BurmaNet News, March 31-April 2, 2007

[Editor]

March 31-April 2, 2007 Issue # 3174


INSIDE BURMA
Irrawaddy: Junta closes family business of 88 generation leader
AP: Myanmar jails 2 officials for forcing villagers to repair roads
Xinhua: Myanmar cuts down untrained traffic police force number
Mizzima: Court acquits Burmese satirist
DVB: Robbery cases on the rise in Kalemyo

ON THE BORDER
Irrawaddy: Junta closes family business of 88 generation leader
SHAN: Shootout on the border

BUSINESS / TRADE
Washington Post: Corruption stains timber trade
Bangkok Post: Nations race to exploit Burma's undersea oil
All Headline News: Bangladesh, China, India and Myanmar forum for
improving trade, transport and tourism

HEALTH / AIDS
Irrawaddy: New bird flu cases in Rangoon
DVB: Authorities give no explanation for cancellation of health talk

ASEAN
AFP: Singapore foreign minister visits Myanmar

REGIONAL
Mizzima: Burmese Navy chief in India

INTERNATIONAL
Irrawaddy: Forced labor conviction sends “important signal,” says ILO

____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

April 2, Irrawaddy
Junta closes family business of 88 generation leader - Shah Paung

Burmese military authorities have closed a family business owned by the
brother of Mya Aye, one of the leaders of the 88 Generation Student group,
without explanation.

According to Mya Aye, on March 30 his brother, Maung Maung Aung, was
ordered to report to the Rangoon Botataung Township City Development
Office.

He said the authorities gave his brother an official letter ordering the
closure of the Tamardi Transportation Service, located at 55 Roads in
Botataung Township, which transports goods between Rangoon and Mandalay.

“The authorities told my brother that from the day he received this letter
he had to close the Tamardi Transportation Service, and if he continued to
operate it, they would take action against him,” Mya Aye said.

“There is no clear reason why they closed it down," he said. “When he
asked the authority why, they said they did not really want to close it
down, but they were following orders from the top.”

Mya Aye said that when his brother went to the township development office
in Rangoon, authorities asked him if he gave financial support to the 88
Generation Student group or to his brother.

“The main reason for the closure seems to be me—that I am an 88 Generation
Students group leader and the authorities think the business gives
financial support to the student group," Mya Aye said. "But it is not
true.”

Mya Aye said he was a director and worked for the company several years
ago, but he no longer received any money from the company, which is owned
by his brother. On March 22, local authorities in Mandalay ordered an
employee in the Mandalay branch to close that office without issuing an
official letter. The authorities then locked the office.

The Tamardi Transportation Service employed about 50 people. Their
families are now experiencing financial difficulty, Mya Aye said.

Mya Aye said the company was opened by their parents in 1979.

____________________________________

March 31, Associated Press
Myanmar jails 2 officials for forcing villagers to repair roads

A court in central Myanmar found two officials guilty of forcing villagers
to repair a road and sentenced them to six months in prison, official
media reported Saturday.

The conviction follows an agreement the military junta signed in February
with the International Labor Organization that allows victims of forced
labor to have full freedom to submit complaints to the U.N. agency with
the guarantee that "no retaliatory action" will be taken.

Villagers filed a complaint on Feb. 26 alleging that the chairman of the
village tract Peace and Development Council U Nyo Toke and another village
authority Mya Hlaing had forced some villagers to repair road, the New
Light of Myanmar reported.

Two days later, a court in Aunglan township found the two officials guilty
and sentenced them to six months in prison, the newspaper reported.

"Myanmar is cooperating with international organizations to exercise
international norms on forced labor," the newspaper said. "The Ministry of
Home Affairs has released orders and directives to prohibit forced labor."

The Ministry of Forestry also fired one of its officials and two forest
rangers who were also involved in forcing the villagers to repair the road
and cut firewood.

It was unclear why the announcement of the court ruling was delayed. But
government news often is routinely suppressed in the country where
censorship is widespread.

The ILO has long been a vocal critic of forced labor in Myanmar, which it
says is used by the ruling military junta. Myanmar has faced growing
criticism from the international community because of the junta's poor
human rights record and its failure to hand over power to a democratically
elected government.

The new mechanism for victims of forced labor will be introduced on a
trial basis over 12 months, after which point it can be extended by mutual
agreement, the ILO statement said.

The deal marked progress for the ILO, which has complained that
authorities had restricted their staffs' ability to travel in Myanmar. The
junta had also dropped an initial demand that a government official be
present during any meeting between the ILO and forced labor victims.

____________________________________

April 2, Xinhua General News Service
Myanmar cuts down untrained traffic police force number

Myanmar has cut down the number of untrained traffic police force member
by 500 in the country, assigned more than needed in traffic rule
enforcement, sources with the Home Ministry said on Monday.

The move was made under a special program covering states and divisions
and including Yangon, a senior administrative and training traffic police
officer said.

Systematically trained traffic police force members will be appointed by
August this year to replace the untrained ones who were blamed by the
authorities for creating cases which people look down on the police force
out of improper dealing with the people at the basic level, the officer
added.

According to the officer, over 200 traffic police force members have been
well trained with regard to traffic rule enforcement.

There are more than 80,000 police force members in Myanmar, of whom only a
few thousands are dealing with traffic and most of them are assigned in
traffic-congested major cities such as Yangon and Mandalay, according to
official statistics.

Other official statistics show that more than 1,000 people lost their
lives annually in recent years in Myanmar due to car accidents. The yearly
loss due to such accidents amounted to a value of about 94 billion Kyats
(about 72.3 million US dollars), according to the Committee for Smooth and
Secured Transport of Yangon division.

The statistics also indicate that there occurred over 100 car accidents in
Yangon with over 10 people killed and over 300 injured monthly.

The authorities have stressed the observance of traffic rules on every
occasion.

Meanwhile, the Myanmar police authorities have launched a car accident
prevention campaign in Yangon since January last year, aimed at bringing
down death rate out of such accidents and improving traffic flow and
safety in the city.

____________________________________

April 2, Mizzima News
Court acquits Burmese satirist - Ko Dee

A Rangoon court today acquitted amateur Burmese satirist, Thein Zan, who
was arrested in early March for his biting satire against skyrocketing
prices of essential commodities in Burma.

Thein Zan, who was granted bail on Wednesday, said Justice Khin Soe Nyunt
of Thingyankyun Township Court in former capital declared that he has been
acquitted this morning, when he was waiting for his lawyer Aung Thein to
appear before the court.

"The Justice told me that I am no longer charged under Article 505 of the
Penal Code and that I am acquitted," Thein Zan told Mizzima over
telephone.

Lawyer Aung Thein explained that the declaration meant Thein Zan can no
longer be charged and prosecuted for the same reason under any other
articles.

"The prosecutors' presentation of evidence was weak and was not strong
enough against Thein Zan, so the court must have decided correctly," he
said.

Thein Zan, a retired seaman and resident of Thingyankyun who earns a
living by repairing radios and audio tape recorders, was arrested on March
7 for writing satires, critical of the false propaganda by state run
newspapers - Myanma Ahlin - under the title of "Is that so Maung Karlu"
and posting them on his fence.

He was charged under Article 505 of the Penal Code and stood trial in
Thingyankyun Township court. However, he was granted bail on March 28.

____________________________________

March 31, Democratic Voice of Burma
Robbery cases on the rise in Kalemyo

Due to runaway living costs and acute hunger, robberies have been soaring
at Sagaing Division’s Kalemyo in northwest Burma, according to local
residents.

Robbers are becoming so desperate and daring that they are even targeting
people living in the town centre, striking fear to the heart of the
community with inhabitants who are living in constant fear once darkness
falls on the town every night.

On 28 March, a group of robbers robbed a surgeon named Daw Khin Nu Nu who
lives in the towns centre at around 8pm.

“Nothing in particular (except money) was taken but the masked men were
armed with guns – I was told,” a local resident said. “A teashop owner
friend of mine; his motorcycle was stolen from behind closed door after he
fell asleep.”

When we contacted the officer in charge of Kalemyo township police station
what kind of preventative measures have been taken to reduce the crime
rate, he put the phone down without giving any comment.

The same resident also claimed that the police take no action against
robbers as long as there is no physical assault or if they are not
involved in politics.

“People just give and take (bribes) as needed and the public has no one to
depend on,” he added.

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

April 2, Thai Press Reports
Thailand/Myanmar Burma closes down border checkpoint at Mae Sot

Section: Regional News - Thai officials on the border with Burma on March
28 put on a brave face after the junta abruptly shut the Mae Sot-Myawaddy
crossing, The Nation reports.

Tak Governor Chumporn Ponrak, who visited the crossing on March 28, told
reporters his office requested a formal explanation from Burma.

A prolonged closing could affect cross-border trade via the checkpoint
worth about Bt1 billion to this country, he said.

On March 28's action by Burma appeared to be a tit-for-tat move in
response to Thailand's decision to close a border checkpoint last week at
Kanchanaburi's Three Pagodas Pass after two border patrol policemen were
abducted by the pro-government Democratic Karen Buddhist Army. The pass
was reopened after their release two days ago.

Burma's decision to close the border on March 28 not only jolted Thai
officials but was a chilling reminder of six years ago when on-and-off
tension between Thai and Burmese troops flared up, resulting in
cross-border shootings and shelling.

Then prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra made fence-mending visits before
anxiety subsided.

Analysts said tension along the border was deep-rooted in Burma's
insurgency and Thailand's refusal to crack down on Burmese rebels who rely
on Thailand as their economic lifeline.

____________________________________

March 31, Shan Herald Agency for News
Shootout on the border

Night patrols dispatched by the Burma Army and its Shan counterpart bumped
into each other last evening resulting in an hour long scuffle, reported
Thai and Shan sources this morning.

The duel took place 3km north of Gawmerng, an eastern extension of Loi
Gawwan, the main base of the Shan State Army (SSA) South's Kengtung Force
between 19:00-20:00 local time. The SSA patrol managed to extricate itself
without a scratch. No casualties on the Burma Army side is known.

Both sides beefed up their defenses following the fight. Fresh troops from
the Mongkhark-based Light Infantry Battalion 328 were seen reinforcing the
Maemaw base, between Gawmerng and Gawhawm (another Shan base west of
Gawmerng). Gawmerng is also facing a heavy weapons unit up north.

Both the Thai Army and the Burma Army have been fortifying their bases
along the Thai border in the wake of a series of incidents that has
resulted in the closure of most border passes except for Ranong-Kawsawng
(Kawthaung) and Maesai-Tachilek. A local resident reported seeing 7
truckloads of troops moving up to the west from Tachilek on Wednesday (28
March) and another 9 this morning. "The clash with the SSA could therefore
be accidental", said a source close to the military.

Several Tachilek residents also witnessed Burmese troops moving up to
Kuthengnayong (known by Shans as Loi Pupanya), opposite Maesai, the scene
of heavy fighting between Thai and Burmese troops in 2001.

The relations between the two neighbors have soured since the killing of a
Thai paramilitary ranger on 21 March. "Burma has yet to acknowledge, let
alone apologize, the incident," said a Thai army source in Maehongson.

____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

April 1, Washington Post
Corruption stains timber trade - Peter S. Goodman and Peter Finn

Forests destroyed in China's race to feed global wood-processing industry

Myitkyina, Burma: The Chinese logging boss set his sights on a thickly
forested mountain just inside Burma, aiming to harvest one of the last
natural stands of teak on Earth.

He handed a rice sack stuffed with $8,000 worth of Chinese currency to two
agents with connections in the Burmese borderlands, the men said in
interviews. They used that stash to bribe everyone standing between the
teak and China. In came Chinese logging crews. Out went huge logs, over
Chinese-built roads.

A railway in northeastern China receives timber from the Russian Far East,
where the World Bank says half of all logging is illegal. Ikea products
are made here and shipped to the U.S.

A railway in northeastern China receives timber from the Russian Far East,
where the World Bank says half of all logging is illegal. Ikea products
are made here and shipped to the U.S. (By Peter S. Goodman -- The
Washington Post)

How Illegal Timber TravelsHow Illegal Timber Travels

Every day huge volumes of logs, many of them harvested illegally, stream
toward Chinese factories where workers churn out products such as
furniture and floorboards. These wares are shipped to major retailers like
Ikea and Home Depot, and are bought by shoppers with little inkling of the
wood's origins.

Some of the largest swaths of natural forest left on the planet are being
harvested at an alarming pace to feed a global wood-processing industry
centered in coastal China. The Chinese demand for wood is fueling illegal
timber operations in parts of Indonesia, Burma and Siberia.

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About 2,500 miles to the northeast, Chinese and Russian crews hacked into
the virgin forests of the Russian Far East and Siberia, hauling away
250-year-old Korean pines in often-illegal deals, according to trading
companies and environmentalists. In the highlands of Papua New Guinea,
Indonesia and Africa and in the forests of the Amazon, loggers working
beyond the bounds of the law have sent a ceaseless flow of timber to
China.

Some of the largest swaths of natural forest left on the planet are being
dismantled at an alarming pace to feed a global wood-processing industry
centered in coastal China.

Mountains of logs, many of them harvested in excess of legal limits aimed
at preserving forests, are streaming toward Chinese factories where
workers churn out such products as furniture and floorboards. These wares
are shipped from China to major retailers such as Ikea, Home Depot, Lowe's
and many others. They land in homes and offices in the United States and
Europe, bought by shoppers with little inkling of the wood's origins or
the environmental costs of chopping it down.

"Western consumers are leaving a violent ecological footprint in Burma and
other countries," said an American environmental activist who frequently
travels to Burma and goes by the pen name Zao Noam to preserve access to
the authoritarian country. "Predominantly, the Burmese timber winds up as
patio furniture for Americans. Without their demand, there wouldn't be a
timber trade."

At the current pace of cutting, natural forests in Indonesia and Burma --
which send more than half their exported logs to China -- will be
exhausted within a decade, according to research by Forest Trends, a
consortium of industry and conservation groups. Forests in Papua New
Guinea will be consumed in as little as 13 years, and those in the Russian
Far East within two decades.

These forests are a bulwark against global warming, capturing carbon
dioxide that would otherwise contribute to heating the planet. They hold
some of the richest flora and fauna anywhere, and they have supplied
generations of people with livelihoods that are now threatened.

In the world's poorest countries, illegal logging on public lands annually
costs governments $10 billion in lost assets and revenues, a figure more
than six times the aid these nations receive to help protect forests, a
World Bank study found last year.

Environmental activists have prodded some of the largest purveyors of wood
products to adopt conservation policies. Industry leaders and
conservationists have crafted standards meant to give forests time to
regenerate. They certify operations that comply and encourage consumers to
buy certified goods.

But such efforts are in their infancy and are vulnerable to abuse.
Corruption bedevils the timber trade in poor countries.

"What we've done very well so far with certification is to reward the best
players in the marketplace," said Ned Daly, vice president of U.S.
operations for a leading certification body, the Forest Stewardship
Council. "What we haven't done very well is to figure out how to exclude
the worst players. We're having a hard time getting the criminals to label
their products 'illegal.' "

____________________________________

April 1, All Headline News
Bangladesh, China, India and Myanmar forum for improving trade, transport
and tourism - Siddique Islam

Dhaka: The seventh international forum on `Regional Economic Cooperation
among Bangladesh, China, India and Myanmar (BCIM) was held on Sunday. It
recommended strengthening cooperation among the member countries for
improving the trade, transport and tourism sectors in the region.

"The forum emphasized the critical importance of improved transport
connectivity for efficient movement of goods and people in the interests
of both regional and global competitiveness and in order to promote
tourism and better understanding among the people," the BCIM said in its
Dhaka Declaration 2007 at the conclusion of the two-day meeting.

The declaration was signed jointly by the chairman of the Center for
Policy Dialogue (CPD), Prof. Rehman Sobhan, the deputy secretary general
of the Yunnan Provincial Government, Che Zhimin, the former ambassador and
governing board member of the Center for Policy Research of India, Eric
Gonsalves and the deputy foreign minister of Myanmar, Maung Myint.

The forum members also found that the level of existing trade between
their nations could be expanded greatly through appropriate initiatives.
Those initiatives are in the area of market access through removing all
non-tariff barriers and more exchange between private sectors of the
member countries including holding regular trade fairs, the declaration
adds.

"....the Dhaka declaration of the BCIM could contribute significantly to
capacity building within countries and between them and remove barriers to
effective implementation in the regional interest," retired Maj. Gen.
Abdul Matin told the concluding session of the forum at the BRAC Center in
the capital, Dhaka. Matin is communications, shipping, civil aviation and
tourism and liberation war affairs advisor of Bangladesh.

Matin also said the strategically located sub-regional areas of North-East
India, Bangladesh, Myanmar and South-West of China constituted a natural
economic zone. "Such a regional grouping has the potential to play an
important role in emerging global economic order."

"We want to extend cooperation among the countries strengthening relations
particularly in trade, transport and tourism sectors to improve living
standard(s) of the people in the region," CPD Executive Director Dr.
Debapriya Bhattacharya told AHN in Dhaka.

The next meeting of the BCIM forum will be held in Burma, officially known
as Myanmar, in 2008 to review overall progress of the initiatives.

"We are hopeful about holding the next meeting of the BCIM by the early
(part) of the next year in Rangoon," Prof. Mustafizur Rahman, Research
Director of the CPD, told AHN in the capital.

The forum also recommended that a car rally would be arranged among the
BCIM member countries next November to demonstrate the possible areas of
cooperation.

____________________________________

March 31, Bangkok Post
Nations race to exploit Burma's undersea oil

Malaysia's state energy firm Petronas will launch an oil exploration
survey off the southern coast of Burma, state media said.

There is growing foreign demand for the country's vast resources.

Petronas will join hands with the state-run Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise
to survey offshore blocks, the official New Light of Myanmar newspaper
said, adding the survey would start early next month.

Petronas Chartikari Myanma Oil, a joint venture between Petronas and the
Burmese energy enterprise, have already explored for oil and gas in seven
offshore fields in the Andaman Sea, according to official figures.

Burma, run as a military dictatorship, has awarded a raft of foreign
contracts over the past months for oil and gas exploration following
discoveries by South Korea's Daewoo of natural reserves of up to 10
trillion cubic feet in the Gulf of Bengal.

According to 2006 official figures, 13 foreign oil companies are working
on 33 energy projects in the country.

The natural gas wealth has become an increasingly important source of
desperately needed foreign currency for Burma, one of the world's poorest
nations, and its military rulers.

The Southeast Asian nation is under a series of US and European economic
sanctions imposed over the junta's rights abuses and the house arrest of
61-year-old democracy icon and Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.

But the impact of the sanctions has been weakened as energy-hungry
neighbours such as China, India and Thailand are spending billions of
dollars for a share of Burma's vast energy resources to solve their power
problems.

____________________________________
HEALTH / AIDS

April 2, Irrawaddy
New bird flu cases in Rangoon - Shah Paung

A new outbreak of bird flu has been reported in Rangoon’s Mingaladon
township, where more than 900 chickens were suspected to have died from
the H5N1 virus, according to Burma’s state-run newspapers on Monday.

The New Light of Myanmar said 929 chickens on a farm in the Htaukkyant
ward of Mingaladon township died between March 28 and 30. Subsequent lab
tests suggested the presence of bird flu. The farm has a total population
of 1,500 chickens.

Mingaladon is one of five townships in Rangoon hit by the deadly H5N1
virus since the first outbreak of the avian influenza in late February.
Other bird flu cases have been reported in Mayangon, Hlaing Thar Yar,
North Okkalapa and Hmawbi townships.

Some 6,663 have reportedly been culled in response to the latest
outbreaks, including the latest in Mingaladon.

Chickens, ducks and quail on farms within a 1 km radius of confirmed
outbreaks of bird flu have been monitored or culled, and restrictions have
been imposed on the transport and sale of poultry within a 6 km radius,
the New Light report stated.

According to Burma’s Livestock, Breeding and Veterinary Department, the
current outbreak is much smaller than the outbreak last year in Mandalay
and Sagaing division. Nonetheless, the department has urged the general
public to report any unusual or suspicious deaths of poultry in order to
control the spread of the virus.

The department also ordered farms suspected of infections to halt all
sales of poultry, to intensify bio-security, to disinfect facilities and
to cooperate will all local and state authorities.

Worldwide, bird flu has killed at least 169 people since it began ravaging
Asian poultry stocks in 2003, according the World Health Organization.
Burma has reported no human H5N1 cases, but regional neighbors, including
Thailand, have reported 25 human infections and 17 deaths.

In late March, bird flu also killed two people in Indonesia, which brought
the number of dead in the country to at least 71.

The Indian government has put its Animal Husbandry Department on alert to
monitor the threat of bird flu along its northeastern border with Burma.

____________________________________

March 31, Democratic Voice of Burma
Authorities give no explanation for cancellation of health talk

A health education talk planned for 1 April at the US Center in Rangoon
was forced to cancel and postpone by the Burmese authorities.

The talk was organised by a group of Burmese doctors who retuned form the
USA, and the main topic for the talk was to be a debate whether health
education activities are more effective when they are carried out by
doctors or artists.

Dr. Myint Oo, Dr. Thein Win and Dr. Ma Thida were going to argue for the
case of doctors and actress Daw Swe Zin Htike, U Aung Lwin and comedian
Zargana (a.k.a.) Maung Thura, for the artists.

More than 300 people were invited to the event and organisers were only
notified a day before it was supposed to happen, a person who was invited
to the event told DVB.

No explanation was given as to why the event was forced to postpone and
when it is to be held and officials refused to answer queries by phone.
Artists who cancelled other important activities to attend the event are
said to be very angry by the action of the authorities.

____________________________________
ASEAN

April 2, Agence France Presse
Singapore foreign minister visits Myanmar

Singapore's foreign minister George Yeo arrived Monday in military-run
Myanmar on an official three-day visit, officials said.

"George Yeo came here at the invitation of the Myanmar government. He will
stay here for three days," an official at the Singapore embassy confirmed.

Myanmar's information ministry said Yeo had arrived in Yangon and will
travel Tuesday to the new administrative capital Naypyidaw to meet with
senior officials.

Neither the ministry nor the embassy would provide further details on the
trip.

Myanmar's Prime Minister Soe Win has been hospitalised in Singapore for
more than two weeks.

The junta insists that he is in good health and is merely there for
medical checks, but exiled dissidents believe Soe Win's health could be
fading.

The junta leader, Senior General Than Shwe, also spent nearly two weeks in
Singapore for medical checks in January.

Over the last three months, several firms in Singapore have signed
contracts to search for natural gas in Myanmar waters.

However opponents to the regime have condemned the deals for throwing a
monetary lifeline to the junta by reducing the effect of Western sanctions
on the military.

____________________________________
REGIONAL

April 1, Mizzima
Burmese Navy chief in India

A renewed request for military aid in return for cooperation in flushing
out Indian insurgent groups operating from Burma’s soil, is on cards
during the visit of the Burmese Commander-in-Chief (Navy) Vice-Admiral Soe
Thein to India beginning Sunday.

The Burmese naval chief, who is leading a seven-member delegation, will be
in the country from April 1 to April 5.

He will be meeting the Indian Defence Minister, A K Antony, Indian Navy
Chief, Admiral Sureesh Prakash, Army Chief General J J Singh and Defence
Secretary, Shekhar Dutt in New Delhi.

He will also visit military establishments in Goa and Mumbai.

"The Myanmar naval chief's visit is the continuation of the high-level
military engagement that the two countries have embarked on for common
interests. His visit is being welcomed by India," Commodore R S Vasan
retired Indian naval officer told Mizzima News.

Over the last three years, the two countries have stepped up bilateral
relationship which included visits of Burmese military junta supremo,
Senior
General Than Shwe and Indian President A P J Abdul Kalam.

Analysts view India's move as countering Chinese influence on Burma and a
part of New Delhi's 'Look East' economic policy. The Burmese junta, on the
other hand, is pitting the two giant neighbours against each other for
military and financial assistance.

India's External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee visited Burma in
January and assured Burma of supplying military hardware. Three Indian
service chiefs of the army, air force and the navy also visited Burma.

India Navy Chief, Admiral Arun Prakash visited Burma in January 2006 after
which the transfer of two BN-2 'Defender' Islander maritime surveillance
aircraft and air-defence guns from India followed.

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

April 2, Irrawaddy
Forced labor conviction sends “important signal,” says ILO - Khun Sam

The recent conviction of two Burmese government officials on forced labor
charges sent out an “important signal,” according to the representative in
Burma of the International Labour Organization.

“This can, I hope, send an important signal to those individuals who
continue to impose forced labor, that forced labor is illegal and they can
be held accountable,” Richard Horsey, the UN agency’s liaison officer in
Rangoon, told The Irrawaddy. He was commenting on the conviction and
imprisonment of two officials who had forced villagers to repair a road.

The court’s judgment, sentencing the two men each to six months’
imprisonment, follows an agreement in February between the ILO and the
Burmese junta allowing victims of forced labor to lodge complaints with
the organization with no fear of reprisals.

“It is certainly a welcome and positive development that such a mechanism
has now been established,” Horsey said.

The state-run daily The New Light of Myanmar reported that villagers had
filed a complaint on February 26 alleging that Nyo Toke, chairman of the
local Peace and Development Council in Aunglan Township, and another
official, Mya Hlaing, had forced villagers to repair a road. A court in
Aunglan convicted the two on February 28.

The government also announced that it had fired one of its officials, two
foresters and two forest rangers who had also forced villagers to build a
road and cut firewood.

“Myanmar [Burma] is cooperating with international organizations to
exercise international norms on forced labor,” said The New Light of
Myanmar, adding that the “The Ministry of Home Affairs has released orders
and directives to prohibit forced labor.”

The ILO has long accused Burma of violating the organizations’ Convention
29 on forced labor. Late last year, the Geneva-based organization hardened
its stance, warning the government that it might take Burma before the
International Court of Justice if the regime refused to abolish the
practice. The ILO last week postponed referring Burma to the ICJ in
response to the junta’s recent decision to cooperate in tackling the
forced labor issue.

Meanwhile, a relief group that assists displaced Burmese people, the Free
Burma Rangers, recently released a report charging that the Burmese Army
had forced more than 200 people from 12 villages in February to provide
trucks and move supplies from Mawchi camp to Busakee camp, in the Bawgali
Gyi area of Pegu Division. The ILO office in Rangoon had no comment to
make on the report.