BurmaNet News, September 30-October 2, 2006

[Editor]

September 30-October 2, 2006 Issue # 3057


INSIDE BURMA
AP: Myanmar's junta arrests 6th pro-democracy activists in a week
Irrawaddy: “Constructive compromise” petition launched in Burma
AFP: Myanmar rejects religious freedom criticism by US
Narinjara: Min Ko Naing may be moved to Akyab jail
Kaowao: Sexual abuse to increase with return of Colonel Myo Winn
Irrawaddy: Six die in Mandalay floods

BUSINESS / TRADE
AFP: Overseas employment boom as Myanmar outsources manpower

REGIONAL
Bangkok Post: Surayud new PM

INTERNATIONAL
Washington Post: U.N. Security Council takes up discussion of rights in Burma
AP: U.S. will seek U.N. resolution later this year against Myanmar's
military dictatorship
The Independent: Inside Burma's rebel army: the struggle against a regime
supported by foreign firms

OPINION / OTHER
Irrawaddy: Gen Surayud Chulanont: Loved and hated in Burma - Aung Zaw

____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

September 30, Associated Press
Myanmar's junta arrests 6th pro-democracy activists in a week - Aye Aye Win

Yangon: Myanmar's military junta detained two former dissident leaders on
Saturday as part of a renewed crackdown on pro-democracy activists
following anniversary celebrations of Aung San Suu Kyi's political party.

Min Zeya, 45, and Pyone Cho, 40, were taken from their homes Saturday, a
day after sending a letter to the ruling junta chairman inquiring about
the status of three other activists detained Wednesday.

Their arrests brings to six the number of activist detained since Suu
Kyi's National League for Democracy or NLD held its 18th anniversary
celebrations Wednesday.

Min Zeya and Pyone Cho were among the leaders of a 1988 nationwide
uprising in Myanmar, also known as Burma. The military crushed the
uprising and seized power. Pyone Cho served nearly 14 years in prison and
was released in 2003 while Min Zeya served eight years in prison and was
released in 1997.

As Min Zeya was taken from his home, police told his family, "Authorities
want to hold a discussion with him," according to one of his relatives
contacted by telephone who demanded anonymity for fear of reprisals from
the military.

Activists, who refused to be named for fear of government reprisals, told
The Associated Press that Pyone Cho had also been taken away by
authorities.

On Wednesday, the military picked up Min Ko Naing, Ko Ko Gyi and Htay Kywe
three supporters of detained pro-democracy leader Suu Kyi from their
homes. The three have not been seen since.

The U.S. Campaign for Burma, based in Washington, said in a press release
that a sixth activist lawyer Aye Myint had been arrested and that police
were Saturday at the homes of other former student leaders who they
planned to detain. This could not be immediately confirmed.

The NLD has demanded their release, calling the arrests "inappropriate and
against the government's democratic process."

Myanmar's military junta has pledged to implement a seven-step roadmap to
democracy that is supposed to lead to free elections though no timetable
has been set to complete the task.

The three activists helped lead pro-democracy demonstrations in 1988 and
had served lengthy prison sentences of at least a decade before being
released with hundreds of dissidents in late 2004.

Min Ko Naing and other former student leaders call themselves the "88
Generation Students Group," which has been accused by the government of
trying to destabilize the country.

In 1990, the junta refused to hand over power when Suu Kyi's party won a
landslide election victory.

Suu Kyi has spent nearly 11 of the last 17 years in detention, mostly
under house arrest, despite worldwide calls for her freedom along with
hundreds of other political prisoners.

The Burma Campaign UK, an anti-junta group based in London, said Saturday
"the international community must send a strong message to the regime that
this new round of arrests is unacceptable."

"Anyone believing this regime is genuine about reforming is living in a
fantasy land. These arrests demonstrate the need for a binding resolution
by the U.N. Security Council requiring the restoration of democracy in
Burma," a statement from the group said.

At the Security Council Friday, the United States said it plans to
introduce a resolution on Myanmar later this year as part of its campaign
to end the military dictatorship's repressive policies and promote
democracy and human rights.

____________________________________

October 2, Irrawaddy
“Constructive compromise” petition launched in Burma - Yeni

Leading opposition figures in Burma on Monday launched a campaign to
gather signatures on a petition calling for the release of political
prisoners, including Nobel Peace Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, Shan ethnic
leader Khun Htun Oo and former student activist Min Ko Naing.

The campaign, organized by the 88 Generation Student Group—comprising
former political prisoners and student activists—urges a “constructive
compromise” between the military government and opposition movements,
warning that “Burma’s national crisis is at the highest level now.” The
time had come for a resolution of the crisis, according to a statement
released at the start of the campaign.

The petition has already been signed by leading democracy activists, monks
and cultural figures. At the top of the list are Burma’s most venerated
woman writer, Ludu Daw Amar, and the country’s best-known comedian,
Zarganar.

The signature-gathering campaign would continue for the next two weeks,
said Mya Aye, a member of the organizing group.  “The aim is to let the
world know that we want our leaders to be free.”

Five leading members of the group were recently arrested at their homes in
Rangoon by security officials. Political analysts say the arrests coincide
with the junta’s preparations for the resumption on October 10 of the
National Convention, which is drafting a new constitution for Burma.

Amyotheryei Win Naing, a Rangoon-based political commentator, said: “The
government may think the former student leaders could take actions against
the upcoming convention.”

Opposition groups believe the convention is a sham, with the delegates
hand-picked by the military. Burma’s main opposition party, the National
League for Democracy, is not taking part.

On Saturday, government-own newspaper The New Light of Myanmar called for
the NLD to be crushed, accusing the party of undermining the National
Convention.

____________________________________

September 30, Agence France Presse
Myanmar rejects religious freedom criticism by US

Yangon: Myanmar's military government Saturday rejected a US report that
again named the Southeast Asian nation as one of the world's worst
violators of religious freedom.

The annual report by the State Department accused the junta of
infiltrating religious groups' meetings, preventing Buddhist clergy from
teaching about human rights and limiting the repair of Christian and
Muslim places of worship.

The report, issued September 15, ranked Myanmar among "severe" violators
of religious freedom, along with China, North Korea, Iran, Sudan, Eritrea,
Saudi Arabia and Vietnam.

Myanmar's foreign ministry said in a statement that the allegations "are
unjustified, and they must be considered as being politically motivated
and represent an attempt to exert pressure and interfere in the internal
affairs of the country."

The ministry insisted that minority Christians, Muslims and Hindus enjoy
the same rights as the majority Buddhists.

"Compared to many parts of the world, Myanmar is a country where
inter-religious harmony has been a well-recognized characteristic of its
society. There is no discrimination or persecution for religious reasons,"
the statement said.

Myanmar is overwhelmingly Buddhist, with small minorities of Christians,
Muslims, Hindus and animists.

Countries cited as serious offenders in the State Department report could
face US sanctions.
But Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, is already under tough US sanctions
over its failure to make democratic reforms, widespread human rights
abuses and the detention of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

____________________________________

October 2, Narinjara News
Min Ko Naing may be moved to Akyab jail

The detained student leader Min Ko Naing may be moved to the Akyab prison
again during the first week of October, says a source close to the prison
authority.

The information came out of the prison after authorities there have been
unusually busy with activities for an unknown purpose inside the jail,
reported the source.

The source also said that the authorities are preparing and cleaning out a
room in the Akyab prison where Ko Min Ko Naing had been kept before he was
last released from prison.

A witness said army authorities have visited the Akyab prison several
times in the last few days and had secretive and quiet discussions with
prison officer Myo Tun Zaw.

Another source reported that Kha Kha Kyi, of the Defense Ministry, ordered
the prison authorities to keep a phone line open around the clock and to
keep Myo Tun Zaw in standby position.

A source close to prison officials said Lt Gen Kyaw Win from the Defense
Ministry is talking with jailer Myo Tun Zaw directly. Such direct
communication between army authorities and prison authorities is rare.

Some prisoners said that there may be an important prisoner being moved to
Akyab prison, and most of the current prisoners expect that authorities
will once again be bringing Ko Min Ko Naing to the Akyab prison.

However, there have been no official reports about whether or not Min Ko
Naing will be moved to Akyab prison.

Ko Min Ko Naing was placed in the Akyab prison by authorities for most his
previous jail term, before he was released in 2004. He had served 18 years
in prison.

_____________________________________

September 30, Kaowao News
Sexual abuse to increase with return of Colonel Myo Winn

A State Peace and Development Council colonel with a long history of
sexually abusing women in Ye Township has returned to take up his old post
to tackle Mon insurgency, sources say from the area. The Mon community
fear young women will fall victim to his sexual exploits, said women
concerned about his return to Ye township.

According to a human right's watchdog group from the area, "we fear that a
'fashion show,' a term coined by locals to refer to a pattern of
entrenched sexual abuse by Colonel Myo Winn, will reoccur. The Southeast
Command based in the state capital has returned due to an upsurge of
activity by local Mon armed groups."

The area has been under increased surveillance after several people were
detained with supposed links to a Mon armed group shortly after his return
a week ago, a source from New Mon State Party said.

Colonel Win was the chief offensive commander against a small Mon splinter
group under the title "Aung Moe Gyoe Offensive No (3) from 2003 to 2005.
Hundreds of local Mon women at that time were forced to perform sexual
acts with him late at night. The local community dubbed the spectacle 'the
Fashion Show.'

Women living in remote areas are all the more vulnerable to the commander
and his soldiers who seek out young women from the local community. The
women are forced to provide massage, entertainment and sexual services.

According to women who fled to Thailand two years ago, families of young
women are "extremely concerned." The local community says that single
women are most at risk and want their daughters under 18 years-old to get
married as soon as possible to prevent abuse by the SPDC soldiers.

Mainly due to fear of being raped, killed, or forced to porter, and other
forms of abuse, hundreds of women and men fled from the area to urban
areas, to Mon Internally Displaced Person Camps along the border, or
across to neighbouring Thailand.

This sexual abuse shows that the government can do whatever it wants, to
those who they suspect of sympathizing with local insurgents, and to do so
with impunity. The locals point out that Colonel Myo Winn has recently
extorted money from local people to stock up on Black Label whisky for his
luxury bedroom suite, a source from Ye said, that suggests he is planning
to hold all-night parties soon. He is not only infamous as perpetrator of
crimes against women but is often cruel and barbaric to the local people.

According to the coordinator of the Women and Child Rights Project
(southern Burma) Mrs Mi Khamom Htaw, about 50 Mon women between the ages
of 14 and 40 were raped a decade ago where the SPDC offensive troops were
located. The abuse was subsequently documented and published in a report
titled: Catwalk to the barrack last July. It highlighted the link between
Burma's military offensives against the ethnic nationalities and rape used
as a weapon of war.

The NMSP said that the situation in the area is worsening after the return
of Colonel Myo Winn who is in charge of four Battalions meant to crackdown
on Mon insurgency.

In an environment of lawlessness and abuse, very young Mon women without
any other skills, are joining the ranks of a Mon armed group that has been
reformed and upgraded with the support of local people. Sources from Ye
say that there are over five women among the 25 member armed group. Even
though they are small, they can survive due to support from local people,
mainly in the form of food, the source explained.

____________________________________

October 2, Irrawaddy
Six die in Mandalay floods - Shah Paung

At least six people have died and many made homeless by floods caused by
torrential rain in Mandalay, central Burma, according to local residents.

More than 3,000 residents of several wards in Mandalay were affected by
the floods. Shwe Maung, who lives in Mandalay’s Myo Thit Thamangone, one
of the worst hit areas, said: “Although the flood did not damage all
houses, local residents can no longer stay and they have to take refuge in
higher places, without shelter.”

Many victims complained that no assistance had been provided by the local
authorities. One resident reported that while the water had receded
somewhat in central Mandalay outlying areas were still under water.
Residents were resorting to boats for transport.

Last week, Tachilek, the Burmese-Thai border town, was hit by severe
floods. One person died.

____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

October 1, Agence France Presse
Overseas employment boom as Myanmar outsources manpower - Charlotte
McDonald-Gibson

Yangon: Offices with names like Golden Opportunity, Successful World, and
Megarich International are sprouting up across Yangon, enticing young men
from impoverished Myanmar with the promise of lucrative work overseas.

Spilling out on the street, up dingy stairwells, or tucked away in
cavernous office blocks, these agencies provide much-needed revenue for
the military government while attracting mostly rural people who struggle
to support their families in one of the poorest countries in the world.

"They want to get experience, they can get much better salaries, they
would like to enjoy overseas" says Lawrence Lwyn, managing director of
Rising Star Co Ltd, one of a growing number of overseas employment
agencies.

"They can get a salary of 650 US dollars a month. In Myanmar they cannot
get this kind of salary," he says.

Thousands are grabbing this new chance to go abroad, which came with the
government's recent relaxation of the passport laws, but it does not come
without a few strings attached.

First there is a huge agency payment that can run into thousands of US
dollars. Then, once settled abroad, there are taxes to pay in both their
host country and to the Myanmar government.

"This is a new behaviour of the government, allowing people to go away for
jobs," a European economics expert based in Yangon tells AFP.

"They are trying to attract some money back. They are selling the manpower
to foreign countries for the salaries."

Although Myanmar has abundant natural resources, years of sanctions
imposed by the United States and Europe over the continued detention of
democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and suppression of the opposition have
taken their toll.

Per capita GDP is just 1,700 US dollars and 25 percent of the population
live on less than one US dollar a day.

There is little foreign investment in this country which has been under
military rule since 1962, and the junta are always on the lookout for more
revenue streams.

"The government is trying to open more offices," says the manager of one
employment agency who asked not to be named. "If they can send more
workers abroad, they can get more money."
He says that when his agency opened a few years ago, there were about 50
similar businesses in Yangon. Now there are up to 200.

The government, he says, has granted 20 new agency licenses in September
alone.

The government has also recently relaxed laws for getting passports,
cutting the time it takes to receive travel documents from four months to
as little as 14 days, sending hopeful workers flocking to agencies.

"In 2005 we sent 1,000 workers to Malaysia in the whole year," the manager
says, adding that most are young and unmarried and looking for unskilled
work.

"This year we have sent that many already."

Lawrence Lwyn recently began sending people to work as sales staff in the
UAE and Dubai, countries which traditionally get their manpower from the
Philippines, Vietnam and Thailand.
In just one month of operation, 250 people have come to his office looking
for work.

This boom is apparent in the city's downtown area, where young men crowd
before noticeboards listing jobs in honey farms, rubber plantations and
factories around Asia and the Middle East.

Naing Naing, who declined to give his real name, is a skilled goldsmith,
but there is little demand for his trade in Myanmar, so he wants to go to
Japan as a trainee factory worker.

But there is a high price to pay -- the 34 year-old will have to come up
with 2,500 dollars for his placement.

"Most workers borrow from others and from relatives," one agency manager
says. "Some people sell their house, their property, to go abroad."

Ko Myo, 35, who is using a false name to protect his identity, graduated
with a technician's degree, but found he could only earn about 15,000 kyat
(11 US dollars) per month in Myanmar, so he decided to go and work in
Malaysia.

He borrowed 2,500 US dollars from a money lender and took an engineering
job near Kuala Lumpur, where he earned 1,500 Malaysian ringgit (407 US
dollars) a month.

He spent 300 ringgit each month, and sent the rest of his earnings to his
family via the 'Hundi' system, an illegal money transfer scheme used the
world over.

As well as sending money home to support families and paying taxes in
their host country, workers are also obliged to give 10 percent of their
overseas earnings to the Myanmar government.

But Ko Myo says many either do not want to pay it or simply cannot afford it.

"Some general workers are so poor," he says. "They get 18 ringgits for a
day, they pay 100 ringgits to the Malaysian government, and they have to
pay water and electricity. They cannot even pay back the agency."

Win Naing, an independent politician, says the crippled education system
and lack of work are driving people to leave Myanmar, but says passport
restrictions remain for outspoken government critics like himself.

"Mostly it will be done for the sake of the business people, but not the
political people," he says.

_____________________________________
REGIONAL

October 2, Bangkok Post
Surayud new PM

Self-sufficiency economy gets new push over Thaksinomics --- Stress on
national reconciliation, tanks and troops to withdraw --- Ending southern
violence during 12-month term a key goal

Gen Surayud Chulanont, "kicked upstairs" four years ago by deposed prime
minister Thaksin Shinawatra, was officially named the country's 24th prime
minister yesterday, setting as his one-year mission ending conflicts among
Thais and the violence in the deep South.

"I realise I have accepted the position as the leader of the
administration without going through the electoral process. I came by
appointment to resolve political problems and instability in the South,"
he said at Government House.

"Our future will be better and power will be returned to the people," said
the former privy councillor.

Gen Surayud was handpicked by the Council for National Security (CNS) led
by Sonthi Boonyaratkalin for royal endorsement. The Council for Democratic
Reform (CDR) became the CNS immediately after the interim constitution was
put in place yesterday.

The new prime minister promised to form his 35-member cabinet in one week.
He refused to confirm whether he would bring in Bank of Thailand governor
M.R. Pridiyathorn Devakula as finance minister, to be his right-hand man
on economic policy.

In contrast to the growth-driven economic policy of Mr Thaksin, his
government would promote the self-sufficiency economic philosophy of His
Majesty the King.

Gen Surayud was moved from his position as army chief to the less
influential position of supreme commander in 2002 by Mr Thaksin to clear
the seat for his cousin, Gen Chaisit Shinawatra.

With the interim constitution and prime minister in place, Gen Sonthi
yesterday ordered his troops and tanks to withdraw from the streets of
Bangkok. He stressed the CNS still had a duty to end divisions in the
country.

"I'm about to go home," said one soldier guarding Government House, as
three tanks sat nearby.

The appointment of Gen Surayud was greeted with mixed reactions from the
Democrat party, business and political leaders and academics.

Democrat spokesman Ongart Klampaiboon said Gen Surayud was given full
confidence by the King to administer the country, and the party and public
had no doubts on his calibre and integrity.

But the former opposition party urged him to carefully select his cabinet
members.

They should not include figures under criticism by the public. The CDR had
made this mistake in picking some members of the National Counter
Corruption Commission who were seen as close to Mr Thaksin.

President of the Federation of Thai Industries Santi Vilassakdanont and
chairman of the Thai Chamber of Commerce Pramon Suthiwong believed the new
prime minister would solve economic problems and boost the confidence of
international investors.

Vorajet Pakeerat, a law lecturer at Thammasat University, and PAD leader
Pibhop Dhongchai called on the government led by Gen Surayud to revoke all
announcements made by the CDR which went against freedom of expression,
such as the order banning political gatherings of five or more people. "I
respect the decision of Gen Surayud in taking up the premiership. I want
him to solve problems, using his neutrality and by selecting good and
honest ministers," Mr Vorajet said.

PAD coordinator Suriyasai Katasila urged the new prime minister to show
his vision in solving national problems, but was optimistic that violence
in the far South would be solved under the new government.

Prasit Piwawattanapanich, deputy dean of Thammasat University's faculty of
law, said the military coup on Sept 19 had undermined the country's
democracy record in the eyes of the international community.

The international community was waiting to see the country's new civilian
government and the return of democracy, he said. "It is the first duty and
responsibility of the interim prime minister to restore the country's
image in the international community," he said.

With little experience in foreign affairs, Gen Surayud will have to work
harder to gain the international community's trust and recognition, Mr
Prasit said.

Rosana Tosittrakul, leader of the Confederation of Consumer Organisations,
said the image of Gen Surayud as a former general would not ease concerns
about the possibility of the armed forces again interfering with the
government. "A true civilian prime minister would have been a better
choice," she said.

Hours after Gen Surayud's announcement of his intention to tackle the
southern problems, Don Rak School in Pattani's Nong Chik district was
torched. Police suspected insurgents were behind the action.

Two shootings by attackers took place in the same district.

One civilian died and a policeman was seriously injured.

Before the coup, the country was divided between protesters against the
previous government led by Mr Thaksin and his supporters.

Violence in the three Muslim-majority southernmost provinces of
Narathiwat, Pattani and Yala flared up and showed no sign of abating since
Mr Thaksin took control of the country.

The coup-makers say fears of bloody clashes on the streets between pro-
and anti-Thaksin forces prompted them to take control of the country
before the situation got any worse.

_____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

September 30, The Washington Post
U.N. Security Council takes up discussion of rights in Burma - Nora Boustany

Members of the U.N. Security Council met yesterday behind closed doors to
discuss the political situation in Burma for the first time, and afterward
the U.S. ambassador, John R. Bolton, said the United States would push for
a resolution on human rights and freedom for political prisoners to be
voted on later this year.

After the meeting, which the Burmese government sharply opposed, Bolton
said in a statement: "We are hearing that the fact that the Security
Council cares about Burma has gotten through to the Burmese people in
spite of all regime efforts to block it, and has given them new hope. . .
. We will consult fully with other members of the Council, and hope all of
them can support a resolution at the appropriate time."

The Bush administration is considering pushing for sanctions further down
the line, but the United Nations and the Europeans favor a more balanced
diplomatic approach that would include providing Burma, also known as
Myanmar, with some financial assistance to address health issues.

The British ambassador, Emyr Jones Parry, said, "We are not looking for a
punitive resolution at this stage." He said that rather than seeking to
impose sanctions, the world community needed to "extend a hand to the
government of Myanmar and to find a way out of the problems of poverty,
drugs and HIV to support the people of Myanmar."

In comments at the closed meeting, Ibrahim Gambari, an undersecretary for
political affairs and envoy to Burma, said the world body was expecting
results on prisoner releases, democratization, human rights and greater
access for humanitarian organizations to do their work inside Burma, as
well as political reconciliation. Gambari did say that there was measured
progress on some fronts. A Washington Post reporter saw a portion of a
transcript of the closed session.

Meanwhile, the Bush administration this week asked Congress to relax
restrictive provisions in two anti-terrorism laws that have barred some
Burmese ethnic minority refugees fleeing the military government from
resettlement in the United States.

Administration officials said their ability to resettle the Burmese
refugees here has been significantly undercut by a rigid legislative
definition of what constitutes "material support to a terrorist
organization" in the Patriot Act and the Real ID Act of 2005. Human rights
advocates and others said that definition was too broad, affecting anyone
who may have provided food, water or shelter to any armed group, even if
the assistance was demanded at gunpoint. Thousands of Burmese linked to
ethnic resistance movements fighting the government's military forces are
turned away as a result.

The number of refugees admitted into the United States from around the
world has dipped to its lowest since Sept. 11, 2001, with only 41,500
people admitted out of 60,000 allocated slots. While the administration
has issued a waiver for one ethnic group from Burma, the Karen, other
affected ethnic groups such as the Karenni and Chin have been turned away.

State Department officials testified Wednesday before the Senate Judiciary
subcommittee on immigration, border security and citizenship, urging
Congress to fund President Bush's budget request for 70,000 refugee
admissions for fiscal 2007, which begins Oct. 1.

Ellen Sauerbrey, assistant secretary of state for population, refugees and
migration, said, "Important national security concerns and
counterterrorism efforts are compatible with our historic role as the
world's leader in refugee resettlement."

On Thursday, the Rev. Ken Gavin, director of Jesuit Refugee Services USA,
told the subcommittee, "Too many refugees have been unjustly labeled as
willful collaborators with terrorists rather than being justly recognized
as the victims of terrorism."

In an interview Thursday, Rep. Joseph Pitts (R-Pa.) said he has introduced
legislation that would resolve the issue and limit the terrorist
definition. "My bill fixes a problem within the law and the excessively
broad definition and interpretation by the bureaucracy," he said.

"We ought to be able to discern between our enemies and friends resisting
ethnic cleansing in Burma, or Montagnards in Vietnam, who under duress and
at gunpoint are forced to dig a grave or fetch water. They are totally
innocent and keeping them out is an unintended consequence of well-meaning
laws," he added.

Reports last May by humanitarian groups said the latest attacks on Karen
and Karenni villages in eastern Burma appeared linked to planned
reconstruction of a hydropower dam on the Salween River.

The Burmese army overthrew the civilian government in 1962 and began
conducting a campaign against insurgents and ethnic groups. Burma has been
labeled by human rights groups as one of the world's most closed and
repressive countries.

Neighboring countries have expressed fears that the ongoing campaign
against the ethnic groups, plus a spreading and unchecked AIDS epidemic,
could destabilize their region. According to U.N. and State Department
figures, about 360,000 Burmese were infected with HIV this year.

The National League for Democracy, the party of Aung San Suu Kyi, won a
landslide electoral victory in 1990 that the junta refused to recognize.
Suu Kyi has been in and out of house arrest since; the military government
extended her detention in May for another year. She was awarded the Nobel
Peace Prize in 1991.

Hours before the League marked the 18th anniversary of its formation
Wednesday, three pro-democracy activists were detained. Two of them, Min
Ko Naing, 44, and Myo Myint, 43, have already spent more than a third of
their lives in Burmese jails.

Correspondent Colum Lynch at the United Nations contributed to this report.

____________________________________

September 30, Associated Press
U.S. will seek U.N. resolution later this year against Myanmar's military
dictatorship - Edith M. Lederer

United Nations: The United States told the U.N. Security Council it plans
to introduce a resolution on Myanmar later this year as part of its
campaign to end the military dictatorship's repressive policies and
promote democracy and human rights.

U.S. Ambassador John Bolton said Friday that Washington wants to wait for
a return visit to Myanmar by Undersecretary-General Ibrahim Gambari before
deciding on the exact contents of the resolution. The U.S. State
Department said it would seek a resolution demanding freedom for political
prisoners, and a democratic movement toward national reconciliation.

Gambari said Myanmar's U.N. ambassador reiterated during the council
meeting Friday that the government has invited him to visit again in early
November.

Bolton accused the country's military leaders of responding to Gambari's
appeal for the release of democracy leader Aung Sang Suu Kyi and over a
thousand political prisoners during his first visit in May by freeing one
prisoner and extending Suu Kyi's detention for another year.

The U.S. envoy also reported "no progress" on other key requests,
including establishing an inclusive political dialogue, ending military
offensives and human rights violations against ethnic minorities, and
easing restrictions on non-governmental organizations.

The international community should speak with one voice on the need for
the regime "to seek democratic reforms, to end its assault on the ethnic
minorities..., to do more to prevent the trafficking o human beings and
illicit drugs over its borders," Bolton said. The government must also do
more to address infectious diseases and the country's severe HIV/AIDS
epidemic.

The U.S. ambassador praised the council's historic decision to put Myanmar
which the United States insists on calling by its previous name Burma on
the Security Council agenda on Sept. 15. The move means the council can
give greater scrutiny to the government and the plight of the South Asian
nation's people by asking for briefings by U.N. officials and adopting
resolutions.

Washington faces an uphill struggle, however, in getting the council to
take tough action against Myanmar's government. China strongly opposed
putting the country on the agenda as did Russia and both are veto-wielding
members of the council.

Even Britain, the United States' closest ally, said it opposes sanctions
because they haven't worked.

"I'm not looking, to be honest, for a punitive resolution at this stage,"
Britain's U.N. Ambassador Emyr Jones Parry said. "I'd like to see a
concerted effort to implement freedoms, rights, to tackle poverty, to
start implementing the Millennium Development Goals, and to call on all of
us to actually work with the government of Myanmar to those ends."

A briefing Friday by Gambari was the first council action since the vote
to put Myanmar on the agenda. In an apparent sign of its opposition, China
sent a low-level diplomat rather than one of its ambassadors to the
closed-door session.

In the briefing, Gambari stressed that Myanmar was just emerging from long
periods of armed conflict and remained one of the world's poorest
countries, despite its great potential. A copy of his text was obtained by
the Associated Press.

"Expectations remain high that real progress can and must be achieved
towards the Myanmar government's own stated goal of restoring political
freedom and democracy, despite repeated frustrations," Gambari said.

Myanmar's junta took power in 1988 after crushing the democracy movement.
In 1990, it refused to hand over power when Suu Kyi's political party won
a landslide election victory. Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, has
spent nearly 11 of the last 17 years in detention, mostly under house
arrest.

The regime claimed earlier this week that a seven-step plan to return to
democracy was taking effect. The junta calls the country's National
Convention the first step toward democracy that is supposed to lead to
free elections though after nearly three years no timetable has been set
to complete the task. The convention will resume work on Oct. 10 on a new
constitution.

Gambari said there is concern at the slow pace of the road map to
democracy and told the council there was no indication that the resumed
National Convention "will include representatives from the opposition or
from certain ethnic nationality political parties." Political parties in
Myanmar "continue to be subject to restrictions and scrutiny," he added.

Nonetheless, Gambari said, "there has been measured progress" on some
questions he raised, citing some limited movement on stopping forced
labor. But he said "the overall picture remains serious."

Afterwards, Gambari told reporters the reaction to his briefing was "quite
positive."

Council members realized that in view of the complexity of the situation
in Myanmar it's important to avoid doing anything that would complicate
Secretary-General Kofi Annan's "good offices" mission which he has led to
reopen a dialogue with the government, Gambari said.

"But also I think it's important to say that my engagement with government
of Myanmar should not be for the sake of engagement but we expect some
results in terms of concrete progress in addressing the issues," he said.

____________________________________

October 2, The Independent (London)
Inside Burma's rebel army: the struggle against a regime supported by
foreign firms - Grace Lincoln and Evan Williams

When Zoya Phan was 13, she was happy. Every day on her way home from
school, deep in the thick forest of Karen state in eastern Burma, she
would scramble on her hands and knees up hillsides to pick mushrooms for
her mother. Before the rains came that summer she chased scarlet
butterflies through lush banana gardens and mango trees, the sweet smell
of ripening rice heavy in the air.

But her life would soon change beyond all recognition. In 1995, just days
after the Karen people celebrated New Year, Phan watched the Burmese army
open fire on her village. The massacre claimed the lives of most of the
village and forced Phan and her family to flee and live from hand to mouth
in the jungle. Months later Phan made it to a camp for internally
displaced ethnic minority groups on the Thai-Burmese border. She was one
of the lucky ones.

At around the same time, a trade delegation headed by the British
ambassador to Burma was enjoying a banquet supper with the military junta
in Rangoon. In 1995 British trade with Burma already stood at pounds 9m,
but while other Western governments were criticising the regime for its
attacks on ethnic minorities, chiefly on the Karen, the British delegates
were pressing for business.

Eleven years on, and Burma is still in the grip of a ruthless military
dictatorship that refuses to hand over power to the elected National
League for Democracy and carries out regular attacks on civilians from the
country's many ethnic minorities. Those who refuse to bow are either
killed or forced into slave labour and subjected to the arbitrary rule of
local military commanders.

As Channel 4's Dispatches reveals in Burma: a Secret War, the military
junta -which has had the democratically elected leader, the Nobel Peace
laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, under house arrest for almost 11 years
-survives only because foreign companies remain keen to tap into the
country's rich natural resources. "It is still going on today," Phan says
from her home in London, where she has sought refuge. "Still the British
Government has done nothing to stop foreign companies investing."

Phan now campaigns for democracy in Burma and works closely with the Burma
Campaign UK, which calls for the British Government to impose trade
sanctions, provide cross-border aid to internally displaced people, and
stand up for the Burmese people's long fight for democracy. Tomorrow Phan
will join William Hague and Liam Fox in addressing the Conservative Party
conference. "We are asking for Britain to impose sanctions and to stop
foreign investment now. What is going on in Burma is genocide," she says.

The ruling military junta has ensured that Burma remains isolated. Cut off
even from its closest neighbours, Thailand and India, the conflict that
rages at its heart gets little attention. On Friday, for the first time,
the UN Security Council discussed Burma, and the US is expected soon to
submit a draft resolution criticising Burma's human rights record and
demanding Aung San Suu Kyi's release.

But none of that will matter if the regime continues to reap the rewards
of foreign investment. One of the regime's pillars of financial revenue,
the French oil company Total, is estimated by the Burma Campaign UK to
bring as much as pounds 200m in every year. Its Yadana pipeline has been
accused of being associated with organisations perpetrating serious human
rights abuses. But the company denies this, and maintains it plays a
positive role.

Increasing evidence that Britain is being used to channel new investment
into Burma has been denied by the Government. Mark Farmaner, of the Burma
Campaign UK, says: "Foreign companies are using British dependent
territories to channel new investment to Burma so that Britain is not
directly implicated."

Britain also imports more Burmese goods than any other country in Europe.
"Companies no longer have to put country of origin labels on their clothes
so people are buying clothes from Burma without knowing it. The British
Government refuses to release a list of companies importing clothes from
Burma," Mr Farmaner says.

The military junta's policies have led to more than 600,000 deaths and up
to one million people being displaced. Mortality rates among the young in
what was once the rice basket of Asia are now among the highest in the
world. The World Health Organisation ranks Burma second to bottom in its
list of 191 countries around the world' the ruling SPDP party spends just
19 pence on healthcare for each of its citizens a year.

There are indications that the regime is beginning to operate even more
tightly and with greater secrecy.

The inauguration of the new capital, Pyinmana, in 2005 - sequestered in a
remote jungle hide-out closed to all but government officials -was
directly responsible for the displacement of about 5,000 Karen people
alone. Attacks on ethnic minority villages are happening with increasing
regularity.

Of all the weapons at the Burmese army's disposal, rape is the cheapest.
Soldiers are often ordered to rape women from ethnic minorities and leave
them pregnant to breed out the resistance.

The Karen have one of the last armies offering real resistance but it is
an increasingly hard struggle as their supply routes are squeezed by
neighbouring governments more interested in business with the generals,
and especially Burma's new-found oil and gas reserves. Pado Manh Shah,
general secretary of the Karen National Union army, said the situation has
reached a new low. "Everyday our Karen people are killed... If there is no
political dialogue we have only one way forward. If the international
community and the UN were to intervene, we would support that."

Soon after Channel 4 reporters left the Karen state, the area was attacked
by thousands of government troops. Eighteen thousand people were forced to
flee, one of the biggest movements of internally displaced refugees in
southeast Asia since the Khmer Rouge took over Cambodia A lucky few made
it to Thailand, where tens of thousands of people from Burma live a life
in limbo, forced to work for a pittance.

Speaking to The Independent, Archbishop Desmond Tutu said that the time to
act is now.
"The Burmese people have tried everything possible and have been flatly
refused help. The regime is only getting stronger. There comes a point
where it is better to die on your feet than live on your knees."

'There comes a point when it is better to die on your feet than live on
your knees'

Evan Wiliams' Dispatches: A Secret War is on Channel 4 at 8pm this evening.

____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

October 2, Irrawaddy
Gen Surayud Chulanont: Loved and hated in Burma - Aung Zaw

The news of the appointment of Gen Surayud Chulanont to be interim prime
minister in Thailand has undoubtedly been warmly received by many Thais.
Many in Thailand’s neighbor, Burma, have also expressed optimism.

The former Thai army chief is no stranger to Burmese politics and the
country’s volatile border with Thailand. His former tough, no-nonsense
stance towards Burmese incursions, for instance, has brought him high
regard among ethnic minority Burmese and democratic groups both at home
and abroad.

“He is a good soldier who sympathizes with refugees from Burma,” Karen
leader Mahn Sha told The Irrawaddy.

The secretary-general of the insurgent Karen Nation Union hoped that
Surayud would not have a “one sided view” towards Burmese politics, and
hoped the Thai general was well informed about developments there.

“He understands the nature of democratic groups,” Mahn Sha said. Because
of his integrity and professionalism in the army, he was highly regarded
among other Burmese pro-democracy groups, he thought.

In fact, it is not just neighbors, like Burmese dissident groups, who have
admired a general who once expressed his displeasure over the May 1992
bloody crackdown by Thai troops against pro-democracy protesters in
Bangkok. Surayud is also widely noted for the reforms he introduced into
the Thai army at the time to generally keep the military out of politics
and remove corrupt officers.

Time Magazine once described Surayud as the most important Thai military
figure of the modern era, and put him on its list of Asian heroes in 2003.

While careful not to mention the name of ousted Thai prime minister
Thaksin Shinawatra, KNU leader Mahn Sha said that the newly appointed
interim prime minister’s policy towards Burma should not be based on
business considerations.

Thaksin’s soft approach towards Burma’s ruling generals was widely
criticized as being directly related to his Shin Corps group’s business
interests there.

Many Burmese refugees living along Thailand’s border will also have fond
memories of Surayud. When he became army chief in 1998 under Chuan
Leekpai’s Democrat government, he endorsed a policy of not pushing back
refugees who fled from war and persecution in Burma.

Surayud was always an outspoken critic of Burma’s major role in Thailand’s
massive drug problem, particularly the increasing flow from the Wa
territory of methamphetamines. His no-nonsense approach to Rangoon often
frustrated the regime’s friends in Thailand, such as then defense minister
Gen Chavalit Yongchaiyudh. Chavalit had developed special relations with
Burma’s ruling generals, whom he called “my brothers.”

The army commander was particularly decisive in handling often volatile
situations along the Burmese border. He formed special units in northern
Thailand to counter the flow of drugs arriving from the Wa hills, and even
forced the Burmese to close checkpoints suspected of allowing drug
caravans to pass through.

The tense border situation resulted in some skirmishes between Thai and
Burmese troops. Surayud showed the Burmese he meant business by appointing
Lt-Gen Watanachai Chaimuenwong—a tough soldier who shared Surayud’s stance
towards the Burmese—as commander of the northern 3rd army.

The hawkish Watanachai was by no means popular with the Burmese generals,
particularly when he and other Thais talked openly about the regime’s
failure to stem the flow of drugs into Thailand. Once, Watanachai was on
record as saying that “everyone knows who’s involved in Burma’s burgeoning
narcotics industry.”

Surayud admitted that bilateral relations with Burma were poor, but he did
nothing to repair them. In fact, both he and Watanachi kept the Burmese
generals at arm’s-length. Significantly, then-prime minister Chuan never
made an official visit to Rangoon during his term in office.

Like many Thais, Mahn Sha believes that Surayud will honor his word to
return power to the people, and steer the country in the right direction.

Without doubt, many Burmese, both at home and abroad, have vivid memories
of Thai leaders and generals who helped to shape policies towards Burma.
Many are not regarded as unfriendly towards the country. For sure, Surayud
will be on most Burmese good books—not the generals’, of course.