into Myanmese
affairs.

Malaysia, meanwhile, which earlier championed Myanmar's membership of
ASEAN, is now at the forefront in pushing for change in Myanmar and in
opposing its upcoming ASEAN chairmanship.

A democratic Indonesia can no longer be close to the Myanmar military as
Suharto's Indonesia was. It has tried to convince the regime of the need
for political change for the country's own good and also for the sake of
the region. It does not want to see a further weakening of ASEAN due to
Myanmar's chairmanship. Even Vietnam, although it is not willing to
intervene, does see the need for Myanmar to change and to begin to
implement its road map for political development. It has also tried to
persuade Myanmar to forego its chairmanship.

Singapore has also been visible in its attempt to persuade the military
regime to realize the problems it causes for ASEAN. Both Singapore and
Malaysia have substantial investments in Myanmar and want to see country
opening up rather than increasingly isolate itself. The Philippines,
another Southeast Asian democracy, is prepared to put some pressure on
Myanmar, but its own domestic political and economic problems have
hampered Philippine efforts.

Civil society groups and parliamentarians in ASEAN have been much more
vocal and are willing to push the issue of change in Myanmar further. The
ASEAN People's Assembly (APA) and the ASEAN Parliamentary Caucus on
Myanmar have been actively addressing the "Myanmar problem."

There are two sides to this problem. One is Myanmar's chairmanship of
ASEAN, which it is schedule to assume in 2006. It does not make sense for
Myanmar to take the chairmanship post if this results in the boycotting of
ASEAN's international and regional meetings by the EU and the United
States. Myanmar should take up the chairmanship when it is able to
implement its plan for political development in a credible and consistent
manner.

The other problem is this plan for political development in accordance
with Myanmar's road map for change. How can ASEAN be assured that these
positive changes will happen? ASEAN has offered to assist and to provide
advice to the Myanmar regime on this matter, making the process easier,
more credible and more acceptable to the international community.

ASEAN ISIS has had many engagements with Myanmese politicians those still
living in the country and those in exile. Contact with the military ended
with the arrests of Khin Nyunt's group.

Parliamentarians, civil society groups and the media must now put pressure
on ASEAN's governments, its political leaders and its business elite to
maximize their efforts to encourage political change in Myanmar. This
means including the NLD in the political development process and freeing
leader Suu Kyi from house arrest.

Arguing that Suu Kyi and the NLD are passe is not credible. The issue of
change in Myanmar should be given serious attention by ASEAN and should
not be left to the rest of the international community.

The writer is co-founder and senior fellow of the Centre for Strategic and
International Studies (CSIS).

_____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

July 13, Irrawaddy
Aung Hlaing Win case goes to UN – Khun Sam

A US-based Burmese campaign group has filed a case with the UN over Aung
Hlaing Win, a National League for Democracy member and human rights
activist, who died in custody in May during interrogation by Burmese
military intelligence operatives.

In a statement released yesterday Aung Din, a policy director with the US
Campaign for Burma, said “We have submitted this report to the United
Nations for further investigation. We are also keeping files that identify
those members of the Tatmadaw [armed forces] who are engaging in torture,
killings, and rape. We look forward to sharing this information so that
justice can be served.”

He went on to say that by international organizations investigating such
incidents “we hope that this kind of injustice and unlawful killing can be
stopped [to a] certain extent.”

The group’s 38-page report provides detailed allegations concerning the
kidnapping and murder of Aung Hlaing Win and specifically implicates three
military agents: Lt Col Min Hlaing, Captain Sai Aung Win, and Captain Zaw
Min Kyaw.

The report was submitted to Philip Alston, the UN Special Rapporteur on
Extra-Judicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions and will be presented
during the 84th session of the UN Human Rights Committee in Geneva on July
18.

“Because of their [military agents’] thuggish actions across the country,
the people of Burma are insecure. The ruling government is torturing and
threatening their own people instead of protecting [them]” said Aung Din.

The 30 year-old NLD member died a week after being arrested in Rangoon on
May 1. The victim’s family reported the death to the police and filed an
official complaint with the help of NLD lawyers. The local township court
dismissed the case in early June, however, declaring the death “natural”
due to pre-existing chronic diseases, even though a doctor who had viewed
Aung Hlaing Win’s body testified in a pre-trial hearing that his death was
the result of extensive and severe injuries inflicted upon his body.

_____________________________________

July 13, Irrawaddy
Burmese exiles mount anti-Total protests worldwide – Louis Reh

Burmese exile groups staged demonstrations on Wednesday outside French
embassies around the world in protest against investment in Burma by the
French oil giant Total.

The demonstrators charge the French government with actively supporting
Total’s involvement in Burma. They claim France opposes EU sanctions
against Burma in order to protect Total’s interests.

Total is the largest European corporate investor in Burma. The company
developed Burma’s Yadana gas fields, which are earning the Burmese
government US $200-450 million annually.

 “We want the French government to withdraw Total’s investment in Burma
because it only helps the regime to buy weapons,” said Soe Aung, a
spokesman for the Thailand-based National Council of the Union of Burma,
an umbrella group of 30 pro-democracy organizations, including ethnic
nationalities groups. The demonstrations and a letter-writing campaign
are being organized by the US Campaign for Burma, the UK Burma Campaign
and the NCUB.

The protest demonstrations are worldwide, targeting French embassies in
Europe, North America, Asia and Africa. Letters are also being sent to
French embassies around the world. The US Campaign for Burma said in its
letter: “On July 14, France celebrates Bastille Day and the spirit of the
French Revolution—the spirit of liberty, equality and fraternity. However,
French policy towards Burma supports the interests of dictatorship in
Burma.” Total Oil was “funding the tyrants who deny Burma’s people their
human rights,” US Campaign for Burma said in a press release.

The release accuses the Rangoon regime of ethnic cleansing, recruiting
child soldiers and using rape as a weapon of war against women and
children.

_____________________________________

July 13, Bangkok Post
PM 'will see light' on Burma: Thaksin will agree to US demands – Anucha
Charoenpo

Human rights defenders specialising in Burma are confident Prime Minister
Thaksin Shinawatra will yield to US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's
demands that he help to improve the situation for Burmese at home and in
Thailand.

The pair held talks on Monday in Phuket, where the US secretary of state
visited areas that were ravaged by the Dec 26 tsunami.

Sunai Phasuk, of Human Rights Watch, said yesterday he was sure Mr Thaksin
would give in to Ms Rice's demands so Thailand could again stand among
those countries which cared about human rights.

Mr Sunai said since Mr Thaksin became prime minister four years ago, the
human rights situation for Burmese has worsened. This forced the US
government to put Thailand on last year's list of countries which did not
promote human rights and democracy.

''I think Prime Minister Thaksin wants the Bush government to acknowledge
and to give credit to his government again in order to receive future
benefits,'' he said.

Nakhon Ratchasima Senator Kraisak Choonhavan, chairman of the Senate
Committee on Foreign Affairs, said he hoped Mr Thaksin and his government
will work harder to promote democracy, national reconciliation and human
rights in Burma.

Sen Kraisak called on the prime minister to seek cooperation from China
and India to help solve problems in Burma because the two Asian giants
were a major influence there.

Furthermore, he said, the Thai government must clearly set a date for the
next meeting with Burma after the first Bangkok Process had ended in
failure a few years ago.

Thailand should also enlist other ASEAN countries to help solve the Burma
question, Mr Kraisak said. ASEAN must keep a close watch on the national
convention in Burma, and impose a deadline for its implementation and for
the release of National League for Democracy leader Aung San Sui Kyi and
other political prisoners.

The junta's drafting of the convention should be a prerequisite for
Rangoon to serve as chairman of ASEAN.

''I still have doubts if Burma will succeed with its national convention
while many political prisoners and opposition leader Aung San Sui Kyi have
not yet been released,'' he said.

Mr Kraisak put the blame on the Thai government for failing to protect the
rights and liberties of Burmese pro-democracy groups taking refuge in
Thailand. He said many had been forced into hiding because they were
fearful of being arrested and deported by the government.

He cited the forced repatriation of about 1,000 Burmese people, 200 of
them children, last week at the Mae Hong Son checkpoint into Burma as the
example of not protecting the rights and liberties of the Burmese.

_____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

July 13, The Nation
Time for ASEAN to stop dithering – Datuk Zaid Ibrahim

ASEAN has been dithering on how to deal with its perpetual problem child,
Burma. Over the past eight years, ASEAN has tried to prod Burma towards
democratisation and national reconciliation with economic-led engagement,
peer association by admitting it as a member and at times by simply
ignoring the problem so Burma wouldn’t feel pressured. ASEAN needs a new
approach.

The time for accepting the bitter taste of Burma’s empty promises and
excuses has expired. It is now time for ASEAN to assert its self-respect
and take a stand. Why should ASEAN passively wait for Burma to make up its
mind on the issue of the ASEAN chair?
In recent months, there has been an unprecedented chorus of disapproval at
the notion of the Burmese regime chairing ASEAN. From the memorable
outburst of former Malaysian prime minister Mahathir warning of possible
expulsion from ASEAN to the more carefully crafted messages of Singaporean
foreign minister George Yeo, Indonesian Foreign Ministry spokesman Marty
Natalegawa and others, senior voices in ASEAN are delivering a message
that they are not comfortable with a Burmese chair.

In the meantime, the Burmese authorities have done little to convince us
that it is capable of bearing the responsibilities that go with the chair.
The Burmese authorities, who have not only obstructed ASEAN’s progress,
but also lack the barest shred of credibility, are far from capable of
living up to the burden of chairmanship.

ASEAN needs a chair that is capable of forging ahead with the complex
agenda of this region. Many key issues that affect this region, ranging
from transnational crime, drug trafficking, mass migration and sectarian
conflicts to life-threatening epidemics, need to be addressed adequately.

We need to be more concerned about these pressing issues instead of
worrying about how Senior-General Than Shwe feels about us or how he will
react to what we say.

Even now, as the Burmese authorities attempt to allay regional concerns
with this week’s prisoner releases, we note that they have still failed to
fulfil their promise to commence genuine political reform, including
national reconciliation with ethnic groups and the release of democracy
leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

ASEAN must have more self-respect than to accept leadership by a regime
that rules not by the voice of the people, but by the barrel of a gun, by
a regime that has consistently failed to honour its promises.

ASEAN should no longer be a buffer for Burma, which has come at the
expense of ASEAN’s reputation and productivity. No other member in the
38-year history of ASEAN has garnered such negative attention for the
entire group, made its main “contribution” to the region in the form of
drug trafficking, refugees and HIV/Aids or been the sole cause of multiple
cancelled meetings between the group and key dialogue partners.

This has created a sense of exasperation and frustration within ASEAN.
However, this crisis also allows ASEAN to seize an opportunity that lies
at the heart of the debate on the Burmese chairmanship and seize it.

The ASEAN Interparliamentary Myanmar Caucus (AIPMC) has brought together
legislators across national and party lines from Indonesia, Malaysia,
Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines and Cambodia. The uniting principle
of the AIPMC is review of the methods for promoting democracy and
reconciliation in Burma within the context of ASEAN. While the chair is a
key opportunity, it is not the pinnacle of our common objective of
democratisation in Burma.

ASEAN has an opportunity to safeguard its dignity, enhance its relevance
and make an unprecedented and meaningful contribution to supporting
democracy in Burma. The AIPMC’s “new deal” is to defer Burma’s
chairmanship for one year, to condition the chairmanship on Burma’s
transition to democracy and national reconciliation and to encourage this
“home-grown” process within ASEAN.

While the details are to be left up to the people of Burma, ASEAN must
safeguard such an overture by making it clear that it will not be swindled
by clever diversions and verbose rhetoric. Nothing less than a detailed
time frame that is fully inclusive of all stakeholders, including Aung San
Suu Kyi, imprisoned Shan leader Hkun Htun Oo and other ethnic nationality
leaders, will be acceptable.

The orchestration of elaborate conventions, convened under draconian
principles and without the participation of key stakeholders, is not an
indicator of democratic reform, nor will it be legitimate to serve as a
prerequisite for so-called free elections.
A mere facade of political reform will not lead to stability and progress
in Burma and will not alleviate the impact throughout the region. ASEAN
stands ready to assist Burma, but ASEAN’s goodwill must be met with the
Burmese government’s political will.

ASEAN must realise that the issue of Burma cannot be shelved again. Our
new deal is essentially a plan of action; a form of diplomacy ASEAN has
effectively utilised on other situations.

Suggestions that supporting Burma’s chairmanship will maintain ASEAN’s
leverage with the Burmese government uses the same mistaken logic as in
1997, when Burma was admitted into ASEAN without any specific plan of
action and timetable for reform. Using the same reasoning with the
chairmanship will only deliver the same results: nothing.

Allowing Burma to assume the chairmanship would essentially be a
validation of their tradition of broken promises and thus reduce the
leverage ASEAN has with Burma. ASEAN doesn’t just need a spotlight on
Burma, it needs a plan of action. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said
that 2006 would be the year for democracy in Burma.

The AIPMC’s new deal rises to the call of the honourable secretary-general.

Zaid Ibrahim is president of the ASEAN caucus on Burma.