BurmaNet News, October 27, 2006

[Editor]

October 27, 2006 Issue # 3075

INSIDE BURMA
AFP: Survey: 82,000 more displaced in eastern Myanmar in 2006
AFP: Myanmar junta accuses of activists of faking petition
Irrawaddy: Suu Kyi denied regular medical assistance
AP: Myanmar activists plan prayer vigil for peace, freedom for political
prisoners
Kaladan: Women’s groups demand immediate end to war crimes in Burma
Newsweek: Asia's next art boom; Savvy collectors are heading to Burma

GUNS
Irrawaddy: Arms sales and offensives

INTERNATIONAL
AFP: UN envoy expected back in Yangon in early November

OPINION / OTHER
Inter Press Service: Thai junta as saviour of democracy in Burma
Malaysiakini: Burma: Need for binding resolution
Irrawaddy: A response to Professor Steinberg’s lesson

PRESS RELEASE
Foreign Affairs Committee & Burma Federation of Student Unions: One month
mark for 88 generation student leaders detained in Burma

____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

October 27, Agence France Presse
Survey: 82,000 more displaced in eastern Myanmar in 2006

Another 82,000 people were forced to flee their homes in eastern Myanmar
this year amid fresh fighting between rebel forces and the military
regime, according to a survey released Friday.

The latest displacements mean a total of some 500,000 people have fled
their homes and been unable to return as of November 2006, according to
the Thai Burma Border Consortium, a non-government organization.

The most significant concentration of internally displaced people was in
northern Karen state and eastern Pegu division, where people were fleeing
military offensives, the annual survey said.

These conflicts were reported to have killed at least 39 civilians and
displaced more than 27,000 others in these areas during the past year.

"What we are seeing is a continuation of this ongoing displacement of
these ethnic people," the survey said.

Myanmar's oppressive regime stands accused by rights groups of killings,
torture, rape and other abuses against ethnic minorities.

Some 17 ethnic groups have battled the ruling junta to seek autonomy for
their regions, but most have now signed ceasefires.

The Karen National Union (KNU), the most powerful rebel group, has battled
the military regime for autonomy for its people for 57 years, making
theirs one of the world's longest-running insurgencies.

According to the survey, while the majority of people displaced during the
past year fled in small groups, 232 entire villages were destroyed,
forcibly relocated or abandoned.
The survey did not count people displaced in other parts of Myanmar, or
those who had fled into neighboring Thai-land -- either into refugee camps
or as economic migrants seeking work.

Some 120,000 people live in refugee camps along the border, but up to one
million Myanmar migrant workers are believed to be in Thailand.

____________________________________

October 27, Agence France Presse
Myanmar junta accuses of activists of faking petition

Myanmar's military government Friday accused pro-democracy activists of
faking many of the 530,000 signatures on a petition calling for the
release of political prisoners.

"Some of them were using false names and false signatures to compile the
doctored collections," the New Light of Myanmar newspaper, a government
mouthpiece, said.

The paper also accused the opposition National League for Democracy of
coercing its members to sign the petition.

Organizers say that more than 530,000 people signed a petition during 21
days in October calling for the release of political prisoners including
Aung San Suu Kyi, who has spent most of the last 17 years under house
arrest.

The petition, a rare sign of dissent in this military-ruled nation, asked
the government to hold talks with the political opposition and to free the
nation's estimated 1,100 prisoners of conscience.
Organizers have said they will send the petition to the United Nations to
raise awareness of their struggle.

They also said they have kept the full names of many of the signatories
off the petition as they fear reprisals from the junta.

The petition campaign began on October 2 after six pro-democracy activists
were arrested, and has created ripples in a country where the military
deals harshly with public protests.

Myanmar's junta accused five of the detained activists of trying to incite
unrest late last month, as the UN Security Council held discussions on
trying to kick-start democratic reform in the country.

Win Ko, an activist involved in the petition and also a member of Aung San
Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party, was jailed for three years
in last week.

The authorities said he was imprisoned for possessing illegal lottery
vouchers, but fellow democracy campaigners believe it was because he
collected 480 signatures for the petition.

____________________________________

October 27, Irrawaddy
Suu Kyi denied regular medical assistance

Well-informed sources in Rangoon told The Irrawaddy that the military
government has not allowed the family doctor of Aung San Suu Kyi to see
the detained opposition leader for the past two months. Rangoon-based
sources say Dr Tin Myo Win has submitted a request to visit.

A source who monitors Suu Kyi’s house on University Avenue in Rangoon says
this is the third time that Dr Tin Myo Win, her physician, has not visited
her lakeside house for more than two months.

U Lwin, spokesman of Suu Kyi’s party, the National League for Democracy,
told The Irrawaddy, “The latest information we gathered is she is fine.”

Previously, the 61-year-old Nobel Peace Laureate winner, who has been
under house arrest since 2003, received regular medical assistance or
check-ups from her family doctor every two weeks.

In late May, the UN Under Secretary-General Ibrahim Gambari met with the
opposition leader during a three-day visit to Burma. After his visit, he
said Suu Kyi appeared well, but she said she would like to receive regular
medical assistance from her family doctor.

Gambari said, “She would, of course, like visits by her doctor to be more
predictable and regular and for medical assistance to be provided to her
companion.”

Suu Kyi had a gynecological operation in September 2003 at the private
Asia Royal Cardiac and Medical Centre in Sanchaung Township, Rangoon.

____________________________________

October 27, Associated Press
Myanmar activists plan prayer vigil for peace, freedom for political
prisoners

Pro-democracy activists in Myanmar have called on religious groups in the
country to hold a one-week prayer vigil for peace and the freedom of
political prisoners, a spokesman said Friday.

Members of the "88 Generation Students' Group," who led pro-democracy
demonstrations in 1988, issued their call for the Oct. 29-Nov. 4 vigil a
few days after completing a three-week petition campaign demanding the
release of five colleagues, pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and
other political prisoners, in a rare protest against the ruling military
junta.

The military, which seized power after crushing the 1988 demonstrations,
tolerates little dissent, harassing or detaining critics and political
foes such as Suu Kyi, and imposes tight restrictions on speech and
assembly.

"We are organizing the candlelight prayer vigil to pray for a peaceful
resolution of the country's dire problems, to pray for the victims of the
recent flooding across the country and to pray for the freedom of
political prisoners," Kyaw Min Yuu also known as Jimmy told The Associated
Press.
Torrential rains early this month killed 19 people and flooded several
cities in Myanmar.

The activists are asking those who participate in the prayer vigil to wear
white and hold candles in their places of worship, said Jimmy, who plans
to pray Sunday morning at Yangon's famous Shwedagon pagoda. Most people in
Myanmar are Buddhists.

The prayer action follows the petition drive and a separate Oct. 10-18
campaign by the activists for people to wear white shirts as an expression
of sympathy with their goals for political reconciliation and freedom for
political prisoners.

The campaigns were initiated after five members of the 88 Generation
Students' Group were detained in late September for alleged subversion.

According to the United Nations and human rights groups, there are more
than 1,100 political prisoners in Myanmar. The best known is Nobel Peace
Prize laureate Suu Kyi, who has been in detention for almost 11 of the
past 17 years, and continuously since May 2003.

Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party won general elections in
1990. The military, however, refused to hand over power, and instead has
announced its own seven-step roadmap to eventual democracy.

____________________________________

October 27, Kaladan News
Women’s groups demand immediate end to war crimes in Burma

Chittagong, Bangladesh: An immediate end to war crimes in Burma has been
demanded by two Burmese Women’s groups, according to their press release.

The Women’s groups - Women’s League of Burma (WLB) and The Palaung Women'
Organization (PWO) issued separate statements against the rape of ethnic
women of Burma by the ruling junta’s military mechanism.

“On October 9 at 2 p.m. six soldiers of Battalion 9 from Murng Naung
Basse, located in Wan Pan village, gang raped three Palaung women outside
Wan Pan village, Ho Pong village tract, Loi Lem district in Southern Shan
State. All three women Daw Nan Man (52) Ma Aye Sein (32) and Ma Aye Kyaing
(14) were rice cultivators. The Ma Aye Sein was raped and stabbed. She
died of multiple injuries.

The soldiers who perpetrated the crime are Thet Pine, Thet Lwin Oo, Myo
Thein, La Min  Htwe, Kyaw Soe and Win Ko,” said the statement.

The statement said that Daw Nan Man and Ma Aye Kyaing escaped from the
soldiers with serious injuries. However, the soldiers let go off Ma Aye
Sein, whose injuries were too severe for her to move, lying in the bush
where the gang rape took place. Ma Aye Sein's skull had cracked open,
there were four stab wounds under her left breast and three ribs were
broken. Ma Aye Sein died on October 13 in Lwe Lin Hospital from her
injuries. Delay in getting her to hospital complicated matters.

“The rape is a repeat of the circumstances of rape of at least 29 Palaung
women in Southern Shan State between January and April this year. We
recognize the rape of these three women to be part of the well-documented
systematic use of rape committed by the military regime as a strategy to
subjugate the ethnic people of Burma and this case again highlights the
impunity with which the military regime and its soldiers operate and
demonstrate the ongoing state of emergency in Burma,” the PWO statement
said.

The WLB stated in a position paper submitted to the United Nations in New
York on October 25 that recent incidents of sexual violence by the Burmese
military regime’s troops in western, eastern and central Burma have lent
urgency to demands for an immediate end to war crimes in Burma, according
their press release.

It also said that on October 9, six soldiers from Infantry Battalion No. 9
gang-raped three Palaung women, including a 14-year-old girl, in southern
Shan State who died of her injuries. On October 10, three naval cadets
gang raped a 14-year-old girl in Sittwe, Arakan State in western Burma .
On August 22, 2006, a Russian-trained Burma Army officer raped a
17-year-old village girl at gunpoint near Tada-U Airport in central Burma
while on security duty. None of the rapists have been punished.

“These political rapes and these war crimes have been continuing because
of the system of impunity that exists in Burma and the complete lack of
any political improvement in the country,” said Thin Thin Aung, a WLB
Presidium Board member, and one of the WLB team members lobbying in the
United Nations Security Council in New York .

“The UN Security Council must pressure the regime to implement an
immediate ceasefire and cease all war crimes against civilians in Burma ,”
said Thin Thin Aung. “Then the UNSC must ensure that an irreversible peace
and reconciliation process takes place.”

According to the PWO statement, these inhuman actions must stop
immediately and only genuine political reform in Burma will protect these
Palaung women from various forms of sexual violence.

PWO called on the international community to increase pressure on the
military regime to implement a nationwide ceasefire, withdraw troops
stationed in ethnic areas and begin a tripartite dialogue.

____________________________________

October 30, Newsweek
Asia's next art boom; Savvy collectors are heading to Burma - Sonia
Kolesnikov-Jessop

Like a swarm of insatiable locusts, Asian-art collectors have been
feasting on contemporary Chinese works for several years now, pushing
prices ever higher at recent auctions. In Southeast Asia, aficionados have
focused on Indonesian and Vietnamese artists, often praised for their
technique. Now, with those prices rising out of reach, too, attention is
turning to another little-known nation in the region: Burma.

While still only a blip on the radar screen of the international art
world, the totalitarian country is increasingly attracting the interest of
cutting-edge collectors.

It's not an easy market to crack. A repressive military regime restricts
not only access to the country and its artists but also what those artists
can portray in their work. Even so, Burmese works are increasingly visible
in museums and galleries throughout Asia.

Curators for the Singapore Art Museum have traveled regularly to Burma
since 1993; the museum now owns 150 works by Burmese artists, "mainly
older masters but a few contemporary artists as well," says Low Sze Wee,
assistant director for exhibitions and collections at SAM. The National
Art Gallery of Malaysia recently purchased works by six living Burmese
artists, while Japan's Fukuoka Asian Art Museum has also bought several
con-temporary pieces. Winning a place in such museums greatly enhances the
value of these artists in the eyes of collectors, says Jorn Middelborg,
managing director of the Thavibu Gallery in Bangkok.

So far only a handful of Burmese artists have really made it big. They
include impressionist master U Lun Gywe, famed for his fluid brush strokes
depicting rain-soaked landscapes, and Min Wae Aung and Pan Gyi Soe Moe,
known for their photo- realist paintings of Buddhist monks, nuns and
novices in saffron robes. And while prices for their works have remained
relatively stable for years, averaging $10,000 to $20,000, some upcoming
artists, like devout Buddhist Aung Kyaw Htet, are commanding prices 50
percent higher than they were two years ago. "We still sell works by Aung
Kyaw Htet for around $3,000 to $4,500, but prices are on the increase as
interest in contemporary art from Southeast Asia seems to follow the
trails of Chinese and Indian art," says Middelborg.

Technically, the works are very accomplished. Isolated from the rest of
the world for decades, Burmese artists until recently embraced
impressionism and realism as the main forms of artistic expression. The
country's fine-art institutions have always emphasized technique through
their focus on apprenticeship and the study of old masters. But
content-wise, artists have not been allowed to stray from landscapes,
temples or portraits of the nation's peoples in idealized, happy poses.
That creates what local artists refer to as "the monk trap," since those
are the works that dominate the market.

Yet the easing of restrictions on travel and the slow opening of the
country to outside influences are starting to change that. "The majority
of the artwork is still figurative--I would say, in higher proportion than
most emerging countries--but there is more abstract and conceptual art
coming out," says New Zealander Gill Pattison, owner of the River Gallery
in Rangoon. "The process is very slow, so it's more an evolution than a
revolution."

Though artists are limited in terms of subject matter, many are starting
to experiment with new techniques, giving a more contemporary touch to
traditional subjects. "Traditional images remain at the core of many
artists' work today," says Veronica Howe, an independent art consultant in
Singapore. "They fulfill a market demand for nostalgia. However, these
images have been joined by the more hard-edged, raw and challenging works
of some of the contemporary artists." Kyaw Zay Yar, 28, mixes collage with
acrylic paint and tissue paper to give texture to his paintings, while
Nann Nann, 32, uses gold-leaf squares in her Buddhism-inspired abstract
paintings.

There are now about 20 art galleries in Rangoon--mainly small extensions
of artists' studios--and international art lovers are increasingly making
the trek to the small former capital to buy directly from the artists,
says May Thanda Oo of Arty Art Gallery, which promotes Burmese artists in
Singapore. A few Burmese works will also appear at the Lasarati auction in
Singapore later this month. To those who helped send the market for
Chinese and Indian art into the stratosphere, it's all starting to sound
very familiar.

____________________________________
GUNS

October 27, Irrawaddy
Arms sales and offensives - Clifford McCoy

Burma’s State Peace and Development Council has reportedly purchased
military equipment from South Korea and India to bolster its forces,
according to two reports in the past month. At the same time, it is
gearing up for three different dry season offensives against ethnic
opposition groups.

In early September, reports emerged that the South Korean company Daewoo
was being investigated for acting as an agent to send military equipment
to Burma for an unidentified South Korean defence company. The equipment
has been variously described as lathes and press machines or detonating
devices for artillery shells.

Daewoo is one of the biggest foreign investors in Burma and has recently
been criticised for its investment in offshore Burmese gas fields. The
military arms sales were apparently made without the permission of the
Seoul government, and the South Korean special investigation department is
investigating both Daewoo and the defence company. South Korea is not a
traditional arms supplier to Burma, and if the deal did take place, it
would be in violation of South Korean law.

The Indian government has also confirmed it is supplying the Burmese junta
with military hardware, in a quid pro quo deal connected to countering the
influence of China and Pakistan and the suppression of insurgent groups
opposed to New Delhi,

The arrangement apparently came about during a meeting between Indian
Defence Secretary Shekhar Dutt and Burmese Vice Snr-Gen Maung Aye at
Naypyidaw in early September. The deal was confirmed in statements made by
Indian Army Vice Chief Lt-Gen S Pattabhiraman to the Indian magazine Force
in late September.  “We have recommended and started giving them [Burma]
105mm field guns.” Pattabhiraman said.  In addition to the field guns, New
Delhi is also providing T-55 tanks, armoured personnel carriers, mortars
and locally-designed advanced light helicopters.

Two BN-2 ‘Defender’ Islander maritime surveillance aircraft were
transferred to Burma by the Indian Navy in August, despite protests by the
British government. The aircraft were manufactured in the UK. In addition
to the aircraft, Burma also received deck-mounted air-defence guns and
surveillance equipment.

The two deals come as Burmese Army troops are moving into position to
launch three separate dry-season offensives.

A large-scale offensive against the Karen has been ongoing since February.
The relief group, Free Burma Rangers, and the KNU reported the arrival of
two new divisions to join the offensive earlier this month.

The Shan Herald Agency for News also reported the massing of army units
near Shan State Army-South bases along the Burma-Thailand border at Loi
Tailang and Loi Kawwan in late September. Some observers say these
battalions as well as units of the United Wa State Army will attack the
Shan military camps once the rains finish.

Various Indian news agencies as well as the insurgent National Socialist
Council of Nagaland (Khaplang) have reported that several Burmese Army
battalions are moving into positions in Sagaing Division. The battalions
have reportedly been sent to conduct offensive operations against the NSCN
and insurgent groups opposed to New Dehli’s rule in northeast India, such
as the United Liberation Front of Asom. This offensive is reportedly
coordinated with Indian forces operating on their side of the border.

These military offences come at a time when the regime is coming under
increasing international criticism for its repression of ethnic minorities
along its borders. Last month, the US successfully lobbied to have Burma
placed on the UN Security Council’s agenda because of its threat to
international peace and security and its poor human rights record.

The report of the UN’s Special Rapporteur on human rights in Burma, Paulo
Sergio Pinheiro, which was submitted to the UN General Assembly last week,
was highly critical of the junta’s military operations in ethnic minority
areas. The report said that “among the most tragic features of the
military campaign in ethnic areas is the disproportionate effect on
civilian populations. In addition to the heightened risks posed by the
widespread availability of small arms and light weapons and anti-personnel
mines, the killing, terrorizing or displacement of civilians is often part
of a deliberate strategy.”

Human rights groups consider the provision of more weapons to Burma as
only increasing the junta's ability to repress its own citizens,
especially among ethnic minority groups where the army’s brutal tactics
against civilians have been well documented.

Burma is considered by military analysts to have the second largest
military in Southeast Asia. Although its neighbours China and India do not
have much to fear from Burma, the acquiring of more weapons will likely be
of special concern to Thailand, which has had several armed clashes with
the Burmese military over border disputes, the most recent in 2003.

_____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

October 27, Agence France Presse
UN envoy expected back in Yangon in early November

Top UN official Ibrahim Gambari is expected back in military-ruled Myanmar
early next month, diplomats said Friday, nearly six months after his last
visit when he was allowed to meet detained democracy icon Aung San Suu
Kyi.

Gambari's visit was likely to take place from November 9 to 12, a diplomat
said here. The United Nations has yet to confirm the dates for the trip,
which has been in the works for months.
A high-ranking official at Myanmar's foreign ministry also declined to
confirm dates.

"We cannot confirm the dates yet because we are too busy," he said,
without elaborating.
Gambari's planned visit comes after the UN Security Council heard a
briefing in late September on Myanmar which is under international
pressure to reform.

The United States later said it might introduce a resolution at the UN
Security Council on Myanmar after Gambari's upcoming visit.

When Gambari visited Myanmar in May, he became the first foreigner allowed
to see Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi in more than two years.

But shortly after he left, the junta extended her house arrest for another
year.

Aung San Suu Kyi has spent most of the last 17 years under house arrest.
Her National League for Democracy Party won 1990 elections, but the
military has never allowed them to govern.

_____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

October 27, Inter Press Service
Thai junta as saviour of democracy in Burma - Marwaan Macan-Markar

As the leader of a government set up by a military junta, Thailand's Prime
Minister Surayud Chulanont has a rare honour. He is being looked upon as a
pivotal player in the drive to restore democracy and human rights in
another military-ruled country --neighbouring Burma.

This idea, gaining ground among Burmese political exiles and human rights
groups, stems from a variety of reasons. The Thai government led by prime
minister Thaksin Shinawatra, which was turfed out of power in the Sep. 19
coup, had gained notoriety as a passionate defender of Rangoon's
oppressive junta. The past two years saw Thailand out of step with the
consensus among its South-east Asian neighbours, that have shown
displeasure to the Burmese regime.

Bangkok's policies during the Thaksin administration were driven largely
by economic interests, whatever the political costs. This eye to profit
was personal, with his family-owned telecommunications conglomerate
standing to gain the most, Thaksin's critics said. But Bangkok was
unconcerned by the treatment meted out to Burma's pro-democracy icon, Aung
San Suu Kyi.

Surayud, on the other hand, had gained wide support among Burmese
political exiles, refugees and ethnic groups fighting Rangoon's troops
during his stint as Thailand's army commander, beginning in 1998. Besides
opposing a move to drive back the tens of thousands refugees who had fled
Burma for safety along the Thai border, Surayud also openly criticised
Burma's involvement in pushing drugs into Thailand.

‘'We hope that the interim government of Thailand would adopt a more
sympathetic stance towards democracy in Burma and be more in line with the
call being made by ASEAN (Association of South-east Nations) for
democratisation in Burma,'' says Soe Aung, foreign affairs spokesman for
the National Council for the Union of Burma (NCUB), an umbrella body of
Burmese political and human rights groups in exile.

He echoed the sentiments of other Burmese groups when he added during an
IPS interview that Thaksin's policies had encouraged Rangoon to become
more oppressive in the face of growing international condemnation. ‘'The
previous Thai administration had a cosy relationship with Burma because of
the former prime minister's business interests. Things just got bad.''

The growing spotlight on Surayud to take on Burma's generals in his new
role as the Thai premier has also to do with the dramatic shift underway
at the United Nations. On Sep. 30, Burma found itself included on the
formal agenda of the U.N. Security Council, which paves the way for the
U.N. to assert a new level of pressure on Rangoon to open the country for
political reform and end its gross human rights violations.

To achieve that, say human rights groups, Thailand may hold the key.
Support from Bangkok for direct Security Council involvement in Burma
would find Rangoon's regime more isolated and with no defenders in ASEAN,
the 10-member regional bloc of which Burma and Thailand are members. Till
recently, the bloc --that includes Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia,
Singapore the Philippines, Brunei and Indonesia -- shielded the junta from
international criticism.

‘'A change in Thai policy and a willingness to speak out on the dire
situation in Burma is critical to success in improving the human rights
situation in Burma and gaining an international consensus, including at
the Security Council, for urgent action,'' wrote Brad Adams, Asia director
of New York-based Human Rights Watch in a commentary published Thursday in
‘The Nation,' an English-language daily here.

What is more, such a shift away from the Thaksin agenda in Burma would
help restore the place Thailand enjoyed previously as a country in the
vanguard of political and democratic reform in the region, Boonthan
Verawongse, Thailand director for the global rights lobby Amnesty
International, told IPS.

‘'In the past four to five years, Thailand has lost the opportunity to
play a leading political and problem-solving role in the region,'' he
said. ‘'There is an opportunity now for the new government to consider
taking positive actions towards human rights, peace and political
development in the region.''

According to officials, Thais, Burmese and the international community
will not have to wait long to learn what the Surayud administration has in
store. ‘'On Nov. 3, the government will present its policy -- including
its foreign policy -- to the National Assembly,'' a Thai foreign ministry
official told IPS. ‘'This should indicate the new government's policy
toward Burma, since it will state what Thailand's policies will be towards
its neighbouring countries.''

And between now and then, Burma watchers will get an opportunity to gauge
how Gen. Surayud will take to Burmese Prime Minister Soe Win when they
meet for an ASEAN-China summit at the end of October in Nanking, China.

Burma, which has been ruled by successive military regimes since a 1962
coup, has assured the international community that political reform was on
the cards, with the on going National Convention to draft a new
constitution being offered as proof.

But a message from the international community that it will not be fooled
was delivered to Burma's ruling strongmen on Oct. 20. It came in the form
of a scathing report by Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, U.N. human rights envoy to
Burma, to the General Assembly. In an unprecedented move, Pinheiro
declared that Security Council involvement on Burma was necessary because
of the escalating scale of human rights violations.

The U.N. General Assembly should ‘'consider calling on the Security
Council to respond to the situation of armed conflict in eastern Myanmar
(or Burma) where civilians are being targeted and where humanitarian
assistance to civilians is being deliberately obstructed,'' Pinheiro, a
Brazilian national, noted in his recommendations.

____________________________________

October 27, Malaysiakini
Burma: Need for binding resolution - Augusto Miclat Jr

On Sept 15, the UN Security Council (UNSC) made a remarkable contribution
to the suffering population of Burma when it included the military-ruled
country in its formal agenda. The council voted 10-4 to list Burma, which
has drawn international condemnation for detaining hundreds of political
opponents including Burmese democracy icon and Nobel Peace Prize laureate
Aung San Suu Kyi who has been under house arrest for most of the past 17
years.

As expected, the Burmese military junta again met all accusations hurled
against them with sharp denials. Citing that Burma’s problems are merely
domestic concerns, the junta is now at a loss how to spin a fitting alibi
for Burma not to be included in the Council’s agenda. Even the state-run
newspaper The New Light of Myanmar must hire a new editor with special
skills in fabricating lies because the rag (pardon the double pun) simply
cannot convince the international community to believe that the generals
in Rangoon have committed no crimes.

The peoples of Burma and the international community have all the reasons
to rejoice because finally the UN’s most powerful organ has taken notice
of the illegal regime in Rangoon - a regime that rapes its own women and
exploits its own workers.

Immediately after Sept 15, the junta ran amuck. Arbitrary arrests of
activists then followed. Former political prisoners, Min Ko Naing, Min
Zeya, Ko Ko Gyi, Htay Kywe and Pyone Cho were arrested by the military
junta Wednesday, Sept 27 at their homes by the military and have not been
seen since.

The junta earlier accused the detained activists, all of whom are members
of the 88 Generation Students group, of creating ‘instability and unrest’,
and of having links with exiled activists. The arrests of five activists
drew flak from the international community. As of this writing, the five
activists are still under detention with no trial being offered to prove
their innocence. But wonder not. In Burma there is no rule of law. The law
rests only in the hands of those who intend to manipulate it. In Burma,
don’t expect justice, because the junta acts as the complainant, lawyer
and judge – and executioner - all at the same time.

Indeed Burma’s inclusion in the UNSC is a battle won for the international
community. It offers a broader space for a democratisation process to move
inside Burma. But as the ruling junta continues to violate the rights of
its citizens, the task of the UNSC should not be limited only to Burma’s
inclusion on its program of work. Burma’s inclusion at the UNSC would
become meaningless if the Council would not adopt a substantial and
binding resolution that is able to immediately halt the political
attrition against all opposition groups and activists inside Burma.

The writer is executive director, Initiatives for International Dialogue
(IID) and convenor, Free Burma Coalition-Philippines (FBC-Phils).

____________________________________

October 27, Irrawaddy
A response to Professor Steinberg’s lesson - John Lydon

Professor Steinberg’s October 25 commentary “Burma and Lessons from the
Hungarian Revolution” [The Irrawaddy online] is shameful, presenting the
Burmese as a bunch of naïve simpletons who struggle for “an impossible
goal” under the misimpression that the US will invade Burma and save them.
Although he invokes the Hippocratic oath, “do no harm,” he is not a
disinterested clinician, and his words do a disservice to the Burmese
people.

Steinberg takes it upon himself to elaborate in two sentences the “obvious
but still not properly understood” lessons of the 1956 Hungarian
Revolution. He notes that US Cold War rhetoric encouraged mass protests in
Hungary in 1956, but ultimately fell short as the US failed to intervene
militarily when the revolution was violently suppressed. Eliding the
broad-based nature of that movement, the professor then jumps forward
fifty years and halfway across the globe to Burma, where we are told
Burma’s generals, and Burmese dissidents, operate under the similar
illusion that a US invasion is impending.

Steinberg’s assertion that the military junta fears invasion is based on
his privileged access to Burma’s generals and military intelligence
officers. Masters of duplicity, these officers may really believe what
they say. But we must bear in mind that the junta has a long history of
trying to deflect public discontent by rallying the populace around the
purported threat of foreign invasion, making it very difficult to
distinguish theatrics from firmly held beliefs.

The junta is paranoid for other reasons. The military’s atrocities have
inspired widespread animosity and generated countless enemies who would
like to see it toppled. Global efforts to bring former dictators to
justice might also add to the Burmese generals’ insecurity.

More problematic and offensive is Steinberg’s presentation of the
democratic opposition as a bunch of naïve idealists who resist
authoritarian governance simply because they have faith in an impending US
invasion. This belief, he asserts, is generated by Western
characterizations of the regime as a rogue, pariah state, and evident in
popular Burmese jokes about an impending US invasion.

It might benefit Steinberg to spend less of his time with the Burmese
generals and more time with civilians. Few are happy with the present
government; many hate it, and most resist it in various forms—through
subversive puns, petitions to free political prisoners, underground
political organizing or outright insurgency. The Burmese do not believe
the junta is a rogue state because the US tells them it is; they live with
this reality. Joking about a US invasion is a relatively safe way to
express discontent with a government that quashes more overt forms of
dissent. One should be careful not to misinterpret it.

Burma’s political dissidents are under no illusions that the US will
liberate them. Their resistance is predicated on a profound sense of
injustice and the desire for a better government. They suffer an uneasy
existence and daily confront the reality that they are under surveillance
by the regime’s pervasive intelligence apparatus, and that at all times
they risk arrest, torture and years of imprisonment for their activities.
They are also keenly aware that no one will intervene to save them.

There was no invasion in 1988 when thousands of demonstrators were killed,
or on numerous subsequent occasions when university students mounted
protests. Nor did the 2003 attack against Aung San Suu Kyi in Depayin,
widely regarded as an assassination attempt, spark a US invasion. The lack
of any US military response to these atrocities is apparent to all
Burmese, yet the struggle for justice remains vibrant. If there is another
mass uprising in which Burmese bravely stand down armed soldiers, it will
not be premised on a deeply held belief that the US will save them.

As Steinberg counsels, Burmese citizens are wise to question the depth of
Western governments’ commitment to a democratic transition, which will not
likely include military invasion. However, Western governments’ support
for political reform is neither “inadvertent” nor “implicit.” They have
backed their words with substantive political action and hundreds of
millions of dollars to support the democracy movement. There is a clear
commitment to this cause.

Burmese are equally wise to question policy practitioners who promise to
alleviate Burma’s problems by lifting economic sanctions, intensifying
flows of development assistance and humanitarian succor to the regime, and
engaging it from other fronts, such as the Asia Foundation. Although some
foreigners do measurable good in Burma, many proponents of engagement are
driven purely by the desire to make a quick buck at the expense of the
country’s impoverished population. Others are simply naïve about their
ability to reform the junta.

Proponents of engagement prefer to make nice with Burma’s generals, who
have the guns and a seat at the UN, while silencing the opposition and
counseling them to be patient.  This is a convenient solution for a
Western academic, but a huge bitter pill for Burmese to swallow—and one of
dubious curative value. Freedoms and rights are not given, nor do they
emerge in lock-step with development and political engagement. They are
won through long and hard struggle.

Authoritarianism is premised upon repression. Injustice will abound in
Burma as long as the military rules the country. Burmese who choose to
confront injustice pay a high price for doing so, but many accept this
burden willingly, as they regard struggle as a palliative to the terrible
injustice that surrounds them. We are right to support them in their
struggle for justice.

John Lydon has lived and traveled extensively in Burma.

____________________________________
PRESS RELEASE

October 27, Foreign Affairs Committee & Burma Federation of Student Unions
One month mark for 88 generation student leaders detained in Burma

Today marks one month since Ko Min Ko Naing, Ko Ko Gyi , Ko Min Zeya, Ko
Htay Kywe and
Ko Pyo Cho, leaders of the 88 Generation Student Group, were arbitrarily
detained by the military regime in Burma. Despite the SPDC’s claims that
the student leaders were invited for discussions with high ranking
officials, they remain in detention, with no public knowledge of their
location or health situation. The Foreign Affairs Committee of the All
Burma Federation of Student Unions expresses deep concern for the student
leaders and condemnation for the lawless actions of the SPDC.

While detained, the SPDC state run media has made groundless accusations
against the student leaders in an effort to distort the goodwill of
student leaders and their desire to see genuine reconciliation in Burma.

Despite several disturbances from the SPDC, other 88 Generation Student
Leaders began a signature campaign, gathering signatures from all over
Burma, from those from all walks of life.

The petition called for the immediate and unconditional release of the
detained student leaders, as well as Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and U Khun Htun
Oo. It further asked for the release of all political prisoners and a
start to genuine national reconciliation. Over half a million people
participated in the signature campaign.

The ABFSU-FAC strongly condemns the SPDCs lawless action and demands the
SPDC:

•  make public the location of the student leaders and the charges under
which they are being held
•  release the student leaders immediately, allowing them to return home
•  endorse the requests of the 88 Generation Student Group, which are
supported by Burmese from all walks of life.


Foreign Affairs Committee
All Burma Federation of Student Unions

For More Information

Min Naing ( 081  6802015 )
Zin Maung ( 086 9233547)

P.O.Box 102, Mae Ping P.O,Chiang Mai 50301,Thialand
Email: bakatha at loxinfo.co.th; Ph: 66 53 252843