BurmaNet News, November 30, 2005

[Editor]

November 30, 2005 Issue # 2854

INSIDE BURMA
Irrawaddy: Burmese troops shell and burn five villages
DVB: Obituary: Dr Than Tun - Historian
SHAN: Popular ceasefire leader rejoins convention

ON THE BORDER
Irrawaddy: Burmese migrants held in southern Thailand security sweep

REGIONAL
Narinjara: Bangladeshi army chief on goodwill mission to Burma

INTERNATIONAL
Irrawaddy: Total settles out of court over pipeline
AP via International Herald Tribune: U.S. pushes UN for Myanmar inquiry
AFP: Norway calls for release of Aung San Suu Kyi

PRESS RELEASE
NCGUB: UN Security Council urged to help bring political settlement in Burma
CSW: UK Government pledges support for UN Security Council

____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

November 30, Irrawaddy
Burmese troops shell and burn five villages - Louis Reh

Some 2,000 Karen villagers have been forced to flee five villages in Karen
State after Burmese troops carried out a mortar attack and then burned
them down on November 26, according to a senior official of the Karen
National Union. The villagers are now living in the jungle with little
food and no shelter, KNU secretary general Mahn Sha told The Irrawaddy.

He said the villages were “black villages,” meaning they were not
recognized by the government, claiming they were controlled by insurgents.

“The villagers are forced to sneak back to their villages and forage for
paddy,” said Mahn Sha. “But if they are caught by the troops, they could
be shot.” He said government troops should only fight the KNU, and leave
innocent civilians alone.

In September, Amnesty International issued a report saying it was
concerned that the Burmese government systematically denied human rights
to civilians, particularly in ethnic minority communities.

Liaison officer of the Free Burma Rangers Phe Bu said mobile teams of
rangers were sent to give the displaced villagers medical treatment. The
FBR, formed in 1997, has been providing medical help for displaced ethnic
communities in several Burmese states, including Karen, Arakan,  Karenni
and Shan states.

“I feel very sorry for them,” Phe Bu said from the Thai border town of Mae
Sot. “They need a lot of things, but we can do only a little for them.”

____________________________________

November 30, Democratic Voice of Burma
Obituary: Dr Than Tun - Historian

Burma's most renowned and respected historian Dr. Than Tun who died from
heart attack and breathing problems in the early hours of 30 November, was
born on 6 April 1923 in Daunggyi Village, Ngathaingchaung/Yeikyi Township
in the delta region of Irrawaddy Division, of father Phoe Twei and mother
Daw Thin.

Bright, young thing Than Tun passed the matriculation examinations in 1939
and joined the then reputable University of Rangoon where he obtained both
his M.A degree in 1950 and B.L degree in 1952.

During the Second World War, in 1943, he became the secretary of
Ngathaingchaung’s Asian Youth League, and was appointed the chairman of
Anti-Fascist People’s Freedom League (AFPFL) in the following year. In
1947, after the war and just before the independence of Burma, he also
became the chairman of the historic Burmese student union Ba-Ka-Tha.


>From 1952 to 1956, he studied at London University, Schools of Oriental

and African Studies (SOAS) for his Ph. D and submitted the thesis
“Buddhism in Pagan Period”. He was awarded the Ph. D in 1956.

In 1959, he became a lecturer in Rangoon University’s Department of
History and Political Science. In 1965, he was promoted to the Professor
and Head of Department in History at Mandalay University, and he worked
there for nearly 20 years. He left Mandalay in 1982 for Tokyo University’s
Department of South East Asian Studies.

Than Tun initially ‘retired’ from his official teaching duties for the
Burmese government in 1983 while he was in Japan. From 1982 to 1987 he
worked as a Research Fellow and Visiting Professor in Tokyo University of
Foreign Studies, Dept of African and Asian Languages and Cultural Studies,
Tokyo International Christian University and Osaka University at Foreign
Studies. Later, he went to the USA and worked as a visiting professor in
Northern Illinois University where he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of
Literature in 1988.

He compiled and published the “Royal orders of Burma” in 10 volumes and
several other works of note on the history of ancient Burma, but many of
them had not been published due to the draconian censorship.

In 1990 he came back to Burma and worked as a Member of the Myanmar
(Burmese) Historical Commission and Emeritus Professor in Yangon (Rangoon)
University in the Departments of History and Archaeology.

In 2000 Fukuokar Asian Culture prize Committee awarded Than Tun the
highest world-wide academic award, a Literate of the 11th Fukuoka Asian
Culture Prizes in the Academic Prize Category.

Than Tun was also known as a fearlessly outspoken critic of successive
military juntas of Burma, and, for not toeing to the official line when it
comes to the history of Burma. Than Tun often criticised the generals for
attempting to rewrite the history of Burma according to the requirements
of their propagandas, and his well-researched books on Burma, had often
been banned by the authorities or sidelined by publishers for fear of
punishments from the paranoid generals.

When some Burmese generals led by the ousted Prime Minister of the State
Peace and Development Council (SPDC) Gen Khin Nyunt pampered and exalted a
captured ‘White’ elephant, the symbol of royalty and prosperity, during a
'religious' ceremony in 2003, Than Tun dismissed the whole affair as
mumbo-jumbo and said, “White elephant, black elephant; they are the same.
If you don’t believe me, let them tread on you.” A year later, Khin Nyunt
was ousted by his fellow generals in an intra army coup.

Most of all, Than Tun was very critical of the military junta’s defacing
of the ancient Burmese capital the Old Pagan with unnecessary, garish and
over-the-top ‘re-innovations’ of its ancient temples, the construction of
a motorway among the ruins and the erection of an observation tower for
the benefits of dollar yielding tourists.

Than Tun is survived by his wife and children.

____________________________________

November 30, Shan Herald Agency for News
Popular ceasefire leader rejoins convention

Col Gaifah, deputy commander of the Shan State Army-North, has decided to
return to the military-organized constitutional convention after his
absence in protest of the arrests of Shan leaders in February, according
to sources in the North.

Out of 4 of the delegates who accompany him, only one, Lt-Col Harn Seuk,
is from the original delegation. The rest are all newly selected by the
recent annual meeting: majors Awng Aye, Awng Myint and Than Htay (Haw
Lern).

The decision, hotly debated was taken after major ceasefire groups had
suggested that his presence was necessary, said Gaifah to S.H.A.N. this
morning prior to his departure for Rangoon.

"The 13-group alliance that had presented a joint federal proposal last
year has been hurt by the forcible surrender of the SSNA (Shan State
National Army)'s 6th, 11th and 19th brigades as well as the PSLA (Palaung
State Liberation Army) early this year," he said. "There is therefore a
need to demonstrate that the rest of us are sticking together.

The 52-year old commander of the SSA-North however refused to divulge what
the alliance's plans were. "We still have to meet first and decide what to
do," he insisted.

The SSA-North, in its 22 November statement, has promised not to resort to
the use of force except in self-defense. It has also vowed not to lay down
its arms until a constitution that guarantees "the equality and
self-determination of all national races" has emerged.
Other sources meanwhile say ceasefire groups in southern Shan State have
already arrived in Rangoon.

The 13 groups that had called for "more powers to the states" in the 17
May- 9 July 2004 session of the National Convention were:
•	Shan State Army
•	Kachin Defense Army
•	Palaung State Liberation Front
•	New Democratic Army-Kachin
•	Kachin Independence Organization
•	Kayan National Guard
•	Karenni Nationalities Peoples Liberation Front
•	Kayan New Land Party
•	Karenni National Progress Party (Hoya splinter group)
•	Shan Nationalities Peoples Liberation Organization
•	New Mon State Party
•	Shan State National Army and
•	Mon Armed Peace Group (Chaungchi)

Their joint presentation included the following points:
•	Concurrent legislative power for the states
•	Residuary powers, meaning those that are not articulated in the
Constitution, to the states
•	The states to draft their own constitutions
•	Separate school curricula for states
•	Separate defense force for each state
•	The states to conduct their own foreign affairs in particular subjects
•	Independent finance and taxation

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

November 30, Irrawaddy
Burmese migrants held in southern Thailand security sweep - Sai Silp

Police in Thailand’s southern Songkhla province on Wednesday arrested 46
illegal Burmese migrants after raiding the offices of a company run by a
Burmese Muslim.

The raid was ordered as part of heightened security measures in Thailand’s
restive southern provinces, a border patrol police officer told The
Irrawaddy.  Hat Yai immigration police carried out the raid on Tuesday
night, on the Hat Yai offices of a company called Inter Toptour Co Ltd,
and recovered visas and other documents. The company is run by a Burmese
businessman, Than Tun, also known as “Sunny.”

On Wednesday, immigration police arrested 46 illegal Burmese migrant
workers in a Hat Yai camp. They are to be repatriated to Burma, and
inquiries are to be made about their possible involvement in separatist
activities in southern Thailand, the police said. Than Tun’s suspected
role in bringing them to Thailand is also to be investigated.

Earlier this month, another Burmese citizen, Abi Raman, also known as
“Bailey,” was arrested on suspicion of running an agency for illegal
Burmese migrants. Police say he is also being investigated for possible
involvement in the bombing of a department store in Hat Yai in April.

____________________________________
REGIONAL

November 30, Narinjara News
Bangladeshi army chief on goodwill mission to Burma

Bangladeshi Army Chief Staff, Lieutenant General Moeen U Ahmed, is on a
goodwill visit to Burma accompanied by his wife since November 27,
according to the BBC Burmese morning section reports.

The tour by the Bangladeshi army chief to Burma followed an invitation
from the Burmese army chief senior general Than Shwe.

The trip has come about two months after Burma’s high-powered military
team led by Thura Shwe Man visited Bangladesh between September 24 and 26.

According to reports available, the Bangladeshi army chief discussed
important bilateral issues with his Burmese counterparts such as border
security, Arakanese insurgent groups, national resources and the military
relationship between Bangladesh and Burma.

During his stay in Burma, the Bangladeshi army chief is expected to call
on Burmese military chief Senior General Than Shwe.

Meanwhile, the Bangladeshi Army has launched an operation on Arakanese
rebels from Burma on the Burma-Bangladesh border since November 8. During
the operation, the Bangladeshi Army seized a number of arms and ammunition
from the border area.

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

November 30, Irrawaddy
Total settles out of court over pipeline - Aung Lwin Oo

French oil giant Total announced on Tuesday that it had reached a  €5.2
million (US $6.12 million) out-of-court settlement in a case centered on
its alleged human rights abuses during its controversial operations in
Burma.

In a statement in Paris on Tuesday, Total’s vice president for exploration
and production, Jean Francois Lassalle, said: “The personal situations of
some individuals, unknown to the organization, have now been resolved.”
The legal battle between Total and 12 Burmese nationals—eight plaintiffs
and four witnesses—had started in France in 2002. The case revolved around
the oil giant’s alleged role in human rights abuses during its Yadana
natural gas pipeline project from Burma to Thailand.

Eight plaintiffs are entitled to receive €10,000 ($11,773) each.  €4
million ($4.7) will be put aside for Burmese refugees in Thailand, while
another €1.12 million ($1.32 million) is allocated for “the people who
could claim and justify that they were subjected to forced labor” during
the pipeline project, according to Lassalle.

“We can’t say that it’s a totally fair settlement,” said Htoo Chit,
director of the Thailand-based Grassroots Human Rights Education, who
testified against Total during the court case in France. “Our decision [to
accept the settlement] is made in conjunction with the plaintiffs and the
local population” he told The Irrawaddy.

Along with the California-based Unocal, the Petroleum Authority of
Thailand and Burma’s state-owned Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise, Total was
involved in the US $1.2 billion Yadana gas pipeline project from 1995 to
1998. It was claimed the Burmese army forced local people from the area to
work on pipeline construction during this period.

“We want to strongly state that we were not directly or indirectly
responsible for what happened,” Lassalle told The Irrawaddy by telephone
on Wednesday. He claimed the compensation is being made not because of
guilt but because of the company’s social responsibility.

Burma Campaign UK, a London-based rights organization, warned that it
would continue pressing the oil giant to leave the country.

“If they think that this agreement will help take the pressure off, they
are making a big mistake,” Yvette Mahon, director of the Burma Campaign
UK, said in a statement on Tuesday.  She added that Total’s payment was
“tiny compared to the hundreds of millions of dollars” the company makes
in profits.

Lassalle answered critics who say Total’s pay-out is small compared to
profits from its Burma operations by saying the company has helped Burma’s
socio-economic development.

Htoo Chit countered by saying that the lives of thousands of people have
been forever changed by the project.

Four Burmese filed a separate lawsuit against Total in Belgium in May, 
2002. The case continues.

____________________________________

November 30, Associated Press via International Herald Tribune
U.S. pushes UN for Myanmar inquiry

The United States asked the UN Security Council to put Myanmar on its
agenda for the first time, accusing its military rulers of repressing
political opponents, including Aung San Aung San Suu Kyi, the
pro-democracy leader.

In a letter to the Council president, U.S. Ambassador John Bolton accused
the regime on Tuesday of destroying villages, targeting ethnic minorities
and failing to initiate democratic reforms. He also cited press reports
that the Burmese authorities are seeking nuclear power capabilities.
Russia and China blocked the last U.S. attempt to get the Security Council
to discuss Myanmar in June, and it is unclear whether they will do so
again.

Bolton's letter to Andrey Denisov, Russia's ambassador to the UN and the
current Council president, was sent two days after the military government
extended the house arrest of Aung San Suu Kyi, which began in May 2003.
The Nobel Peace Prize winner has spent 10 of the last 16 years in
detention.

The junta took power in 1988 after suppressing pro-democracy protests. It
held an election in 1990, but refused to recognize the results after a
landslide victory by Aung San Suu Kyi's party.

In Tuesday's letter obtained by The Associated Press, Bolton said "the
United States and other members of the Security Council are concerned
about the deteriorating situation in Burma."

Bolton is expected to raise the issue at a Security Council meeting on
Wednesday and the United States is hoping for a briefing later this week,
a U.S. official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the
letter has not yet been formally discussed.

Procedural rules prohibit the Council from taking up issues not on its
agenda, allowing nations to block discussions.

Since the last attempt in June, American diplomats have gone to several
key capitals to try to convince other governments that the 15-nation
Council should discuss Myanmar.

China has long opposed taking up Myanmar because of its close ties to the
country, while Russia is believed to object because it fears such talks
could lead to discussion of its breakaway Chechnya province.

Bolton did not spell out any specific action that Washington is seeking.
He warned, however, that the flow of narcotics from Myanmar is a catalyst
in spreading HIV and AIDS "and potentially destabilizing transnational
crime."

In addition, Bolton wrote, the regime "has destroyed villages, targeted
ethnic minorities, and forced relocations."

He also said that the government's "failure to initiate democratic reforms
while repressing political opponents shows the regime's continued intent
to maintain power regardless of its citizens' desires."

____________________________________

November 30, Agence France Presse
Norway calls for release of Aung San Suu Kyi

Norway's government on Wednesday condemned Myanmar's military rulers for
extending the house arrest of Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi
and demanded her immediate release.

"Norway calls for the immediate liberation of Aung San Suu Kyi.

This would be an important step towards reconciliation and democratization
in Myanmar," Norwegian Foreign Affairs Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere said in
a statement.

On Monday, Myanmar's military junta announced that Aung San Suu Kyi, who
has been detained for 10 of the past 16 years, would be held for another
six months.

The decision came just a week before a new National Convention session,
where hand-picked delegates are working on a new constitution for Myanmar
that would give the military's commander-in-chief the power to appoint
one-quarter of the members of parliament.

"It is regrettable that Aung San Suu Kyi and her party, the National
League for Democracy, will not be able to participate in the
constitutional process that will begin again on December 5," Stoere said.

Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party won the 1990
elections but was never allowed to govern. Its offices have been shut down
by the junta and she has never had the opportunity to receive the
prestigious Nobel Peace Prize awarded her in Oslo in 1991.

The prize money was instead given to her husband and their two sons.

Aung San Suu Kyi has had virtually no contact with the outside world since
her last detention period began in May 2003. Her house arrest was last
extended by 12 months one year ago.

____________________________________
PRESS RELEASE

November 30, National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma
UN Security Council urged to help bring political settlement in Burma

The NCGUB welcomes the latest developments at the United Nations Security
Council which has been urged to have a formal briefing by a senior member
of the UN Secretariat on the situation in Burma.

The request for a formal briefing by the United States and several other
members of the UN Security Council which are concerned over the
deteriorating situation in Burma is the culmination of the call made in
the report, entitled: A Threat to the Peace: A Call for the UN Security
Council to Act in Burma", commissioned by Former President of the Czech
Republic, Vaclav Havel, and Nobel Peace Laureate Desmond Tutu which was
released in September and has since gained growing support among
governments, legislators, international trade unions, human rights
organizations, the international community in general, and particularly
among all pro-democracy and ethnic forces in Burma.

Intense diplomatic interaction has been taking place behind the scenes
among UN Security Council members for almost two months before enough
votes were secured to place Burma on the agenda of the UN Security Council
and His Excellency Mr. John R. Bolton, permanent US representative to the
United Nations, formally sent a letter to H.E. Mr. Andrey I. Denisov
requesting the formal briefing on Burma.

The concerns raised in the formal letter were about the flow of drugs, the
spread of HIV/AIDS, the deteriorating human rights violations, including
destruction of villages, the persecution of ethnic minorities, and forced
relocation leading to large internal displacement and exodus of refugees
in Burma, as well as the regime’s attempt to become a nuclear power, its
failure to initiate democratic reforms, and repression of political
opponents, including the detention of more than 1,100 political prisoners
and the recent extension of the house arrest of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.

Dr. Thaung Htun, representative for UN Affairs of the National Coalition
Government of the Union of Burma (NCGUB) said, “We are delighted to see
the response of United States and other UNSC members to the call of
Burmese people to urgently address the deteriorating situation in Burma.
It is the result of the joint efforts of various organizations around the
world and we are much grateful to Vaclav Havel and Desmond Tutu for their
valuable contribution in making this happen."

The NCGUB is of the view that the briefing on Burma will be by the UN
Secretary General since he has been engaged in the process to bring
national reconciliation in the country for many years and urges all UN
Security Council members to bypass the technicalities of bringing the
Burma issue on the agenda and instead focus on helping alleviate the
suffering of the people of Burma by making powerfully persuasive decisions
that will eventually lead to a UN facilitated political settlement in
Burma.

____________________________________

November 29, Christian Solidarity Worldwide
UK Government pledges support for UN Security Council action on Burma in
House of Lords

In response to a debate introduced by Lord Alton of Liverpool, the UK
government has pledged its support for UN Security Council action on
Burma.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office minister Lord Triesman said: "Our position
is clear: we support the involvement of the UN in helping to address
Burma's problems. We also support US efforts to get the UN Security
Council to address Burma . We are supporting it with effort and energy and
will continue to do so. We will work consistently with the Americans on
how best to achieve the goal. We are wholly involved."

Members of the House of Lords held the debate yesterday, just hours after
900 Karen villagers fled yet another attack by the Burma Army.

In his opening speech, Lord Alton, a founder of Jubilee Campaign and
Patron of Karen Aid, told the House of Lords: "The topicality and
immediacy of the debate is underlined by an e-mail I received concerning
events at 9 o'clock local time today, when in Hee Daw Hgaw, village, at
least 30 houses were burnt. Just two days ago in Taungoo district, 10
shells were launched on Htaw Hta Htoo township."

Lord Alton, who has travelled to the Karen areas on both sides of the
Thai-Burmese border several times, urged the British Government to support
efforts to bring the issue of Burma to the United Nations Security
Council, and to explore initiatives to bring Burma's military regime to
justice for crimes against humanity and attempted genocide. He set out the
legal definitions of genocide under the 1948 Convention on the Prevention
and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, and argued that the Burmese
junta's persecution of the Karen, Karenni and Shan met many of the
criteria.

"The Burmese military have for years been conducting widespread and
systematic  atrocities against Karen, Karenni and Shan civilians including
rape, summary  executions, torture, disappearances, extortion, forced
labour and the systematic  destruction of villages, crops, livestock and
food stores deliberately creating a humanitarian catastrophe," Lord Alton
said.

"The names of Burmese military commanders and units engaged in such
atrocities are often reported yet disturbingly Her Majesty's Government
have so far failed to acknowledge that genocide, crimes against humanity
and war crimes are being perpetrated against those ethnic groups . Last
year I was in Rwanda, where western governments failed to name genocide
for what it was. After Rwanda, the international community once again
declared "Never again", but in Burma it is never again, all over again."

Lord Alton highlighted Guy Horton's report Dying Alive: A Legal Assessment
of Human Rights Violations in Burma, which CSW and Jubilee Campaign helped
to promote earlier this year. He referred to CSW's report documenting
strong circumstantial evidence indicating the use of chemical or
biological weapons against Karenni in an attack on February 15 this year,
and said this was not the first time such allegations had been made.

"Several victims of this attack have now been examined by three separate
medical practitioners independently of each other. Another examination
using a matrix from Jane's Chem-Bio Handbook for military use, suggests
that a cocktail of blister agents, nerve agents and pulmonary agents was
used in this attack, " said Lord Alton. "These allegations . should be
taken extremely seriously . The use of mustard gas, blister agents and
other chemicals is in blatant contravention of the chemical weapons
convention of 1992, which Burma ratified in January 1993."

CSW's Honorary President Baroness Cox, who has visited the Thai-Burmese
border recently, referred to the "massive collection of authoritative,
accurate evidence documenting the atrocities perpetrated by the SPDC". She
had personally interviewed victims of forced labour, former child
soldiers, rape victims, human minesweepers and, most recently, victims of
alleged chemical weapons attacks.

In addition to the Karen, Karenni and Shan, Baroness Cox highlighted the
plight of the Chin and Kachin peoples on the India-Burma border, whom she
had visited with CSW last year. "As a predominantly Christian people, they
have experienced religious persecution, with the systematic destruction of
churches and the crosses they build at crossroads and on hilltops. Some
have been forced to contribute to the replacement of their churches by
pagodas," she said. "Many have had to flee into neighbouring India to
survive, living in dire conditions in rural areas or urban so-called camps
in cities."

Baroness Cox reminded the House of Lords of the debt Britain owes to the
ethnic groups in Burma. If Britain does not act, she said, "we will be
guilty not only of betraying a defenceless people who are suffering and
dying while we talk here today, but we will be doubly culpable. These are
people who have paid a high price for supporting us in the Second World
War. They gave their lives, alongside our soldiers, in the battle for
freedom then. Will we leave them to suffer and die without any effective
support from us now? They are looking to us for help in this their hour of
desperate need. I hope that they will not look in vain this afternoon."

Stuart Windsor, National Director of CSW, said: "We have been working for
well over a decade to get the humanitarian crisis and gross violations of
human rights in Burma on to the international agenda. Debates like this
help enormously to hold our Government to account and to raise awareness
of the desperate plight of the ethnic nationalities. We applaud Lord Alton
for securing and opening the debate, and we welcome the Government's
statement of support for UN Security Council action on Burma."