BurmaNet News, September 20, 2005

[Editor]

September 20, 2005 Issue # 2806

"Quiet closed-door meetings among countries in New York are no longer
enough. They have failed."
- Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, as quoted in Agence
France Presse, September 20, 2005

INSIDE BURMA
Irrawaddy: Political prisoner in hospital after gang attack
Xinhua: Myanmar to add more TV relay stations

ON THE BORDER
AFP: 14 soldiers killed in ambush in India's restive Manipur state
SHAN: Karenni refugees prepare to escape deluge

BUSINESS / MONEY
Irrawaddy: Burma to privatize three state businesses
Irrawaddy: Kyat plummets as coup rumors persist
Xinhua: Myanmar teak export increases in 2004

REGIONAL
Toronto Star: A 'lost tribe' ready to leave India for Israel

INTERNATIONAL
Financial Times: Nobel duo press UN on Burma peace threat
Irrawaddy: UN Security Council urged to take action on Burma
AFP: UN Security Council intervention sought in Myanmar
Irrawaddy: Bush and Thaksin express Burma concern
Mizzima: Veteran Chin politician Pu Vum Son dies

OPINION / OTHER
International Herald Tribune: Myanmar: A job for the Security Council

____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

September 19, Irrawaddy
Political prisoner in hospital after gang attack

A political prisoner was admitted to hospital after being beaten by a
youth gang, the “Scorpions,” in Rangoon’s Insein prison, according to the
Thailand-based organization Assistance Association for Political Prisoners
(Burma). The victim, Tun Tun, who is serving an eight year sentence
imposed in 1998 under the 1950 Emergency Provisions Act 5/j, was
reportedly severely beaten by members of the gang on August 25 and is
still in the prison’s hospital.

The renowned “Scorpions” gang’s members are mostly the children of
prominent business people with close connections to top military leaders
and include Aye Ne Win, Zwe Ne Win and Kyaw Ne Win, grandsons of late
dictator Gen Ne Win. The gang members are said to have been involved in
car smuggling, extortion and the drugs trade. The authorities cracked down
on the gang in late 2001 when members of the New Win family were arrested
on charges of planning to overthrow the military government and divide the
armed forces.

____________________________________

September 20, Xinhua General News Service
Myanmar to add more TV relay stations

Yangon: Myanmar will add nine more TV relay stations next year to enable
domestic watchers in the remote areas to get access to the government's TV
programs telecast from Yangon, sources with the state-operated Myanmar
Radio and Television Department said Tuesday.

The areas where such TV relay stations will be expanded include Ngwe Saung
Beach and Tamu bordering India, the sources said.

So far during this year, Myanmar has opened 17 TV relay stations, bringing
the total in the country to 195 scattered in nine zones and relaying the
programs of the state-run TV Myanmar and military-operated Myawaddy TV,
statistics revealed.

The TV Myanmar has launched four channels including Myanmar and English
languages to telecast news, education and entertainment programs since
color television was introduced in the country in 1980.

Meanwhile, Myanmar is also making efforts to enhance its radio and TV
services in conformity with global changes and development, arranging to
upgrade its radio and TV machines and equipment by changing its TV system
to digital one.

The TV Myanmar is now making satellite news available with the cooperation
of the China Central television (CCTV), Cable Networks News (CNN) and the
Japan Broadcasting Corporation (NHK).

Recently, a German company, the Deutsche Welle (DW), has agreed with
Myanmar to air its satellite programs through TV Myanmar for the country's
audiences under the TV programs exchange between the two countries.

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

September 20, Agence France Presse
14 soldiers killed in ambush in India's restive Manipur state

 Guwahati: Fourteen soldiers were killed in an ambush by heavily-armed
militants in one of the deadliest attacks in India's restive northeastern
state of Manipur in years, officials said Tuesday.

The militants ambushed a security patrol near the village of Nariang,
about 35 kilometres (22 miles) southwest of Manipur's capital Imphal, late
Monday, an army spokesman in the capital said.

"Unidentified rebels using automatic weapons ambushed a road patrol of the
army's Gorkha Rifles killing eight on the spot," the spokesman said.

Six of 12 soldiers wounded in the attack died on their way to hospital.

"The rebels numbering about 20-odd and equipped with AK-56 rifles and
carbines launched the attack from a hilltop. There was hardly any reaction
time for the soldiers to retaliate," the spokesman said.

"The condition of the injured is stated to be critical."

The troops were returning to their base by truck after search operations
when the rebels struck, the spokesman said.

The Kanglei Yawol Kanna Lup (KYKL) rebel group has claimed responsibility
for the attack, a local newspaper office said.

Police described the attack as the bloodiest by the influential rebel
group, fighting for an independent homeland for the majority Meities, in
recent years.

Separately, a soldier was killed late Monday by suspected rebels from the
outlawed United National Liberation Front near Jiribam town, on Manipur's
border with neighbouring Assam state.

In a third incident also Monday, six tribal militants were killed in a
factional fight between two groups in Manipur's Churachandpur district, a
police spokesman said.

"There was a massive clash between the Zomi Revolutionary Army and the
Zomi Revolutionary Front over territorial supremacy and in the ensuing
gunbattle six rebels were killed and another wounded," said police
official A. Singh.

There are many insurgent outfits fighting for causes ranging from autonomy
to independence in India's remote northeast.

There are some 19-odd rebel groups in Manipur, bordering Myanmar, with
demands ranging from secession to greater autonomy and the right to self
determination.

More than 10,000 people have lost their lives to insurgency in Manipur
during the past two decades.

____________________________________

September 20, Shan Herald Agency for News
Karenni refugees prepare to escape deluge

Karenni refugees from camp (2), Mae Hong Sorn province, northern Thailand,
were getting ready to relocate due to overflow of Mae Sariang River,
reported Network Media Group on 19 September.

"Because of the flooding, schools are closed and families near the river
are moving to escape the flood," said a woman from the camp. It has been
continuously raining heavily for a week but the flood had gotten worse
yesterday.

"Yes, the flood started at 2 am today and some people are packing their
belongings to move and some had already moved to safer places. Chicken,
pigs, ducks and some houses in quarter (4) were swept off first and
followed by those in our quarter (1)," said Nang Ei Nge from the camp. 5
houses in the camp were gone along in the river and 10 were devastated by
heavy flow.

Due to the flood on 8 September, the Monglong Bridge in Mae Sariang
district, Mae Hong Sorn province, was destroyed, ceasing transportations.

According to the Thai meteorological department, a tropical storm named
Vicente, which commenced in the South China Ocean, was moving from
Thailand to Burma with the speed of 50 kph. It also warned that Thailand's
northeastern and eastern provinces could face with heavy rains and floods.

It is expected that the floods in Mae Hong Sorn province will be getting
worse because of the continuous rain, according to a warning to villages
by the department.

The camp (2) committee is helping families that are at risk of floods move
their belongings to safer places.

NGOs are not able to reach the camps to help refugees because of damaged
roads and overflows of the rivers in recent week.

____________________________________
BUSINESS / MONEY

September 20, Irrawaddy
Burma to privatize three state businesses

Burma intends to return three small businesses owned by two government
ministries to the private sector, the official Myanma Ahlin
Burmese-language newspaper reported Tuesday. Two ice factories in
Moulmein, Mon State, currently owned by the Ministry of Industry 1 are to
be offered at auction with starting prices of 24.3 million kyat (US
$20,283) and 117.6 million kyat ($98,050). A movie theatre in Sittwe,
Arakan State, owned by the Ministry of Information is also being offered
at a starting price of 6.48 million kyat ($5,400). Prospective bidders
must submit their applications to the Privatization Commission’s office in
Rangoon on October 21. The newspaper reported that original owners of the
businesses who are Burmese nationals will earn special consideration in
the bidding process.

Many businesses in Burma were nationalized after the late dictator Gen Ne
Win seized control of the government in 1962, while properties and schools
also came under government jurisdiction. Thousands of foreign nationals
from India and China—many of them business owners—fled the country after
1962.

____________________________________

September 20, Irrawaddy
Kyat plummets as coup rumors persist

The value of Burma’s currency, the kyat, continues to fall as rumors
persist of a coup against paramount leader Than Shwe, while the price of
gold has jumped dramatically.

The kyat is trading at nearly 1,300 to the US dollar, up from the 1,000
kyat the American currency fetched before the rumors surfaced. The price
of gold has nearly doubled in that time, with economists saying people are
buying the precious metal because of anxiety about the political situation
and the country’s rising inflation.

The official exchange rate stands at 6.4 kyat to the dollar, but trading
is conducted at a rate which has been hovering around 1,000 kyat despite
official efforts to curtail the activities of black market currency
dealers. The rate of inflation in Burma has jumped in recent weeks, with
increases in government tax, water and electricity charges and newspaper
cover prices.

____________________________________

September 20, Xinhua General News Service
Myanmar teak export increases in 2004

Yangon: The teak export of Myanmar increased by 15.2 percent to 303,000
cubic-tons (428,745 cubic- meters) in 2004, according to the latest
official statistics.

The country's teak export in 2003 was registered at 263,000 cubic-tons
(372,145 cubic-meters).

In 2004, it fetched an export earning of over 240 million US dollars, the
figures of the Central Statistical Organization show.

The country's teak export during the year stood the largest in the
previous 10 years in terms of quantity compared with 1994's 150,000
cubic-tons (212,250 cubic-meters).

Teak stands as one of Myanmar's major foreign-exchange-earning export
goods, dominating the international teak market.

According to reports, some 17 private companies have been engaged in
timber extraction in cooperation with the state-run Myanmar Timber
Enterprise since last year with over 1,200 hectares of teak plantations
having been established in four divisions and states of Bago, Magway,
Sagaing and Shan.

Myanmar has increased teak plantation since 1980 and launched special such
plantations in 1998. Since then, 336,150 hectares have been under teak,
according to the authorities.

Myanmar replants forests over 30,000 hectares a year to ensure adequate
supply of timber in the country, while banning logging in the reforestated
areas until 2020.

The five-year reforestation project, being implemented in a range of
mountains in central Bago Yoma, started early 2004 and involved the
planting of 76,950 hectares of economic and valuable trees such as teak
and hardwood.

Having replanted about 769,500 hectares of forests between 1992 and 2003,
Myanmar targets to grow 324,000 hectares of teak under the program during
the next 40 years.

Meanwhile, the country has been establishing wood-based industry, giving
priority to manufacturing value-added finished wood products for export. A
number of wood-related industrial zones in the country have also been set
up to boost the production of such products since export of wood log is
being restricted and export of teak log by the private sector has been
banned since 1992 when the government enacted the Forest Law.

Recently, the government encouraged the private sector to plant and export
teak grown by them under the existing forestry policy to boost production
of forest products.

Timber stands as the country's third largest export goods after mineral
and agricultural products.

Myanmar is rich in forest resources with forests covering about 50 percent
of its total land area.

____________________________________
REGIONAL

September 20, The Toronto Star
A 'lost tribe' ready to leave India for Israel - Shaikh Azizur Rahman

Churachandpur, India: After spending almost three millennia in exile,
India's 9,000 Bnei Menashe Jews now believe they are about to return to
their long-lost "homeland" of Israel.

About 700 of the impoverished Indian Jews living in India's economically
backward north-eastern states of Mizoram and Manipur will soon convert to
orthodox Judaism, thereby winning the right to live in Israel.

Shlomo Amar, the Sephardic chief rabbi, announced in Jerusalem in April
that he accepted the Bnei Menashes, or the "Children of Menashe," as one
of the 10 lost tribes of Israel.

A Beit Din, or rabbinical court, arrived in India last week on a mission
to convert the Bnei Menashes to orthodox Judaism, bringing the hope of a
new life in Israel to thousands of the people.

Some 200 Bnei Menashes were converted last week in Mizoram and the Beit
Din plans to convert 500 more in Manipur this week.

"This time only a small population of us are being converted in India,"
said Lyon Fanai, a Bnei Menashe leader in Mizoram. "But Beit Din will
return to India again to conduct similar conversions in future. We all
will finally get the right of aliyah (return to Israel) and settle in our
long-lost homeland."

After an almost decade-long investigation that included DNA tests, Israeli
authorities are convinced the Jews of northeast India are one of the 10
lost tribes from Israel.

"When we knew we were recognized by the Chief Rabbinate it was the
happiest news of my life," said David Haokip, 23, a Bnei Menashe youth
leader who embraced Judaism five years ago and now prays three times a day
at a synagogue.

"Now the Beit Din will change my life selecting me for the conversion, I
hope."

In Mizoram, some 1,000 Bnei Menashes applied for conversion last week;
more than 800 were rejected. In Manipur, 2,000 young men and women have
submitted applications, but only 500 will be selected for conversion.

Haokip, whose wife and daughter are jobless, will be interviewed in
Churachandpur today, and hopes to join the Israeli army when he settles
there.

He said nerves have left him unable to sleep for three nights. "If I am
not picked by the Beit Din (for conversion) this time, I have to wait for
their return to India again - probably next year," he said. "It will be
painful to wait that long for the fulfillment of my dream.

"I have been praying to God day and night that He helps me get through
this toughest examination of my life this time."

Shavei Israel, a Jerusalem-based group that has been trying to locate
descendants of lost Jewish tribes and bring them to Israel, believes that
all Chins in Myanmar, Mizos in Mizoram and Kukis in Manipur - three
prominent tribes of the region - are descendants of Menashe, an ancient
Jewish leader.

According to the organization, there are up to two million Bnei Menashes
in the hilly regions of Myanmar (formerly known as Burma) and northeast
India.

Jewish tradition says that after an Assyrian invasion around 722 BC, 10
tribes from Israel were enslaved in Assyria. The tribes later fled and
wandered through Afghanistan, Tibet and China.

Around A.D. 100 , one group moved southward from China and settled around
northeast India and Burma. These Chin-Mizo-Kuki people, who speak
Tibeto-Myanmese dialects and resemble Mongols in appearance, are believed
to be the Bnei Menashes.

Some Christian leaders object to the targeting of Christians for conversion.

"Acceptance of our people as Israelites is the work of Satan," said Dr.
P.C. Biaksama, an ethnic Mizo and former government bureaucrat who now
studies Christian theology. "We don't believe these people ever came from
Israel. Christianity is at stake here, and we should never take what is
happening now lightly."

L. Thanggur, a church leader in Churachandpur, says for mostly jobless
young people, conversion to Judaism is like winning a jackpot because it
virtually guarantees an Israeli passport.

"They are economic refugees. If they had better employment and income
prospects here, they would have never dreamt of going to Israel and
jostled for this conversion."

In Israel, too, some groups have attacked the recognition of the Indian
tribe by the Chief Rabbi.

Social scientist Lev Grinberg said right-wing Jewish groups are promoting
conversion of distant people simply to boost the Jewish population in
occupied territories claimed by the Palestinians.

_____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

September 20, Irrawaddy
UN Security Council urged to take action on Burma - Aung Lwin Oo

Former Czech president Vaclav Havel and Nobel Peace Prize laureate
Archbishop Desmond Tutu called for the UN Security Council to take
immediate action against Burma in a new legal report released Tuesday.

“Based on our review of this report and its recommendations, we strongly
urge the UN Security Council to take up the situation of Burma
immediately,” the two leaders jointly stated in a foreword of the 70-page
report entitled “Threat to the Peace - A Call for the UN Security Council
to Act in Burma.”

The report, which was commissioned by the two leaders and prepared by
international law firm DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary, stated that it aims to
look at “relevant challenges and problems in Burma.”

The report said that Burma’s problems now reach beyond its borders and
pose threats to the region and the international community which require
Security Council action. Compared to the council’s intervention in seven
other countries in the past as a result of transnational issues, the
report determines Burma is “far worse” than in many areas.

“The situation in Burma is much more severe compared to other countries in
which the Security Council has chosen to act in recent years,” said Havel
in a statement Tuesday. Archbishop Tutu slammed the UN’s previous attempts
as failures. “Quiet, closed-door meetings among countries in New York are
no longer enough. It is time for the UN Security Council to act,” he said.

The report also recommended that the Security Council adopt firm
resolutions to pressure the junta to work with the Secretary General’s
office on political reform in the country and to release opposition leader
Aung San Suu Kyi and all political prisoners languishing in Burma’s
prisons.

On Tuesday Carmen Gatmaytan, from the Philippine-based rights group
Initiative for International Dialogue, reiterated the group’s call for
tabling the Burma issue at the UN Security Council, which is currently
chaired by the Philippines.  “Including Burma in the priority agenda of
the UN Security Council is a logical and moral step to do,” she said.

In advance of this year’s International Day of Peace, commemorated on
September 21, the Women’s League of Burma announced in a press release
today that a petition with 40,000 signatures has been submitted to the
Security Council, calling for the issue of Burma to be raised at the
council’s upcoming meeting in October.

_____________________________________

September 20, Financial Times
Nobel duo press UN on Burma peace threat - Andrew Bounds

Brussels: Nobel peace prize winners Vaclav Havel and Desmond Tutu will
unveil a report today asking the United Nations Security Council to debate
the future of the military regime in Burma as a threat to regional peace.

The former Czech president and former archbishop of Cape Town, prominent
in the struggle for freedom in their countries, became interested because
of the imprisonment of fellow laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, the democracy
leader who won elections in 1990. They say they are worried by the
combination of dictatorship, civil war, the overflow of refugees, the Aids
epidemic and drug production in the Asian state.

"We strongly urge the Security Council to take up the situation of Burma,"
they wrote in a foreword. "Preserving peace, security and stability in the
region and the world - as well as achieving national reconciliation in
Burma - requires nothing less."

The military dictatorship in Burma could prove a test case for the UN's
new doctrine of intervention to protect human rights agreed at a summit
last week, though many dispute whether the situation is grave enough to
fall under its remit.

The report has been written pro bono by Jared Genser, of Washington law
firm DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary. Marshalling evidence from many UN bodies
and comparing Burma with countries such as Liberia and Haiti, he concludes
the requirements for UN intervention exist.

A coup installed a military junta in 1962 and later elections were
overturned. The decades-long insurgency among ethnic groups inborder areas
has spawned hundreds of thousands of refugees.

A recent report by the Thailand Burma Border Consortium, a non-government
organisation funded by the Netherlands government, estimates that soldiers
have destroyed 2,700 villages since 1996 in a campaign to end ethnic
resistance.

About 690,000 refugees have fled to neighbouring countries and it is
estimated that almost as many are displaced within the country of 52m.
There are an estimated 800,000 forced labourers and in spite of a
five-year campaign the International Labour Organisation says Burma has
refused to end the practice.

According to the US Drug Enforcement Agency, Burma is the world's second
biggest exporter of opiates. It also manufactures amphetamines and has not
co-operated with international attempts to combat money laundering.

The junta has powerful allies in China and India, which have blocked US
attempts to bring Burma before the UN. But some observers say China is
increasingly worried about the trafficking of drugs from Burma.

_____________________________________

September 20, Agence France Presse
UN Security Council intervention sought in Myanmar

Washington: Ex-Czech President Vaclav Havel and retired South African
archbishop Desmond Tutu called Monday for an urgent initiative at the UN
Security Council to bring reforms to military-ruled Myanmar.

In a report, the two leaders compared the situation in Myanmar with seven
other countries, including Haiti, Afghanistan and Rwanda, in which the
Security Council had previously intervened, saying the situation in the
Southeast Asian state was "far worse."

"For 15 years the Government of Burma (Myanmar) has refused to implement
recommendations made by the UN and the situation is getting worse," Havel
said.

"In fact, the situation in Burma is much more severe compared to other
countries in which the Security Council has chosen to act in recent
years," he said.

The 70-page report, prepared by global law firm DLA Piper Rudnick Gray
Cary, details what it called the deterioration that had occurred in
Myanmar stemming from the rule of the current military regime.

The military rulers have placed democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi under
house arrest for much of the past 16 years -- the world's only imprisoned
Nobel Peace Prize recipient.

Her party won 1990 elections but was never allowed to govern. Its offices
have been shut down by the military junta.

The report was commissioned by the two leaders to provide "an objective
look at relevant challenges and problems" in Myanmar, said Jared Genser, a
lawyer with DLA Piper.

"Quiet closed-door meetings among countries in New York are no longer
enough. They have failed," said Bishop Tutu, a Nobel Peace Prize Laureate.

"It is time for the UN Security Council to act. In fact, it is past due.
This report quite clearly evidences the need for multilateral action.

"If governments want to talk about the situation in Burma, the time is now
and the venue is the Security Council," he said.

The report recommended that the UN Security Council adopt a resolution
compelling Myanmar to work with the office of UN Secretary General Kofi
Annan in implementing a plan for national reconciliation and a restoration
of a democratically-elected government.

It also wanted the Security Council to urge the military junta to provide
access to the UN for humanitarian aid to be given to "vulnerable" groups,
and to seek the immediate and unconditional release of Aung San Suu Kyi.

"The UN Secretary-General has made countless attempts to work with the
government of Burma only to see the little dialogue that has occurred fail
to yield results," the report said.

Jeremy Woodrum, co-founder of the US Campaign for Burma, said the report's
call for action was "completely consistent with repeated calls from ASEAN,
EU, US, India -- everyone" that the regime work with the UN Secretary
General's office.

"So this is not a "radical" proposal. Instead, it simply compels the
regime to do so, rather than simply asking them ... 17 years of that have
not worked," he said.

"It's hard to believe how anyone could be against this very nuanced,
smart, and realistic proposal," said Woodrum, who founded the group of
activists seeking an end to the military dictatorship in Myanmar.

_____________________________________

September 20, Irrawaddy
Bush and Thaksin express Burma concern - Clive Parker

US President George W. Bush and Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra
said they were “concerned” about the political situation in Burma
yesterday following their meeting in Washington.

While neither leader chose to speak on Burma in their respective public
addresses at the White House yesterday afternoon, in a joint statement the
two leaders said they would continue to work for reform in the country.

“Stressing their shared objectives of promoting democracy and national
reconciliation in Burma, both sides agreed to have closer consultations on
this matter,” the statement said.

Bush and Thaksin also called for the release of National League for
Democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi. The pair made a similar statement after
a meeting in June 2003, soon after Suu Kyi’s current period of detention
began. At the time, the junta claimed it was imposing house arrest on the
democracy icon for her own safety following an attack in Depayin, Sagaing
Division.

It is not known whether the US president pressed Thaksin on media freedom
and his use of an executive decree in response to unrest in the south of
the country though, according to the statement, Bush “commended the Prime
Minister's creation of a National Reconciliation Commission aimed at
developing a broad-based approach to the South that combines security,
equitable development, and protection for basic rights.”

Thai and international media have widely derided Thaksin for taking a
heavy-handed approach in tackling violence in the country’s southernmost
provinces. Critics also accuse him of intimidating the press and trying to
manipulate private media through libel suits and media acquisitions by
family members and close business associates.

In a letter to Bush on September 12, a group of 11 US congressmen urged
the president to press the Thai prime minister to “restore democratic
freedoms in the country and to end his support for the brutal military
regime in Burma.”

The group said Thaksin’s government had “become the region’s chief
champion of the military dictatorship in Burma,” a comment relating partly
to the country’s state-owned oil interests in the country.

Bush and Thaksin also discussed security and military cooperation, efforts
to tackle avian flu and a proposed Free Trade Agreement, which will go
into a fifth round of talks in Hawaii next week.

_____________________________________

September 20, Mizzima News
Veteran Chin politician Pu Vum Son dies

Pu Vum Son Suantak, the outspoken Chin politician and litterateur died at
a Laureal hospital in Maryland, United State yesterday. He was 68.

Ngo Cin Thawng, brother of Vum Son said "He vomited blood yesterday
afternoon and was taken to the hospital. He expired soon."

An amateur Chin traditional song composer, Vum Son worked together with
the exiled Nation Coalition Government of Union of Burma or NCGUB from
1991 to 1999, was a member of the Board of Consultants of the Political
Affairs Committee of Chinland, and human rights activist since 1987.

He was also is a member of the Zo-Re-Unification Organization since 1995
and served as coordinator and a lecturer in non-violent actions, human
rights and minority rights.

Vum Son wrote a book on Zo history in English and Geochemical Exploration
of Trace Elements in German.

Vum Son was born in Tedim Township of Chin state, in the west of Burma on
November 9, 1937.

He went to Tedim State High School and completed his matriculation in
1957. He then joined Rangoon University in the capital of Burma from where
he graduated with geology and chemistry. He received his master degree
from Petroleum Exploration at the Mining Academy in Freiberg, Germany. He
went on to become a doctorate in Natural Science from Bergacademie,
Germany.

He represented the Chin Forum in drafting the federal and state
Constitution and participated in various Burma related seminars.

His political activities involved, among other works, lobbying with
Congress and the US Government for the cause of democracy in Burma.

He is survived by a brother Ngo Cin Thawng and two daughters Bianca and
Lianna Suantak.

_____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER


September 19, International Herald Tribune
Myanmar: A job for the Security Council - Jared Genser

Washington: Since 1990, the military junta that runs Myanmar has refused
to honor the results of the elections it organized in which the National
League for Democracy (NLD) won more than 80 percent of the seats in
Parliament. For the last 15 years, the generals in charge have
systematically oppressed their own people and committed countless
atrocities to maintain their grip on power.

The time has come for the United Nations Security Council to take action
in Myanmar.

Since 2003, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate and NLD leader Aung San Suu Kyi
has been under her third round of house arrest. All attempts by the
international community through the UN secretary general's special envoy,
the General Assembly and the Commission on Human Rights to encourage the
generals to pursue national reconciliation have been flatly rejected. And
most recently, frustrated over the lack of progress, fellow members of the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations like Indonesia, Malaysia the
Phillipines and Singapore succeeded in publicly and privately pressuring
the government of Myanmar, which is also known as Burma, to relinquish its
scheduled 2006 Asean chairmanship.

The international community has never been more unified on Myanmar. And
yet, up to this point, the United Nations' efforts have failed. This
statement is not designed to place blame on any individual or
international organization. Indeed, the blame for a lack of progress lies
solely with the generals in Rangoon. Nevertheless, whether the UN can find
a way to deal with the situation is in many respects not only a question
for Myanmar, but a challenge to the United Nations' ability to carry out
its own charter.

Charged with the critical mission of maintaining peace and security, the
Security Council possesses unparalleled authority to make binding
decisions that uphold the United Nations' commitment to prevent war,
defend human rights and promote international political stability. Only
such a binding decision will force the military junta in Myanmar back to
the bargaining table to achieve national reconciliation.

While there is no precise definition of what represents a "threat to the
peace" under the UN charter, a review of Security Council resolutions
adopted in response to previous internal conflicts makes clear there are
compelling reasons why the council should act now. The junta is not just a
threat to its own people; the worsening crisis has serious transnational
effects that are destabilizing the broader region.

First, Myanmar is one of the world's primary producers of heroin and
amphetamine-type stimulants. The trafficking and use of these drugs are of
enormous concern to the international community and to the region
particularly.

Second, as a result of Burma's status as the heroin supplier for the
region, HIV strains that originated in Myanmar are now being spread to
neighboring countries along the heroin routes as a result of
needle-sharing. The government's unwillingness to cooperate with the
international community led the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis
and Malaria to terminate its funding to fight HIV/AIDS in Myanmar.

Third, the government of Myanmar has committed grave, systematic,
widespread and ever worsening human rights abuses against the Burmese
people. Such abuses include the destruction of more than 2,700 villages
since 1996, massive forced relocations, rape of ethnic minorities by
government soldiers, widespread forced labor and the use of more than
70,000 child soldiers by the regime.

Fourth, as a result of these abuses, more than 700,000 refugees have
poured out of Myanmar into neighboring countries in recent years,
especially to Thailand, destabilizing the region.

And last, but also important, the military junta continues to thwart the
will of its own people as expressed in the 1990 election.

Based on its internationally recognized mandate, the Security Council is
compelled to get involved, promote national reconciliation, ease the
growing regional instability and facilitate the return of a democratically
elected government for the people of Myanmar.

By adopting a binding resolution requiring action by the military junta,
the Security Council can force the generals back to the negotiating table,
ensure UN agencies access to provide humanitarian relief, secure the
release of Aung San Suu Kyi and other prisoners of conscience, and bring
an end to the tragedy that has befallen all of the Burmese people. Serious
leadership by the UN Security Council is the only effort that can break
the logjam.

(Jared Genser, an attorney with the legal services group DLA Piper Rudnick
Gray Cary, is co-author of a report, to be released Tuesday, ''Threat to
the
Peace: A Call for the UN Security Council to Act in Burma,'' commissioned
by former Czech Republic President Václav Havel and Bishop Desmond Tutu.)