BurmaNet News, January 10, 2006

[Editor]

January 10, 2006 Issue # 2876


INSIDE BURMA
DVB: Burmese Heroine Su Su Nway's health deteriorates
Kaladan: Burmese troops turn rustlers in northern Arakan

ON THE BORDER
Thai Press Reports: Thai children without citizenship found in 20 'ghost'
Myanmar border villages
IMNA: Thailand to support Burma on Trading Road to South Asia

BUSINESS / TRADE
Thai Press Reports: Thailand bright prospects for new natural gas deposits
in Myanmar

REGIONAL
Bernama: Myanmar to face more international pressure, says Syed Hamid
Mizzima: Kachin groups call for national convention boycott after killings
in Burma

INTERNATIONAL
Mizzima: Burmese opposition calls for UN envoy to 'connect' with the junta

OPINION / OTHER
New York Times: Wrong on human rights
Irrawaddy: Pride before a fall - Aung Naing Oo
Khaleej Times (UAE): Myopia in Myanmar

____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

January 9, Democratic Voice of Burma
Burmese Heroine Su Su Nway's health deteriorates

The health condition of human rights defender Su Su Nway who has been
serving a 18 month prison sentence at the notorious Insein Jail, is said
to have deteriorated and being treated at the prison’s clinic.

Her legal representative, the National League for Democracy (NLD) lawyer
Nyan Win confirmed the report.

“Su Su Nway is being hospitalised. On the day she was hospitalised, on 4
January, she complained of breathing difficulty and sweating,” Nyan Win
said. “ Her family went to her on Saturday, 7 January. They were allowed
to see her. Her condition is slightly better. Medicines could be bought at
the prison clinic. She is said to be anaemic. She was in the clinic up
until last Saturday.”

Su Su Nway, who has been suffering from chronic heart disease, was
counter-sued by her local authorities and sent to prison on 13 October for
successfully suing them over forced labour practices. She insisted that
she is innocent of the charges and that she is wrongfully imprisoned.

____________________________________

January 10, Kaladan News
Burmese troops turn rustlers in northern Arakan

Among the many crimes that the Burmese army commits on a daily basis,
rustling is one of them. Rohingya farmers in northern Arakan complain that
the army has been stealing their cattle.

The Burmese army accompanied by notorious new Buddhist settlers, brought
to northern Arakan by the ruling military junta have been stealing the
cattle of local Rohingya farmers for over two years, a local farmer said
on condition of anonymity.

Recently the troops with the help of new Buddhist settlers have
accelerated the process of stealing of cattle from local villagers, he
added.

The cattle, belonging to Rohingya farmers are being taken away by the army
gangs while they graze in nearby mountains and pastures in villages in
Buthidaung Township, Arakan State, said another farmer not wanting to be
named for reasons of security.

Sometimes, the gangs made up of soldiers and new settlers secretly enter
the village when the villagers are sleeping and rustle cattle from the
byre. The villagers need to watch their cattle round the clock, he added.

Occasionally, cattle owners see from far off the army taking away their
cattle from the paddy fields. After stealing the cattle, the troops keep
them in the camp for at least a week to find out whether the owner has got
wind of it or not.

During this period if the owner gets information about his or her stolen
cattle, the owner has to go directly to the concerned army camp to get the
cattle released. Or else the cattle become beef for the army. However, the
owner has to release the cattle after bribing kyat 20,000 to 50,000
according to the size of the cow or bull, said a cattle owner who had to
face such a situation.

The new settlers are known to kill the cattle with a spear while they are
grazing on the pasture. The cows die within half an hour when the settlers
push a small spear deeply into its nose. They then inform the owners about
the dead cow, and then carry it away to their homes for curry, said a
woman from the village.

The confiscation of farmlands and grazing grounds by army for new settlers
is systematically destroying the Rohingyas' livestock farms, said a
village elder.

The local people drew the attention of the concerned authorities, but they
ignored the issue. As a result, the gangs of settlers and the army have
been emboldened to commit further crimes, the village elder continued.

Over 95 percent of Rohingyas are farmers in northern Arakan and therefore,
they depend largely on their farmlands and cattle. But, the army and the
Nasaka forces are systematically destroying their farmlands by
confiscation and also destroying their livestock, said a trader from
Buthidaung Town.

The noose around the neck of the Rohingya people is rapidly tightening by
the day and the remaining Rohingyas are facing an imminent threat of
ultimate expulsion, an elite said.

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

January 10, Thai Press Reports
Thai children without citizenship found in 20 'ghost' Myanmar border villages

Thousands of children without Thai citizenship have been found living in
over 20 villages not included on the map of the northern Thai-Myanmar
border province of Mae Hong Son, according to non-governmental
organisations (NGOs).

Like ghosts, the villages do not appear on maps or in government records,
though some adults in the villages have proper documents.

Located far from government services, children do not have access to schools.

Several border villages located in Mae Hong Son's Sob Moei and Mae Sariang
districts currently house a large number of children who were born on Thai
soil but do not hold Thai citizenship, said NGO representatives.

The children do not have access to basic rights due to having uneducated
and illiterate parents, some of whom belong to minority ethnic groups,
according to Santipong Moonfong, head the Development Centre for Children
and Community Network in Mae Hong Son.

Figures show that estimated 4,777 children without citizenship papers now
attend provincial educational institutions, but many who do not have
access to education are excluded. If the state sector does not lend a
helping hand, the children's plight will become a serious problem,
difficult to be solved, Mr. Santipong said.

According to center statistics, there are more than 20 villages along Mae
Hong Son's border with Myanmar that cannot be found on the Thai map.

Maedee village in Mae Sariang's Mae Kong sub-district, for instance, is
one of the 'ghost villages' that are not on the Thai map, with 26 families
of almost a hundred persons living here, but 38 of whom are non-citizens.

"The statistics indicate that state care has not yet reached all the
underprivileged," Mr. Santipong said.

____________________________________

January 10, Independent Mon News Agency
Thailand to support Burma on Trading Road to South Asia

The Burmese military junta is widening the road from Myawadi to Kawkariek
in order to foster border and ethnic development and for better
transportation for trading from the border to inside the country. Thailand
will help Burma on the project, according to a Thai Trading Ministry
meeting.

Given that the road has helped boost trading in the last couple of years,
Thailand is interested in using the road to South Asia countries, through
Mae-Sot to Rangoon, Bangladesh, India and Bhutan.

The road, however, was very narrow and it was constructed through high
mountains. It was dangerous for passengers and traders travelling along
it.

According to a Thai Trading Ministry meeting which was held in the second
week of December 2005, the ministry planned to give a proposal to its
government asking for 15 million baht for measurement of the
Myawadi-Kawkariek road construction project.

The road is about 40 kilometres long and it crosses the Dawna Range and
forest. The road construction project is likely to start in 2006.

Thailand agreed to help Burma on the road construction after Deputy Prime
Minister Surakiat Sathirathai visited Rangoon in July 2005.

The Thai Ministry hoped increased trading would benefit these countries
after the road project is completed.

The military junta has widened the road about 5 feet on a stretch of about
14 miles from Myawadi according to traders. The wider road touches the
Burmese military Brigade No. 22 based near Thingarnnyi-naung village.

A famous Burmese abbot Thar-Ma-Nya had led in constructing the road and it
took more than 10 years. Most local Burmese traders from lower Burma use
the road for trading between Thailand and Burma.

____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

January 10, Thai Press Reports
Thailand bright prospects for new natural gas deposits in Myanmar

Thailand could have abundant natural gas in reserve if a field being
explored jointly by Thailand and Myanmar inside Myanmar delivers what
early signs promise as a considerable quantity of natural gas, Prime
Minister Thaksin Shinawatra announced Saturday.

Urging consumers to continue conserving energy as global oil prices
continue to rise due both to higher consumption and speculation by hedge
funds in developed countries, Mr. Thaksin said during his weekly radio
address that his government is following guidelines given by His Majesty
the King last December 4 on promoting production of energy alternatives
such as bio-diesel and gasohol.

Natural gas exploration currently being conducted jointly by Thailand and
Myanmar could produce large quantities of natural gas and could be used in
Thailand, he said.

Meanwhile, Chitrapong Kwangsukstith, Senior Executive Vice President of
PTT's Gas Business Group, said he believed the natural gas well that the
prime minister referred to was one in a field in which PTT Exploration and
Production Public Company Limited (PTTEP) had increased its investment
stakes on four concession areas inside Myanmar -- areas which had shown
bright prospects of having a large amount of natural gas reserves that
could be used by both countries.

Mr. Chitrapong said South Korean investors had also informed PTT that they
had discovered a large amount of natural gas in Myanmar and were willing
to sell the gas to Thailand.

If true, Thailand would have large natural gas reserves and could be less
dependent on oil, said Mr. Chitrapong, adding that PTT's third natural gas
pipeline being built onshore could be completed this month, while
construction of the offshore section would be finished by mid 2006.

Extending gas pipelines to industrial plants and industrial estates would
save Thailand oil import bills of some Bt30 billion (US$732 million)
annually in the next five years, he said.

The total length of the pipeline now under construction is about 300
kilometres--when tallied with the existing 700 kilometre pipeline would
mean a total of more than 1,000 kilometres of natural gas trunkline
delivery capacity.

Regarding using natural gas for vehicles (NGVs), Mr. Chitrapong said that
about 10,300 cars had been equipped with NGV systems during 2005, and that
60,000 to 70,000 cars are expected to be converted to the system this
year.

The PTT executive said he expects more than half a million cars will
install NGV systems in the next five years, which could save Thailand
Bt90-100 billion (US$2.2-2.4 billion) annually on oil imports.

____________________________________
REGIONAL

January 10, Bernama News Agency (Malaysia)
Myanmar to face more international pressure, says Syed Hamid - Datuk Seri
Syed Hamid Albar

Kota Tinggi: The government of Myanmar is expected to come under severe
pressure from the international community over its democratic reforms
record following the resignation of Tan Sri Razali Ismail as the United
Nations (UN) special envoy to Myanmar, Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Syed
Hamid Albar said Tuesday.

He said the failure of the UN to get Myanmar to adopt the democratic
process had resulted in "great disappointment" in the world body.

"The patience of the international community is wearing thin because it
sees Myanmar to be not serious, and this will be followed by various
actions that we ourselves do not wish to happen," he told reporters after
officiating at a ceremony to slaughter sacrificial cows in conjunction
with Hari Raya Aidiladha in Kampung Tembioh, here.

"If Asean fails to convince Myanmar to enable us (Asean) to meet with
their political leaders, it will have a worse impact than what is
happening now," he said.

Syed Hamid said the resignation of Razali, a former Malaysian diplomat,
reflected his disappointment in not being able to discharge his duty as a
special envoy of the world body.

"He (Razali) had no choice other than to make a respectable move (to
resign)," he said.

Syed Hamid said that following the failure of the UN effort, Myanmar had
to fulfil its pledge made at the recent Asean summit in Kuala Lumpur to
allow the 10-member Asean to assist it.

He said he hoped that Myanmar would be serious and sincere towards the
assistance offered by Asean as well as the latter's experience in
achieving reconciliation between the dissenting parties in Myanmar.

Syed Hamid said Myanmar should allow him to visit the country as it had
agreed to because any delay in the visit would only give a bad perception
of that country.

Myanmar had last Friday put off an expected visit by Syed Hamid, saying it
was relocating its capital to Pyinmanar, a logging town 320km north of
Yangon.

"The perception among the international community is that the delaying of
the visit is to frustrate our efforts. We leave it to the international
community to figure out what is most appropriate," he said. So far, no
specific date has been set for the visit but Syed Hamid said Myanmar
wanted a postponement until the end of February or early March due to the
transfer of the capital.

Asked whether he would want to meet up with jailed pro-democracy leader
Ayng San Suu Kyi, Syed Hamid said there was no definite decision on that
but Myanmar had explained that she was serving out a house arrest.

"To instil confidence in the international community, Myanmar should be
seen to be serious and Asean should be seen to be credible and its actions
visible," he said.

Failure would make the UN and the international community to lose
confidence and trust in Myanmar, he said.

____________________________________

January 10, Mizzima News
Kachin groups call for national convention boycott after killings in Burma
- Tin Zaw Moe

Ethnic Kachin in New Delhi called for Kachin groups to stop attending the
National Convention after the Burmese military killed several members of a
ceasefire group last week.

Five members of the Kachin Independence Organisation and one civilian were
killed in a raid by Burmese troops from the 68the battalion at Nam Ngu
office in northern Shan on January 2. The area is controlled by the KIO.

The KIO has representatives at the junta's National Convention in Rangoon
and exiled Kachin today called on them to walk out to protest the 'unjust'
killings.

"The military regime has committed injustice killings more than once – not
only on KIO members but also to Kachin people since KIO signed truce. We
do not want fake peace. That's why we urge the KIO and the [Kachin
Independent Army] to resign from the National Convention," said Ahle from
the All Kachin Students and Youth Union, which organised a demonstration
in Janta Mantra park, New Delhi.

The military junta told KIO officials the troops mistook the group's
members for Shan rebels.

"We think it is a lie," said Ahle.

About 100 protestors at the demonstration demanded the withdrawal of
Burmese military troops from the Kachin area, the release all political
prisoners and United Nations action on Burma.

Local military authorities arranged low-profile funeral services for the
victims but banned their families from attending.

KIO's general secretary Dr Tu Ja and two other senior members of KIO who
are at the National Convention are scheduled to meet with Rangoon military
commander and chief of military intelligence Lt. Gen. Myint Swe to discuss
the shooting.

KIO signed a truce with the military junta in February 1994.

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

January 9, Mizzima News
Burmese opposition calls for UN envoy to 'connect' with the junta -
Jessicah Curtis

As Razali Ismail ended his term as United Nations special envoy to Burma
last week, opposition groups and Burma watchers have started speculating
over who would take on the job.

The National League for Democracy told Mizzima today it was important that
the next special envoy to Burma was someone able to connect with the
ruling generals while being able to pressure them into dialogue.

It had been more than 20 months since Razali had been allowed into Burma.
He told reporters after his term ended the generals had made it impossible
for him to do his job.

"We need someone who can connect with these generals . . . someone who can
really negotiate for democracy in Burma," NLD spokesperson Myint Thein
said.

"We think someone who can give some pressure for dialogue with the
opposition groups," he said.

The decision by Razali, a former Malaysian diplomat, not to renew his term
has been widely covered by the international press and is likely to be
seen by Burma's fellow ASEAN members as a further embarrassment to the
region.

Jeremy Woodrum, from the US Campaign for Burma, told Mizzima Razali's
decision not to renew showed it was time for the UN to seriously consider
its handling of Burma.

"The departure of Razali is a slap in the face to both the United Nations
and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. It must be humiliating for
ASEAN that one of their leading diplomats has been mistreated so badly by
a member of ASEAN," Woodrum said.

"We urge ASEAN and UN Secretary General Kofi Anna take this opportunity to
signal their support for a binding UN Security Council resolution on
Burma."

It is unclear who will take on the role but the representatives from the
office of UN Secretary General, who will appoint a new envoy, said the
matter was being carefully considered.

The US mission to the UN, which has been fighting for months to have the
issue of Burma formally raised by the Security Council, said the faster a
replacement was found, the better.

"We hope that the position is filled as quickly as possible and that the
UN pick the most appropriate replacement for Mr Ismail," spokesman
Benjamin Chang said.

Several groups, including the NLD, said it was also important for the
Secretary General to choose someone with an established reputation so
Burma would remain in international headlines.

"Someone who can keep [Burma] on the map is what we need," one Burmese
journalists said.

"But it is very . . . difficult to find a person like this who can also
talk with the generals who are always very paranoid."

____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

January 10, The New York Times
Wrong on human rights

For months, we have been arguing that the Bush administration has
generally the right substantive agenda for badly needed changes at the
United Nations, but that Ambassador John Bolton's scorched-earth
alternative to diplomacy is undermining the prospects for successfully
achieving these reforms. Now it turns out that our criticism has been only
half-right in at least one crucial area -- in restoring the United
Nations' moral authority on human rights by excluding egregious violators
from a new human rights monitoring council. Mr. Bolton's latest proposal
on this gets the substance wrong as well.

The problem with the current discredited Human Rights Commission is that
its members are chosen by a system of regional rotation that fails to take
into account the actual human rights performance of prospective members.
The reform was originally intended to change that, by requiring the
approval of at least two-thirds of the 191 member countries to win a seat
on the new council.

Mr. Bolton wants to defeat the whole purpose of that reform by
automatically assuring seats for all five permanent members of the United
Nations Security Council -- regardless of their own human rights records.

That would, of course, guarantee a seat every year for the United States,
despite what other countries may think of Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib,
the death penalty, or Washington's practice of secretly flying suspects to
be interrogated in countries that countenance torture. It would also
guarantee a seat every year to China, one of the world's most notorious
human rights violators, and to Russia, whose own human rights record is
less than stellar and which has never hesitated to gloss over the human
rights abuses of dictatorships it considers friendly, like Cuba, for
example.

There are plenty of areas where special weight is, and should be, given to
the Security Council's big five powers, which also happen to be world's
five legally recognized nuclear weapons states. Most of these areas,
appropriately, are in the Security Council's special domain of war, peace
and sanctions.

But the issue of human rights is very different. It is not about
recognizing the interests of the powerful. It is about protecting the
interests of the powerless. It would be nice if all of the big five could
be trusted to do this. But not all of them can, either at home or
internationally. Some of the people most in need of a strong U.N. voice on
human rights live under tyrannies that have carefully cultivated Chinese
or Russian favor: Cuba, Iran, Myanmar, Uzbekistan and Zimbabwe, to name a
few.

Although Ambassador Bolton has repeatedly made it clear that he has little
use or respect for the United Nations and would be happy to see the United
States walk away from it, we have never questioned his commitment to
reform its most dysfunctional institutions. But his behavior on this issue
leaves us questioning his judgment, and that of his bosses in the State
Department and the White House.

____________________________________

January 10, Irrawaddy
Pride before a fall - Aung Naing Oo

The Burmese generals, through their evident overconfidence, may have shot
themselves in the foot one too many times. Throughout their rule since
1988, they have clumsily shown themselves to be inconsiderate, irrational
and ruthless. Yet they have survived, and their confidence has grown to
such an extent that they now think they are untouchable.

That complacency could prove their undoing. The generals seem unconcerned
about the hardships to the people their blundering has caused. Burma has
also been ranked the world’s third most corrupt, and the third least free
economy, after North Korea and Iran. But the junta has survived through it
all.

Now, however, the Burma issue has been brought before the UN Security
Council. Because of the lack of international urgency and resolve on how
best to deal with the regime, the generals may get off the hook again. But
for how long this time?

The UN’s special envoy on Burma, Razali Ismail, has just decided to resign
because he has not been allowed into Burma for nearly two years. The junta
has also postponed indefinitely a planned visit by Asean colleagues in
January to monitor its professed path to democracy, with the lame excuse
the generals were too busy moving the capital to Pyanmana. These will
surely provide western countries and activist groups ammunition to press
the UNSC to move further on Burma.

The regime will also continue to make blunders. The continued detention of
opposition icon Aung San Suu Kyi, for instance, will continue to haunt the
junta. So, as the regime continues to blunder along, there will be more
pressure from critics at home and abroad for more urgent action.

Of course, overconfidence has convinced the generals that time is on their
side, and that they can weather any storms. That may explain why
constitutional talks at the National Convention have dragged on for more
than 12 years with no end in sight.

“So long as an evil deed has not ripened, the fool thinks it as sweet as
honey. But when the evil deed ripens, the fool comes to grief,” says the
Dhammapada, one of the Tipidaka, or the books of Buddhist teachings.

For now, the generals can go on making more mistakes and becoming more
convinced they are indestructible. However, there will come a time when
their mistakes, and their indifference to critical reaction, ripens the
evil deed, as the Dhammapada teaches. Then they will learn the dangers of
overconfidence.

Aung Naing Oo is a Burmese political analyst living in exile.

____________________________________

January 10, Khaleej Times (UAE)
Myopia in Myanmar

Myanmar remains one of the toughest tests of the international community’s
ability to deal with a rogue and ruthless regime. The junta in Yangon has
so far shown singular arrogance and indifference to the world’s concerns
about the state of affairs in the country.

Neither the United Nations nor the regional forum Asean have been able to
force Myanmar’s generals to change their ways. Democracy remains banished
from the country even as its politicians, including Aung San Suu Kyi, have
been languishing behind bars for over a decade.  It is not therefore hard
to understand the sheer frustration of Razali Ismail, UN’s special envoy
to Myanmar, who resigned this week having failed in his mission to push
reforms in the Southeast Asian country. The junta refused to let him visit
the country for two years, let alone discuss reforms with him. Clearly,
the junta feels it can get away with such outrageous behaviour. As the
Malaysian diplomat argues, it’s about time the international community
resolved this business with the generals.

The regime has so far refused to understand the language of peaceful
persuasion. It’s time to talk tough and deal firmly with Myanmar. The UN,
Asean and Myanmar’s neighbours must join hands to free the country’s
unfortunate people from the clutches of the ruthless regime. The world
owes it to Myanmar.