BurmaNet News, December 7, 2006

[Editor]

December 7, 2006 Issue # 3101

INSIDE BURMA
Irrawaddy: Ceasefire group says it can’t trust National Convention

ON THE BORDER
Xinhua: Jail terms confirmed for six Myanmar women smugglers

BUSINESS / TRADE
PTI: Exim Bank's extends USD 20 mn to Myanmar Foreign Trade Bank
Irrawaddy: Burma’s economic growth could reach 4 percent in 2007

HEALTH / AIDS
Xinhua: Myanmar to vaccinate 7 mln children against measles

ASEAN
Thai Press: Asean facing credibility test over pressing Burma on political
reform

REGIONAL
Irrawaddy: Daewoo–A serial suitor of the Burmese regime - Clive Parker

INTERNATIONAL
AFP: Myanmar to use Indian military aid against civilians: rights group

OPINION / OTHER
Mizzima: Burma's regime: No time frame for democratization process - Myat Soe

PRESS RELEASE
Human Rights Watch: India: Military aid to Burma fuels abuses
Christian Solidarity Worldwide: CSW returns from visit to internally
displaced people in eastern Burma

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INSIDE BURMA

December 7, Irrawaddy
Ceasefire group says it can’t trust National Convention - Shah Paung

One of Burma’s ethnic ceasefire groups, the New Mon State Party, says it
is withholding active participation in the assembly because it cannot be
trusted.

The NMSP stand on National Convention participation was explained to the
Mon people in a three-week information campaign which has just wound up.

The NMSP, which signed a ceasefire agreement with the regime in 1995,
attended resumed sessions of the National Convention in 2004, but has sent
only observers since December, 2005.

Explaining the reasons for withdrawing active participation, NMSP
General-Secretary Nai Han Thar said the regime position at the National
Convention was to place ceasefire groups under the control of the
Tatmadaw, the Burmese armed forces. “As a result, the regime might have
the authority to dissolve the troops [of the ceasefire groups] and disarm
them.”

Nai Han Thar said this would be unacceptable “if there is no political
dialogue and unless the Mon people have their own rights.”

The NMSP is also resisting regime pressure on ceasefire groups to condemn
the inclusion of Burma on the UN Security Council agenda. As a result, the
regime has ceased its supplies of food and provisions to the party—the
junta’s reward for complying with its wishes.

The NMSP took its information campaign to three areas: Ye Township of Mon
State, Yepyu Township of Tenasserim Division and Three Pagodas
Pass-Payathonsu of Karen State.

Nai Han Thar said the NMSP observer at the National Convention had told
him the assembly was expected to recess this month, despite the regime’s
desire for an early end to its deliberations.

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

December 7, Xinhua General News Service
Jail terms confirmed for six Myanmar women smugglers

A higher court in East China's Anhui Province upheld a ruling that six
Myanmar nationals convicted of women smuggling should receive jail terms
ranging from five years to life. The leader of the ring, whose Chinese
name is "Ma'ailai", was sentenced to life imprisonment. He was also
deprived of his political rights for life and his personal assets were
confiscated, said the Higher People's Court of Anhui Province, in a final
court ruling.

The other five criminals in the smuggling clique were given fines of
10,000 yuan (about 1,250 U.S. dollars) each on top of their jail
sentences, according to the final ruling issued on Sunday. Chinese
procurators said the smuggling team last year abducted a number of Myanmar
women, smuggled them into China and sold them as wives to single men in
Anhui province.

The gang, all farmers in Myanmar, were arrested by local police in Anhui
in July 2005. 23 Myanmar women that they had abducted were subsequently
set free. In the first-instance trial held on July 19 this year, the
Intermediate People's Court of Bozhou, a city in Anhui, ruled that the
gang members were guilty of abducting and selling women for profit and
were sentenced to imprisonment of five years to life.

The lower court demanded that the criminals be deported upon completion of
their jail terms in China. The six Myanmar nationals lodged an appeal with
the Higher People's Court of Anhui Province.

____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

December 7, Irrawaddy
Burma’s economic growth could reach 4 percent in 2007

The Manila-based Asian Development Bank said on Thursday that Burma’s
economy could expect to grow by between two and four percent next year on
the back of expanding oil and gas exports. The same level of growth was
also anticipated for this year, ADB said.

The government, by contrast, has forecast 10 percent growth for 2006, a
figure considered unrealistic by many analysts, including ADB. Burma’s
expanding energy sector and a proposed Special Economic Zone in Rangoon at
Thilawa Port were deemed the brightest prospects for growth next year. But
ADB warned that Burma still faces familiar problems caused by the
continuing devaluation of the kyat, overspending, high inflation—which is
forecast to reach an average of 30 percent in 2007—and erratic economic
policy.

“The overall investment climate remains highly uncertain,” the report
concluded.

____________________________________

December 7, Press Trust of India
Exim Bank's extends USD 20 mn to Myanmar Foreign Trade Bank

The Export-Import Bank of India (Exim Bank) has concluded an agreement
with the Myanmar Foreign Trade Bank extending a Line of Credit for USD 20
million, for financing export of goods and services from India, including
consultancy services, for renovation of the Thanlyin Refinery in Myanmar.

The credit agreement is effective from October 23, 2006. The utilization
period under the LOC will expire at the end of 48 months from the
scheduled completion date(s) of contract(s) in case of project exports and
August 16, 2012 (72 months from date of execution of Credit Agreement) in
case of supply contracts.

____________________________________
HEALTH / AIDS

December 7, Xinhua General News Service
Myanmar to vaccinate 7 mln children against measles

Myanmar will vaccinate a total of more than 7 million children against
measles under a measles control strategic plan for 2007, official
newspaper New Light of Myanmar reported Thursday. The children aged
between nine months and five years will be vaccinated under a campaign to
be launched in three phases, the first in townships of Yangon and Mandalay
divisions in next January, the second in Tanintharyi and upper Sagaing
divisions in next March and the third in Ayeyawaddy, Magway, Bago and
lower Sagaing divisions in next May with each phase taking two weeks, the
report said.

Myanmar has launched immunization programs against measles every year
since 1987. A research by the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) said there was
high mortality of children under age five in Myanmar due to measles.
According to the Myanmar Ministry of Health, about 1.3 million children
are born in Myanmar every year and about 20 to 25 percent failed to get
vaccinated.

The ministry has urged parents of children to send them for vaccination
against the disease, saying that arrangements are also being made to do so
for those residing in remote border areas which are hardly accessible.
Measles cases are found increasing among children, especially in those
areas where the immunization coverage is low, the authorities said.

____________________________________
ASEAN

December 7, Thai Press Reports
Asean facing credibility test over pressing Burma on political reform

As the leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations prepare for
their annual summit in the Philippines this month, they must confront the
problem of Myanmar (Burma).

ASEAN is under increasing pressure to demand that Burma improve its human
rights record and move toward democracy. But as Ron Corben reports from
Bangkok, analysts expect little real progress in persuading Burma's
military government to ease its grip on power.

For the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Burma is an increasingly
difficult issue, as international pressure mounts against its government.
But Burma's military, in power for over 40 years, shows no sign of
allowing major political reform.

And ASEAN states are divided over Burma, which joined the group in 1997.
Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia and Thailand have pressed Burma to
speed up reforms. Others, such as Vietnam and Laos, both one-party states,
are more reticent to push for change.

Thailand's Interim Prime Minister, Surayud Chulanont, a retired general,
says Burma's military needs to set a clear time frame on political reform.
The Thai interim government, installed after a bloodless coup in
September, says it will hold national elections by the end of 2007."For
Thailand, we have a timeline to draft our new constitution and move on the
path to democracy, but for the Burmese we don't see any indications on the
timeline yet so we have to be very careful," he said.

Mr. Surayud has said that Burma's reform program will be raised during the
ASEAN leaders' summit in the Philippines on December 11.Three years ago,
Burma's government announced a plan of gradual changes eventually leading
to elections. But so far only modest progress has been seen, and the
national convention drafting a new constitution has yet to complete its
task.

The U.S. and European Union have imposed economic sanctions on Burma and
called on it to improve human rights and release political prisoners,
especially opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.In September Burma was
listed for debate at the U.N. Security Council.

"Given the upcoming possible action in the U.N. Security Council, ASEAN's
common credibility is now at risk because if Burma cannot improve its
behavior in the near future the entire ASEAN community will have to face
growing pressure from the international community as well," said Sunai
Pasuk, a Thai representative for U.S.-based Human Rights Watch. He thinks
the U.N. debate will add pressure on ASEAN.

Despite international protests, ASEAN allowed Burma to join, and the
group's officials argued that membership would encourage reform. Instead,
the Burmese government continues to detain most opposition leaders and has
toughened controls on international aid organizations.

The Global Fund against AIDS and tuberculosis last year withdrew its
support for programs in Burma because the government restricted its
movements.

In November, the International Committee for the Red Cross said it was
ordered to close five offices working in Burma's border regions. The ICRC
spokesman in Rangoon, Terry Ribeax, says the Red Cross also was barred
from visiting prisons.

"It was told to us that detention visits would no longer be allowed,"
Ribeaux said. "The ICRC was not allowed to carry out detention visits all
over 2006. And you know we knew that the work we were doing had a positive
impact on the condition of the detainees." Debbie Stothard, spokeswoman
for the Alternative ASEAN Network, thinks the group may gain some leverage
over Burma. ASEAN is preparing a new charter, which among other things, is
expected to call for promoting democracy and protecting human rights.

"For most human rights activists in ASEAN we're counting on the fact that
the discussions on the ASEAN charter will be an opportunity to ensure that
Burma is very much high up on the agenda," she said.

A Burmese pro-democracy advocate, Naing Aung, from the Asian Network for
Free Elections, notes that while ASEAN will not press very hard on Burma,
it did not stand in the way of this year's debate at the United Nations.

"It is hard to expect that ASEAN will be more actively involved in solving
the Burmese problem," he said. "But (ASEAN) are not giving any protection
to Burma in terms of the United Nations level. They no longer protect
Burma anymore." Several experts say that ASEAN leaders are not likely to
push publicly on Burma at their annual summit, being held in the
Philippines.

What is more, the analysts fear that rising international pressure,
especially from the West, will drive Burma closer to China. Burma does
considerable trade with China - selling timber and other natural resources
that China's booming economy needs.

Experts say that as long as China trades with Burma, the military
government may be able to withstand pressure to change for years.

____________________________________
REGIONAL

December 7, Irrawaddy
Daewoo – A serial suitor of the Burmese regime - Clive Parker

With news of Daewoo’s illegal activities in Burma continuing to emerge on
Thursday, observers have been given a rare glimpse into one of the closest
business relationships the regime has had with the outside world in recent
years.

Lee Tae-Yong, chairman of Daewoo International and the most high-profile
of the 14 executives indicted this week, had established a working rapport
with the junta that saw him visit Burma at least nine times since the
beginning of 2001, and in the process secure one of the largest gas
concessions in Southeast Asia.

The crucial deal to build an arms factory near Prome, Pegu Division, worth
US $133.8 million signed in May 2002, as reported in the South Korean
press this week, came three months after the executive met with former
Prime Minister Khin Nyunt at the Ministry of Defense in Rangoon after a
flurry of visits to Burma.

The Korean Trade Investment Promotion Agency office in Rangoon told The
Irrawaddy on Thursday it knew nothing of the deal, while the embassy was
unavailable for comment. Both have been questioned by the prosecution
department in Seoul.

Less than a year before the deal was signed, Lee again met with Khin Nyunt
at the Defense Services Guest House in Maymyo to discuss “matters related
to bilateral cooperation and promoting investment between the two
countries,” Burmese state press reported at the time. Six months later, he
made another trip to Rangoon to discuss communications.

During this period, Daewoo International’s president met with a host of
Burmese officials to discuss mining, oil and gas, communications and
industry, and donating medicine worth 35 million kyat ($27,300) along the
way.

Then in January 2004, Daewoo announced it had found gas in Burma’s A-1
field, a huge deposit estimated by campaign groups to be worth up to $17
billion for the regime over the next 20 years. It was a crucial discovery.
For Lee, cooperation with the junta meant the previously floundering
Daewoo had turned its prospects around. After recording a $1.3 million
loss in 2004, the company is now expected to net up to $190 million a year
as a result of the discovery.

The deal supplying missile technology, for which Daewoo is being
investigated, saw Lee benefit personally, the chief prosecutor Lee Geon-Ju
has said—90 percent of which has already been paid. Clearly the
relationship has become hugely profitable for both parties.

With charges now brought against the South Korean executive, it seems
unlikely he will be in a position to follow up his latest trip to Burma,
visiting Naypyidaw at the end of June to meet Minister for Communications,
Posts and Telegraphs Brig-Gen Thein Zaw.

The effect on the junta’s relationship with Daewoo seems less clear. South
Korea’s stock market on Thursday saw the company’s shares edge up 0.12
percent on Thursday despite this week’s revelations. Given that only a
tiny fraction of Daewoo’s operations in Burma have been deemed illegal,
and those are 90 percent complete anyway, the prospects for this enduring
relationship are unlikely to be adversely affected.

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

December 7, Agence France Presse
Myanmar to use Indian military aid against civilians: rights group

Human Rights Watch (HRW) warned Wednesday that India was offering military
aid to Myanmar's military junta that Yangon will likely use it against
civilians as it battles ethnic insurgents. The New York-based rights group
said India's air force chief, Marshal SP Tyagi, offered a multimillion
dollar military aid package last month during a visit to Myanmar, which
has been ruled by the military since 1962.The package includes
counterinsurgency helicopters, avionics upgrades of Myanmar's Russian- and
Chinese-made fighter planes, and naval surveillance aircraft, HRW said.

India's army chief of staff, JJ Singh, pledged to help train Myanmar
troops in special warfare tactics in early November, it said.

"It is shocking that a democracy like India would offer military
assistance to Burma's (Myanmar's) brutal military dictatorship, which is
likely to use that assistance against the civilian population," said Brad
Adams, HRW's Asia director, using Myanmar's former name.

"The Burmese government's record shows that these weapons and special
training are used as tools of repression, not of defense," said Adams.

"They are likely again to be used to attack and mistreat civilians. It is
impossible to understand how the Indian government can justify this," he
said Fighting involving the Karen National Union (KNU), the oldest and
largest rebel force still battling the Myanmar's military regime, has
escalated since February.

Tyagi's visit last month came amid improving bilateral ties, as India
jockeys with China in a race to tap Myanmar's vast natural resources to
fuel their growth. India is the world's second-fastest growing major
economy after China.

Myanmar, which shares a 1,600 kilometer (1,000 mile) unfenced border with
India, is also cooperating with New Delhi to crack down on anti-India
separatist rebels based in northern Myanmar.

____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

December 7, Mizzima News
Burma's regime: No time frame for democratization process - Myat Soe

In response to new challenges over the past years, many world leaders are
trying to find ways to support and improve political and economic
climates. They know the key to the nation's future is to find a way to
support sustainable development for the years to come. They all believe
one thing stays the same: --"the need to change". Indeed, the situation is
always changing in international and regional climates, and will always
keep changing.

In the regional political climate in Southeast Asia, the Thai army chief
General Sonthi Boonyaratglin who led a coup against Prime Minister Thaksin
Shinawatra appointed an interim government within two weeks and national
elections would be held in a year. In Philippines, provoking rebellion was
arrested to face the court of justice. This pre-emptive action saved the
country from further decline by crushing the selfish motivated individuals
who wished President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo out using
extra-constitutional means. Former Prime Ministers Mahathi of Malaysia
immediately resigned from all his party and government positions, ending
21 years in office. In the same way, former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew
from Singapore stayed away from the country's politics and handed over
power to the next generation. The current leaders in those two countries
were convinced of continuing changes and tran

"For things to change I must change first", this is what all regional
leaders should tell the next young generation. Mistakes are learning
experiences to become better.

But, this philosophy does not work for a new generation of selfish
motivated generals who are implementing and controlling the policy and
strategies in Burma. They don't wish to learn from the mistakes of late
General Ne Win who drove his country into poverty and disrepute over a
26-year reign. No matter what, a new generation of generals are trying to
promote themselves as Chairman of SPDC, Field Marshal of Burma's army, who
wish to be honoured with State Funeral Service, like Stalin and Saddam who
painted himself as a benevolent ruler and hero to his lackeys while
engaging in unspeakably vile atrocities in secret.

Over two decades, Burma's rulers have been busy with dog-eat-dog policies.
No substantial and significant result has been achieved. No time frame for
political development has been made. The fact of the matter is the Burmese
regime does not want to change its attitude towards its own citizens and
their repressive policies. After the United Nations
Undersecretary-General, Ibrahim Gambari's visit, the Burmese generals
charged and imprisoned the three most prominent student leaders of Burma,
Min Ko Naing, Ko Ko Gyi and Htay Kye who have been working tirelessly to
bring about democratic changes in the country by peaceful means, in the
same way as Aung San Suu Kyi's detention was extended by another year
following Gambari's previous visit to Burma.

Recently, the Burmese regime claimed that UN resolution against the junta
would destroy peace and accused the Security Council of trying to
interfere in its domestic affairs. It is a ridiculous statement made by
selfish motivated generals. How can you maintain peace in a country under
repressive policies? Nevertheless, the evidence is that the conflict in
Burma has displaced over one million people. There are currently more than
1,100 political prisoners in notorious jails, and four million citizens
have left their own country since 1988. Indeed, many thousands of people
in the war zones of Burma are suffering growing humanitarian crisis that
will increase threats to Burma's neighbouring countries and the entire
region. Even many human rights groups have expressed concern about
arbitrary arrests by military intelligence agents, prolonged
interrogation, and the torture and ill treatment of detaine

Despite more than 28 resolutions adopted by the U.N. General Assembly and
the Commission on Human Rights, calling for national reconciliation and
democratization in Burma, as well as the actions undertaken by the U.N.
Secretary General Kofi Annan and his office over the past ten years, and
the four envoys to Burma mandated by the U.N. Commission on Human Rights,
the SPDC's unlawful methods of political and ethnic repression have
intensified and consolidated. In reality, the United Nation resolution
becomes music to the ears of the notorious generals in Burma who have few
friends in the region. It also lent its support to the junta's new roadmap
to the military way of democracy.

The U.N and its Security Council must not fail the Burmese people again
when they need protection the most. We, the Burmese people need both
political and economic reform moving in the right direction, and we need
it soon. For that reason, the U.N Security Council's resolution should not
be the same as the UN resolutions without a plan called decisive actions
based on principles. The international and regional climates were quite
different from when the regional leaders had confronted the Burmese regime
more than a decade earlier. The Council must move towards more active
formal measures and take punitive actions toward Burma's rulers who need
to be primarily responsible for national reconciliation and
democratization process.

(Myat Soe is Research Director of Justice for Human Rights in Burma. He
graduated from Indiana University, and earned his MBA from Indiana
Wesleyan University)

____________________________________
PRESS RELEASE

December 7, Human Rights Watch
India: Military aid to Burma fuels abuses

India Must Halt Arms Sales and Training to Burmese Army

(New York, December 7, 2006) - The Indian government is offering a package
of military assistance to the Burmese army, which is likely to use such
arms and training to attack against civilians in its war against ethnic
insurgents, Human Rights Watch said today.

Human Rights Watch called on the Indian government to cease its support
for the Burmese military, halt arms sales and press the government to stop
its attacks on civilians.

India's air force chief, S. P. Tyagi, offered a multimillion dollar aid
package to Burma's military when he visited Burma's new administrative
capitol at Nay Pyi Taw on November 22 to meet the leaders of the military
government, the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC). This aid
package includes counterinsurgency helicopters, avionics upgrades of
Burma's Russian- and Chinese-made fighter planes, and naval surveillance
aircraft. This followed recent pledges in early November by Indian army
chief of staff, J. J. Singh, to help train Burmese troops in special
warfare tactics.

"It is shocking that a democracy like India would offer military
assistance to Burma's brutal military dictatorship, which is likely to use
that assistance against the civilian population," said Brad Adams, Asia
director at Human Rights Watch. "India may think it has to compete with
China to cultivate good relations in the region, but this is going too
far."

Last year, India halted military aid to Nepal after a coup by King
Gyanendra. Yet India has shown no such restraint in Burma, a country with
an appalling human rights record and no semblance of democracy. Human
Rights Watch is particularly alarmed that such assistance has been offered
while the Burmese army is mounting its largest operation in more than 10
years, with well over 50 military battalions moving through northern Karen
State.

Early this year, India sold Burma two BN-2 Islander maritime surveillance
aircraft that it had brought from the United Kingdom in the 1980s. The
aircraft were delivered in August despite the British government's
objections that they were being supplied to a country under an EU arms
embargo. The EU Common Position on Burma, renewed this year, states that
the European Union prohibits the sale of military equipment to Burma.
Although there was no specific end-user provision in the original sale,
Britain's High Commissioner to India in January warned the Indian
government that such a sale could affect further military transfers to
India. Britain has refused to continue to supply spare parts and
maintenance to India's remaining Islander aircraft as a result.

Later this year, India sold T-55 tanks and 105mm artillery pieces to the
SPDC. The Burmese military routinely uses weapons such as artillery and
mortars in conflict areas to destroy villages and exact retributions
against civilian settlements as it wages war against ethnic insurgents.

Burma rarely uses air power against anti-government insurgents, and has
not directly done so since the offensives of the early 1990s. In the 1980s
it abused the aid provisions attached to US-supplied aircraft to attack
villages in Shan State. Currently, the Burmese military uses air power
mainly to transport troops and supplies to combat areas. India's offer of
assistance, however, consists of counterinsurgency aircraft and tactics,
including the Dhruv and Lancer light-attack helicopters manufactured by
Hindustan Aeronautical Limited (HAL). This would augment the Burmese
army's ability to attack insurgents in difficult terrain, out of view of
international observers. Helicopters such as these are designed to attack
targets on the ground, and civilians often suffer as a result.

India's offer to train Burmese special forces in counterinsurgency tactics
also risks contributing to further serious human rights abuses. Burma uses
small mobile death squads in Karen State, called "guerrilla retaliation"
units, which attack civilian settlements suspected of harboring Karen
soldiers. In other parts of the country, including Shan and Karenni
States, counterinsurgency tactics by the Burmese army routinely include
abuses against civilians. The army uses a longstanding strategy called the
"Four Cuts," to cut off insurgents' access to food, finance and
information and, in the last "cut," recruits and civilians.

Given the Indian army's own brutal record in counterinsurgency operations
in places like Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Assam, Nagaland and Manipur,
Human Rights Watch expressed concern about the role of the Indian army in
offering training to the Burmese army.

"The Burmese government's record shows that these weapons and special
training are used as tools of repression, not of defense," said Adams.
"They are likely again to be used to attack and mistreat civilians. It is
impossible to understand how the Indian government can justify this."

For the past 10 years India has increased military cooperation with the
military government in Burma, which took power after nullifying 1990
elections won by the opposition National League for Democracy. In return,
New Delhi hopes that the regime will help contain antigovernment
insurgents that operate from bases in Burma's Chin State and Sagaing
Division into North East India along the shared 1,664-kilometer border.

India has also financed infrastructure projects in Burma, such as the
Asian Highway project, the extension of which in Sagaing Division has
sparked numerous reports of forced labor. India is a major investor in
natural gas projects in Arakan State, which will include a pipeline route
along the border with India. The Islander aircraft sales may be used to
provide security for this project. India is now Burma's fourth-largest
investor.

"India must not endanger the lives of civilians in Burma for commercial
and strategic aims," said Adams. "India's interest lies in the emergence
of a peaceful and stable government in Burma, not in the strengthening of
a dictatorship.”

To read the Human Rights Watch report, "'They Came and Destroyed Our
Village Again': The Plight of Internally Displaced Persons in Karen
State," please see:

http://hrw.org/reports/2005/burma0605/

To read the Human Rights Watch report, "'Everyone Lives in Fear': Patterns
of Impunity in Jammu and Kashmir," please see:

http://hrw.org/reports/2006/india0906/

For more information, please contact:

In London, Brad Adams (English): +44-79-0872-8333
In Mumbai, Meenakshi Ganguly (English, Hindi): +91-98-200-36032
In Chiang Mai, David Mathieson (English): +66-087-176-2205
In New York, Sophie Richardson (English): +1-212-216-1257; or +1-917-721-7473

____________________________________

December 7, Christian Solidarity Worldwide
CSW returns from visit to internally displaced people in eastern Burma

Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) has returned this week from a
fact-finding visit to the Thai-Burmese border, with fresh evidence of
gross violations of human rights perpetrated by Burma’s military regime
against the Karen, Karenni and Shan ethnic groups.

CSW visited Internally Displaced People (IDPs) inside Karen and Shan
States in eastern Burma, and heard first-hand testimony of forced labour,
torture, looting and the destruction of villages, crops and livestock.

This year, the Burma Army has mounted its biggest offensive against the
Karen since 1997. At least 25,000 Karen civilians have been displaced. The
Free Burma Rangers, a relief group working in the conflict areas, report
that at least 50 people have been killed. One man, Saw They Shur, was
burned alive in his home at Play Hta village near Hoki, in Toungoo
District on 1 November.

The offensive particularly affects four northern districts in Karen State
– Toungoo, Nyaunglebin, Papun and Thaton districts. CSW visited IDPs who
have fled these areas to an IDP camp near the border with Thailand. CSW’s
Advocacy Officer, Benedict Rogers, said: “The situation is dire. Almost 70
people had arrived in the camp the day we were there. We heard that 400
came the next day. People are pouring in each day, rising from 2,000 to
3,000 within just a few weeks. There are not enough medicines or food for
them all. But those who reach the IDP camp are the lucky ones compared
with those who are in hiding in the jungle, on the run, hunted by the
Burma Army.”

CSW interviewed some of the new arrivals in the IDP camp, and heard
stories of the regime’s atrocities. “When the SPDC sees people, they don’t
arrest them anymore. They shoot,” one man told CSW. “They kill even
children and babies.”

One man told CSW how he had been jailed, and beaten so severely that he
lost his sight in one eye. He had been subjected to water torture,
electric shocks to his genitals and covered with red ants. “They come
hunting people. Whatever they see in the jungle, they steal, burn and
destroy. They steal pots, clothes, everything from people’s homes. I dare
not return to my village. There is no hope, no place for me for the
future,” he said.

Mervyn Thomas, Chief Executive of CSW, said: “Each time a team returns
from a fact-finding visit to Burma, without fail they come back with new
stories of the continuing horrific human rights violations committed by
the dictators. The evidence of atrocities – torture, forced labour,
religious persecution, rape, destruction of villages, killings – is piling
up. It is time for the United Nations Security Council to pass a binding
resolution on Burma, requiring the regime to release all political
prisoners, open up the country to unhindered access for humanitarian aid,
cease its violations of human rights and engage in meaningful dialogue
with the democracy groups and ethnic nationalities.”

For more information, please contact the Press Office at Christian
Solidarity Worldwide on 020 8329 0045, email ben at csw.org.uk or visit
www.csw.org.uk.

CSW is a human rights organisation which specialises in religious freedom,
works on behalf of those persecuted for their Christian beliefs and
promotes religious liberty for all.