BurmaNet News November 17, 2005

[Editor]

November 17, 2005 Issue # 2847

INSIDE BURMA
DVB: Burma junta invites political parties to attend its convention
DVB: Renowned Burmese Mon lawyer Nai Ngwe Ya passed away
Irrawaddy: Environmentalists condemn misuse of Arakan land
Kao Wao: Securing ceasefire agreement seen as a step backward
Kaladan News: New regulation for marriage permission in Arakan
Narinjara News: Rape victims have nowhere to turn to for justice

ON THE BORDER
Mizzima: Burmese woman killed by Indian landmine

REGIONAL
Mizzima: Dhaka to finalise draft Burma-Bangladesh friendship road
DVB: Asian rights commission condemns Burma junta over sentences

INTERNATIONAL
AFP: Bush and Malaysia's Abdullah discuss Myanmar, Mideast, bird flu
Irrawaddy: Six nations revolt against UN censure

OPINION / OTHER
Baltimore Sun: Runaway rogue
The Star Phoenix: Jailed writer Win Tin must be freed

____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

November 16, Democratic Voice of Burma
Burma junta invites political parties to attend its convention

Some political parties which have been boycotting the
constitution-drafting ‘National Convention’ of Burma’s military junta,
State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), are said to be among those
invited to attend a new session of the suspended convention which is due
to start on 5 December.

One of the members of the Committee for Representing People’s Parliament
(CRPP), Kokang Democratic Party (KDP) was ‘invited’ by the junta to attend
the convention and it could be a ploy of the junta to divide the
opposition, according to sources from political circles in Rangoon and
Lashio.

Yang Kyinn Maw-led KDP representatives attended the 1993-96 session of the
convention, but had been boycotting it with the National League for
Democracy (NLD) and Shan National League for Democracy (SNLD) ever since.
Some military officials recently visited KDP’s Lashio office and
indirectly mooted a threat to its leaders by asking them whether they are
going to attend the convention or let the party be declared illegal and
abolished.

KDP leaders and leaders are still discussing how to respond to the junta’s
intimidation and the CRPP is also preparing to issue an official statement
on the matter, the sources added.

When DVB contacted other members of the CRPP, they said that they have
neither been given any official invitation card nor invited with
unofficial hints. But they said that the junta has been saying every day
in its media that it will abolish any party that refuses to attend the
convention, and that it will carry out its threat sooner or later.

But CRPP members insisted that there is not a good chance for them to
attend the convention if the junta doesn’t oblige their demands and amend
some of the so-called 104 policies and 6 basic aims of the junta.

____________________________________

November 16, Democratic Voice of Burma
Renowned Burmese Mon lawyer Nai Ngwe Ya passed away

Renowned Burmese Mon lawyer Nai Ngwe Ya who had been helping people who
sued the authorities over forced labour practices and defending those who
were arrested and detained by the authorities, died at his home in Rangoon
Thaketa Township on 16 November.

Ngwe Ya had been suffering from cancer and receiving medical treatments
and undergoing operations within the previous months. His condition
worsened despite intensive treatments and he was hospitalised for the last
time two weeks ago, but discharged from the hospital as his condition
became hopeless, according to his family members and ethnic national
political colleagues. Ngwe Ya was only around 50 years old when he died.

Ngwe Ya, an ethnic Mon national, was born of father Nai Chit Kyi and
mother Tin Hlaing at Zathapyin Village, Pa-an Township in Burma’s
southeast Karen State. He industriously studied law at the university and
became a lawyer who defends those who hold different views from the
military authorities, without charging them fees. He was also one of the
secretaries of United Nationalities League for Democracy (UNLD).

His most famous effort was successfully urging a Burmese court to free 10
defendants who were given death sentence for reporting forced labour
practices to the International Labour Organisation (ILO).

The remains of Ngwe Ya will be buried at Ye-Way Cemetery in Rangoon on 18
November.

____________________________________

November 17, Irrawaddy
Environmentalists condemn misuse of Arakan land - Sai Silp

A regional agricultural promotion project involving Burma, Thailand, Laos
and Cambodia is likely to create further hardship in Burma’s Arakan State,
according to two environmentalists who have just returned from a visit
there.

The project, drawn up by the Ayeyawady-Chao Phraya-Mekong Economic
Strategy group, aims to attract regional investors to participate in a
“contract farming” scheme, which the environmentalists say may involve
confiscation of villagers’ land.

Two members of the environmental group Nationalities Youth Forum, based in
Chiang Mai, northern Thailand, told The Irrawaddy on Thursday that they
had witnessed in Arakan State evidence that the Burmese regime was taking
over villagers’ land for use in the “contract farming scheme.”

The two environmentalists, whose homes are in Arakan State, said the
government was now running almost all plantations in the region. Some land
had been sold to city businessmen. Villagers were now prevented from
venturing into these areas to cut timber or even to forage for firewood,
the environmentalists said.

About 1 million acres are being turned over to plantation cultivation in
Arakan State. A government-run rubber production project started up in
2003 in Kyaukpyu Township, in western Arakan State, and a cashew nut
plantation is now being run as a private enterprise in Man-Aung Island, on
an island off the Arakan mainland.

 According to the weekly magazine The Voice, Burmese Agricultural and
Irrigation Minister Maj-Gen Htay Oo said foreign entrepreneurs were being
allowed to invest in “contract farming” in Burma if local people failed
to work the land profitably themselves.

The environmentalists, however, said the only benefit went to city
entrepreneurs. “Local people lose their livelihood because they cannot use
the forest any more as a source of food,” said one, who requested
anonymity.

NYF Director Shwe Myo Thant said: “People at the grass roots are suffering
from this policy, and the environment in that area will be totally
destroyed.”

Early this week, the NYF issued a report based on research conducted
between 2003 and 2004 and highlighting the plight of Burma’s ethnic
minority populations. The research pinpointed  restrictions on land use
and appropriation by those who take out land-leases from the government,
mismanagement of state projects, forced resettlement, and expropriation of
ethnic land by the army for military or commercial use.

____________________________________

November 17, Kao Wao
Securing ceasefire agreement seen as a step backward

New Mon State Party has decided to attend the government sponsored
National Convention next month in which it is hoped that formal talks will
pave the way toward a political settlement among all of Burma’s
nationalities.

However, the NMSP’s emergency meeting at its headquarters named a
delegation comprised of low-profile officers replacing senior leaders, Nai
Chan Toi, General Aung Naing and Colonel Lawee Ong who attended the
previous sections.

Sources close to the NMSP said, there is constant pressure on the ethnic
groups to give up their arms in spite of cease fire agreement and some
senior members of the NMSP are frustrated with the way the SPDC
authorities have treated its members recently.

"The Burmese authorities at the Ye township checkpoint have changed their
attitude and are trying to prevent our freedom of movement agreed to in
our talks in 1995 when the ceasefire agreement was signed, particularly
among NMSP members, " said Nai Chan Mon of Ye.

"A senior member said he is disappointed with the way police act at the
checkpoint.  The NMSP officers in charge of the urban liaison office are
reluctant to travel and cross through the checkpoints,” he added.

A Kaowao source inside Mon state learned that the SPDC is not satisfied
with the NMSP, due to its refusal in giving up it arms.  The military
junta blames the ceasefire groups for destabilizing the country’s peace by
not totally giving up their arms.

____________________________________

November 17, Kaladan News
New regulation for marriage permission in Arakan

Recently, the Township Peace and Development Council (TPDC) Chairman of
Maungdaw Township, Arakan State has issued a new regulation regarding the
marriage purposes of Rohingya community, said a businessman of Maungdaw
Town.

In order to get marriage permission from TPDC Chairman of Maungdaw
Township, the bridegrooms of the new couples of the Rohingya community
should be clean shaved, he further added.

Since 1999, Rohingya people were restricted in marriages that have been
imposed on Rohingya community by Nasaka (Burmese Border Security Force).
The marriage age is fixed 24 years for the bridegroom and 18 years for the
bride. The couples are required to give under takings that they would not
take more than 3 children. Besides, the bridegroom has to assure not to
take more than one wife.

Two years ago, at least 10,000 applications had been made to the concerned
authorities, praying for permission for marriage. Many people are waiting
in vain for a long time in great frustration. But, they received no
response even after 2 years, said a man close relation to TPDC officials.

The TPDC Chairman Captain Ni Aung of Maungdaw Township with the
cooperation of Chief Clerk U Shwe Nyu of the TPDC office demands money
from Rohingyas Kyat 100,000 per each couple for marriage permission, he
more added.

But, Rohingya people are reluctant to take permission for marriage by
giving such a big amount. There are only 2 or 3 permissions have been
taken by Rohingya after giving such bribe said a local people who
requested not to named.

An elderly people from Maungdaw said, "Political and religious
persecutions in Arakan State towards Rohingya people are increasing day by
day."

____________________________________

November 17, Narinjara News
Rape victims have nowhere to turn to for justice

Rape offences committed by the junta’s security forces in regional Arakan
State simply go unpunishable, says a close relative of one victim in Pone
Nar Gyan Township, north of the capital, Akyab.

He told Narinjara “there is not a single court where we can seek justice.
My niece was raped by a police officer. It has been four months now and no
investigation has been carried out and we are not able to bring the case
to court.”

Commander of Kyanung Taung police station, Shwe Aye, allegedly raped a
woman from Aung Myae Gone village in Pone Nar Gyan in July at the house of
the Village Council President.

The family reported the incident to the Pone Nar Gyan police station, and
its commander Nyan Winn, but as yet nothing has been done after four
months of waiting.

“We asked the police to investigate the case, and implored the Township
Peace and Development Council to ensure proper application of the rule of
law. However, it is unlikely we will see justice since it is a senior
officer who committed the offence. We don’t know what to do now,” says the
relative.

The victim’s family is not able to go to a higher-level court in Akyab,
the capital of Arakan state, due to their poor financial position.

The rape victim is 24 years old and works as a hair trader.

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

November 17, Mizzima News
Burmese woman killed by Indian landmine - Sein Moe

A Burmese migrant worker and vegetable seller was killed by a landmine in
India on November 6 just two miles from the Burma border.

The woman, from Bandoola village, Tamu township, Sagaing Division, had
crossed Burma's border with India to sell salt and fish paste in the
Indian villages of Wanle and Htan Kolin and buy vegetables to be resold in
Burma.

She crossed through the Tonmana border village before stepping on the
mine. Villagers from Bandoola said they heard the blast but thought
nothing of it until the woman failed to return.
"In the evening, when this woman didn't come back on time, the neighbours
went out to find her and then they give up their rescue mission when they
heard two more blasts. The villagers found her only at noon next the day
with multiple wounds," a villager said.

The landmine had torn away one of her legs from the knee down and she had
suffered injuries to her left hand and forearm. Villagers say he died from
blood loss and that they buried her the day she was found.

The villagers informed the Mintha town-based LIB 228 Company Commander of
the incident and asked for help. Villagers say he told them, "We have
nothing to do with this incident. You'd better go to the Indian
authorities asked help from them."

A company from battalions LIB 228, 87 and 89 are stationed at the Mintha
town outpost alternatively.

____________________________________
REGIONAL

November 17, Mizzima News
Dhaka to finalise draft Burma-Bangladesh friendship road agreement –
Siddique Islam

Authorities in Dhaka were set to finalise a draft agreement on the
construction of the Bangladesh-Burma friendship road at an
inter-ministerial meeting today in line with the government's 'Look East
Policy'.

The approval of the draft agreement, prepared after years of negotiations
between technical and financial committees from the two countries, will
pave the way for the construction of the first phase of the road project,
official sources told Mizzima.

Bangladeshi Communication Minister Nazmul Huda reportedly presided over
the meeting and top officials from the several other ministries were also
present.

Eight financial, technical and legal clauses have been included in the
draft agreement that will be signed once approved by the Burmese military
and the Bangladeshi government.

The road will be constructed in two phases at a cost of more than Tk  9.33
billion and will stretch from Taungbro, Bangladesh to Kyauktaw in Burma
via Ramu-Gundom of Cox's Bazar in Bangladesh.

Bangladeshi engineers and construction companies will build the first
43-kilometre phase of the road, at a cost of Tk  1.63 billion, allowing
Bangladeshi businesspersons access to the Bawli Bazar river port in Burma.

The port is one of Arakan states major trade hubs and is well linked to
other cities.

The remaining 110 kilometres road stretching from Bawli Bazar to Kyautaw
in Burma will be built at a cost of Tk  7.70 billion in the second phase
of the project.

____________________________________

November 15, Democratic Voice of Burma
Asian rights commission condemns Burma junta over sentences

Hong Kong-based Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC), on 14 November,
condemned the South Rangoon District Court's summary rejections of recent
appeals against the jailing of human rights defender Su Su Nway and a
private tuition teacher Aung Pe from Twante Township.

34-year old Su Su Nway was sentenced to 20 months in prison on October 13
for spurious charges of abusing and intimidating local government
officials,despite her chronic heart condition. In another case, an appeal
lodged on behalf of Aung Pe was thrown out on October 24, with the judge
writing the dismissal as the defending lawyer was arguing the case.

"The cursory manner in which the judges disposed of the cases suggests
that the petitioners were not given the right to a fair hearing in
accordance with international standards, and that the judges were acting
under instructions to dismiss the appeals," the AHRC said.

The project manager of AHRC, Bijo Francis told DVB that his organisation
has written an official letter of protest to Burma’s military junta, the
State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) on the matter and he also urged
the international community to put more pressures on the junta.

Su Su Nway obtained the first successful conviction for forced labour in
Burma in January against the local officials of her village Htan Manaing,
Kawmoo Township, Rangoon Division with the help of the International
Labour Organisation (ILO).

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

November 17, Agency France Press
Bush and Malaysia's Abdullah discuss Myanmar, Mideast, bird flu

US President George W. Bush and Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad
Badawi on Thursday discussed a US-brokered Middle East border accord,
Myanmar and regional efforts to control bird flu.

The two leaders, meeting on the sidelines of an Asia-Pacific summit here,
also discussed efforts to stabilize Iraq, said Mike Green, senior Asia
director on Bush's National Security Council.

The discussion of Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, came a day after the
US president used a speech on democracy to describe it and North Korea as
outposts of "isolation, backwardness, and brutality."

"The president did raise Burma" and will do so again on Friday when he
meets with Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) leaders, said
Green. "It's a very important issue for him.

"The president is interested in having frank discussions with leaders who
have influence on that regime on how we can collectively try to improve
the situation for the people there," said Green.

Abdullah, whose country currently chairs ASEAN, told reporters Bush
expressed concern over human rights violations in Myanmar during the
hour-long meeting, which he described as "easy" and "free-flowing".

Green noted that Bush had met October 31 with Charm Tong, the 23-year-old
founding member of the Shan Women's Action Network (SWAN), which has
documented the reported rape of hundreds of women and girls by Myanmar's
soldiers.

Bush "did not scold," Abdullah replied when asked whether the president
had echoed US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's earlier remarks
chiding Southeast Asian nations for not speaking out enough on human
rights abuses in Myanmar.

The US president asked Rice to brief Abdullah on her recent Middle East
trip, which led to an agreement from Israel to open Gaza's borders,
including the main Rafah crossing.

Abullah said he told Bush there was a strong perception in the Muslim
world that the United States was not even-handed in its treatment of
Muslims in Iraq and the Palestinian territories and this needed to be
addressed.

Bush and Abdullah discussed the war on terrorism in which "Malaysia has
been a stalwart ally," said the US official.

The meeting came as US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales made a one-day
visit in Malaysia and met his counterpart Gani Patail for talks on various
issues, including the global "war on terror" and software piracy.

Asked whether the two leaders had discussed air patrols in the
piracy-plagued Strait of Malacca, Green replied: "They didn't really talk
about pirates, although that is an important issue in the region."

The United States has previously held up Malaysia as the kind of moderate
Muslim nation that could be a model for the future Iraq.

____________________________________

November 17, Irrawaddy
Six nations revolt against UN censure - Thalif Deen/IPS Writer

A United Nations committee is expected to block an attempt by the United
States and European nations to single out six countries—Iran, North Korea,
Burma, Sudan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan—for condemnation on human rights
abuses.

Arguing that Western nations have double standards on human rights, all
six countries will be using a procedural device to thwart the adoption of
the six resolutions by calling for ”no action motions”.

The adoption of six no-action motions—under rule 116 of the General
Assembly's rules of procedure—will prevent the resolutions being put to a
vote at a meeting of the Third Committee later this week.

If the motions are approved, they will eventually go before the 191-member
General Assembly, the UN's highest policy-making body, for ratification
next month. Traditionally, voting in the General Assembly mirrors
committee voting.

With heavy canvassing for votes, the survival of the no-action motions
would depend on the political clout wielded by each of the six countries.

Sudan is believed to have the best chance of survival because African
countries have closed ranks in support of a member of the 53-nation
African Union.

For the first time last year, Belarus, Sudan and Zimbabwe escaped
condemnation by the General Assembly by resorting to no-action motions.
All three were approved by majority votes in the Third Committee last
November.

“This time the revolt has spread to other countries as well,” said an
Asian diplomat speaking on condition of anonymity, “because the general
feeling is that it is unfair to have country-specific resolutions
condemning human rights violations when member states such as Israel and
the US get away with murder.”

The US has come under heavy fire for human rights violations, including
torture and ill treatment by US forces of prisoners in the Guantanamo Bay
detention facility and in the Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad.

Israel has come under continuous criticism for human rights abuses and
heavy-handed treatment of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza.
But still, there have been no country-specific resolutions either against
the US or Israel.

Belarus, which initiated a resolution last year critical of US human
rights abuses, withdrew it at the eleventh hour.

“The primary reason my delegation introduced the draft [resolution] was to
demonstrate to the international community that no country in the world
was immune to human rights problems and should, therefore, not be exempt
from international scrutiny,” Ambassador Andrei Dapkiunas of Belarus told
delegates last year.

The draft resolution had achieved that objective, he added, as he withdrew
it from consideration by the committee.

In a statement released Wednesday, Amnesty International urged UN member
states to consider the human rights situation in any country on its merits
and to take appropriate action.

Amnesty International said it is “deeply concerned” about reports that “no
action motions” may be introduced shortly in the Third Committee of the
General Assembly to avoid considering the serious human rights situations
in Iran, Burma, North Korea, Sudan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

Yvonne Terlingen, Amnesty International's representative at the United
Nations, told IPS that at the recently-concluded UN summit, world leaders
committed themselves to strengthening the UN's human rights machinery by
approving the creation of new Human Rights Council.

“The Third Committee— which deals with human rights— must not undermine
this commitment by using procedural motions to avoid acting on specific
country situations,” she added.

Amnesty International appeals to all member states to consider country
situations openly and transparently solely on their merits, and, in doing
so, treat human rights with the seriousness they deserve.

No action motions have also helped undermine the credibility of the UN
Commission on Human Rights in Geneva.

“The same must not happen with the General Assembly. Amnesty International
opposes all 'no action motions' as a matter of principle because they
prevent the General Assembly from considering the human rights situations
in any country on its merits,” she added.

In its statement, Amnesty International also said that no action motions
stifle debate, prevent consideration of serious human rights situations
and substantively undermine the General Assembly's ability to assist in
the realization of human rights for all without any distinction, as the UN
Charter requires.

____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

November 17, The Baltimore Sun
Runaway rogue

The junta that stole the Burmese state now has absconded with its capital.
Surprising just about everyone who watches Myanmar - as its military
regime renamed the nation - a convoy of trucks began moving government
ministries last week 200 miles north from the longtime capital of Yangon
to an undeveloped rural outpost. Left behind, astonished foreign diplomats
were told that if they had to reach the government, they could send a fax.

It's hard to imagine that Myanmar's generals - having overturned a free
election in 1990, having detained Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi for most
of the time since then, having contributed heavily to the spread of drugs
and AIDS in Southeast Asia, and having been credibly accused of forced
labor and military rapes - could do themselves more damage. But this move
gives new meaning to "outposts of tyranny," the Bush administration's
label for Myanmar, North Korea, Iran and their ilk.

Speculation has it that the move stemmed from rising U.S. pressure on the
junta, a growing world movement to take Myanmar's case to the United
Nations and the generals' unfounded fears that America might invade. In
any case, it's further sign of this regime's inward direction - one that's
dangerous for the Burmese and for U.S. interests and that's apt to make
Myanmar even more of a Chinese client state. In Asia yesterday, President
Bush spoke up for liberty in Myanmar, but unfortunately, such right-minded
statements are tempered by the vexing reality that, like North Korea, this
military state's primary goal is its generals' survival in power.
____________________________________


November 17, The Star Phoenix
Jailed writer Win Tin must be freed - Gerry Kleinand Sarath Peiris

Following is the viewpoint of the writers, members of The SP editorial board.

By all accounts, most countries would consider U Win Tin an ideal citizen.

But the gentle and compassionate, yet courageous and loyal 75-year-old
journalist in Myanmar has been locked up for 16 years in a hellish jail
for no greater crime than being an articulate and intellectual defender of
basic human rights.

It is fitting that so soon after Canada and other free nations paused to
honour the sacrifices of those who fought for our freedoms, much of the
world has set aside today to show support for journalists such as Win Tin,
who are imprisoned for plying their craft.

Like most heroes, Win Tin didn't set out to be a martyr. Born in 1930, he
earned a BA in English literature, modern history and political science,
which set him on a career of newspaper writing and political commentary.
As Myanmar (formerly Burma) devolved into a military state run by corrupt
and ruthless generals, he ignored the threat to his safety and commented
on the dangers wrought by the changes.

In Canada, the right to comment fairly on the actions of the government --
or almost anything -- is so fundamental to our culture and way of life
that it's safeguarded in our Constitution and been the subject of Supreme
Court decisions dating back to this nation's formation.

We are reminded of this daily as we assemble the editorials, columns,
viewpoints and letters on these pages. As is quoted below the editorial,
the Supreme Court ruling from 1938 states: "Democracy cannot be maintained
without its foundation: free public opinion and free discussion throughout
the nation of all matters affecting the state within the limits set by the
criminal code and the common law."

Those laws are constantly monitored to prevent the stifling of this right.
It is for that reason our colleagues at The StarPhoenix spend their days
researching and telling stories about what it means to be in Saskatoon, in
Saskatchewan and in Canada.

It is for a better city, province and country that we work to foster
debate by commenting about the state of our democracy and governance, and
it is because of our commitment to free speech that we publish letters and
viewpoints, many of which are in response or opposition to our own views.

And it is also for that reason we dedicate space to give voice to those
who don't have the machinery of the state -- the communications officers,
huge budgets and ability to send out mass mailings and e-mails -- to
express their views. We presume those who read these pages, even when they
disagree with us or our correspondents on specific topics, must share our
view that the best path to freedom and democracy is through open
discussion and debate.

It is for sharing these values that Win Tin -- and at least 111 other
journalists around the world, are now locked up. It is worth considering
how many of us would have his courage to stay in jail rather than
sacrifice the right to express our views.

Win Tin's principal crime was that he offered advice to Aung San Suu Kyi,
the leader of the Burmese National League for Democracy, who won the 1988
vote for presidency in this southeast Asian nation. She won the 1991 Nobel
Peace Prize for the peaceful protest after Myanmar rulers refused to
honour those election results.

Win Tin already was a renowned political commentator before the military
cracked down on the pro-democracy movement, and for that reason he played
an important role in forming the NLD. He never considered himself a
politician, however, and even though he served as the party's secretary
general, considered himself a democrat rather than party member.

He never considered himself a warrior. In fact, it was for promoting
peaceful civil disobedience, and for writing about India's Mahatma
Mohandas Gandhi, who also promoted a non-violent route to change, that he
was arrested. Like Gandhi, whose title Mahatma was bestowed for his great
wisdom and virtue, Win Tin has been honoured with the Myanmar equivalent
of "Saya."

But though he preached non-violence, Win Tin clearly doesn't lack for
courage. Over the years, when offered freedom in exchange for support for
the military rulers, he consistently has insisted he'd rather languish in
the notorious Insein jail that holds Myanmar's political prisoners.

And when Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, the United Nations' special envoy for
human rights in Myanmar, visited him on his 75th birthday in March, it
wasn't the deplorable conditions he was kept in that Win Tin wanted to
raise (although he has been a strong advocate for the release of fellow
inmates), and it wasn't even his failing health, which has been made worse
by poor medical care and the effects of improper surgery. Instead, it was
Myanmar's human rights situation he wanted to highlight.

"I was very moved when he explained to me how he had no access to paper or
writing instruments," Pinheiro said in his report.

But even taking away the instruments of his craft has not served to
silence the journalist and poet. To continue to fight against his forced
silence, Win Tin has fabricated his own ink out of powder extracted from
the bricks of his cell, and fashioned a pen from a long piece of wood.

Pinheiro, whose career is built around the stated UN desire to free all
political prisoners, reminds us that while this is a lofty goal, "it is
also important to plead for individual cases, especially Win Tin and other
political prisoners who are old or ill."

Win Tin's case has been championed by groups such as the UN, Amnesty
International and Reporters Without Borders, so far to no avail.