BurmaNet News, April 3, 2007

[Editor]

April 3, 2007 Issue # 3175


INSIDE BURMA
Mizzima: Burma to wind up national convention this year: Burmese FM
DVB: Kachin girls sent to prison for reporting being rape victims
AFP: Myanmar frees pro-democracy activist
Global Insight: Singapore's foreign minister begins key visit to Myanmar

BUSINESS / TRADE
DPA: Thai petroleum firm claims high gas flow from Myanmar field

REGIONAL
Irrawaddy: India promises more military aid, training to Burma
Radio Nepal via BBC: Nepal to assist Burmese democratic movement - PM

OPINION / OTHER
The Washington Post: A lifeline for the Burmese - Morton Abramowitz and
Jonathan Kolieb

PRESS RELEASE
UNCHR: UN human rights experts call on Myanmar to address discrimination
against members of Muslim minority in North Rakhine State
International Development Committee - British Parliament: New inquiry:
DFID assistance to Burmese internally displaced people and refugees on the
Thai-Burma Border

____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

April 3, Mizzima News
Burma to wind up national convention this year: Burmese FM - Mungpi

Burma will draw the curtains on its National Convention which began in
2003, this year, the military junta's Foreign Minister Nyan Win told the
visiting Singaporean Foreign Minister George Yeo during a bilateral
meeting in Rangoon on Monday.

During the meeting Nyan Win told Yeo "efforts are being made to ensure
that the National Convention is successfully concluded this year," the
Singapore Foreign Affairs Ministry said in a statement.

The National Convention, which is the first step of the junta's seven-
point roadmap to democracy, is tasked with drafting a new constitution
which will be followed by a referendum and general elections.

However, the junta's failure to involve Burma's main opposition political
party – the National League for Democracy - and its leader Nobel Peace
Laureate Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, has led the international community,
including the United Nations to dub the convention as a sham.

Despite economic sanctions imposed by the European Union and the United
States, the Burmese junta, with increasing business and economic
relationships with its neighbouring countries such as China, India, and
the Asean, seems to have found its way out of the economic quagmire, to
continue with its roadmap, which incidentally has no time frame.

The two Foreign Ministers during the meeting also discussed increasing
bilateral trade including cultural exchanges.

"They [Yeo and Win] reiterated the importance of bilateral cooperation
between Singapore and Myanmar [Burma ]," the statement said.

Yeo, who is the first high level Singapore official visiting Burma in
2007, on Tuesday will visit Naypyitaw, Burma 's new jungle capital, and
meet the junta's First Secretary Lt-Gen Thein Sein.

____________________________________

April 2, Democratic Voice of Burma
Kachin girls sent to prison for reporting being rape victims

Four Kachin girls who reported a local court that they were gang-raped by
Burmese soldiers, were countersued and sent to Puta-O jail in northern
Burma.

The girls were allegedly raped by a group of soldiers from Battalion – 138
commanded by Lieutenant Soe Win while the girls were on their way home
from a karaoke shop. The girls’ parents reported the alleged rape to the
local court but instead of taking action against the soldiers, the
authorities sued the girls with ten counts including prostitution and
imprisoned them, according to someone close to the girls.

“It occurred at the Sanin shop. Then they went to a place called Doketan
about two miles away. They were snatched on their way. It (the alleged
rape) happened at the army camp two furlongs away from Doketan. The
karaoke shop is not like the ones in developed Western countries. There is
a TV monitor, and the video player. They just went there to sing and came
home. There is nothing sleazy about it
You just sing and come home. The
officer was not involved in the rape but the girls were raped by his
soldiers. The girls were sentenced on 9 (April). They are to be
transferred to be transferred to Mandalay Jail, but we haven’t heard
whether they have been transferred or not.”

The girls are said to be between 14 and 16 years old from the Rawan clan.

____________________________________

April 3, Agence France Presse
Myanmar frees pro-democracy activist

Yangon: Myanmar has released a pro-democracy activist who was arrested at
Yangon airport last month as he was about to leave for the United States,
fellow activists said Tuesday.

Thwin Lin Aung, in his 30s, was arrested on March 5 as he prepared to
leave on an international visitor programme sponsored by the US
government. Activists said he was released by Myanmar's junta on Monday
afternoon.

"He was mainly questioned by the officials about the activities of the
American Centre," said Mya Aye, a prominent former student leader who
helped lead an uprising against the military in 1988.

The American Centre is a education centre and library run by the US
embassy here, which authorities treat with suspicion amid strained
relations between the two countries.

The United States has lobbied the United Nations to chastise Myanmar over
human rights abuses and slow democratic reform, and has itself imposed a
slew of economic sanctions against the isolated regime.

Thwin Lin Aung was also a member of the student movement, and has served
six years in prison for his involvement in a small student protest in
1996.

Mya Aye accused Myanmar's military government of trying to intimidate
activists, and pointed to the recent unexplained closure of his family's
transport businesses.

"Pro-democracy activists have been suffering the consequences of our
political movements, not only in education but also in our business," he
said.

The United Nations estimates there are about 1,100 political prisoners in
Myanmar, which has been ruled by the military since 1962 and was formerly
known as Burma.

The most famous of them is Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, who has
spent more than a decade under house arrest. Her National League for
Democracy party won elections in 1990 but has never been allowed to take
office.

____________________________________

April 3, Global Insight
Singapore's foreign minister begins key visit to Myanmar - Elizabeth Mills

Singapore's foreign minister, George Yeo, yesterday arrived in Myanmar for
a three-day visit. Both countries have been notably reticent to reveal the
agenda for the talks or indeed the reason for the visit.

 It has however, emerged that during their first day of dialogue, Yeo
enjoyed friendly and wide-ranging talks with his counterpart, U Nyan Win,
on issues aimed at enhancing bilateral co-operation. Evidence of this
co-operation has been witnessed in recent months, with a number of
Singaporean firms agreeing contracts to search for natural gas off the
coast of Myanmar.

Reciprocally, two of the junta's key leaders, General Than Shwe and Prime
Minister Soe Win, have been hospitalised in Singapore since January. Soe
Win remains under care in the country although no details of his condition
have been released. The junta has sought to counter speculation that he is
seriously ill, arguing that he has simply undergoing routine tests, but
with his hospitalisation now extending beyond two weeks, speculation is
again mounting.

Significance: Myanmar is keen to maintain good relations with key
Association of South-East Asian (ASEAN) members like Singapore and it is
notable that when Western investors have pulled out of the country, it has
been investors from countries like Singapore that have filled the gaps
left by their departure.

This engagement has prompted criticism from some quarters, with critics
arguing that Asia's continued dealings with Myanmar undermine Western
sanctions. Increasingly, the issue has emerged on ASEAN's own agenda, but
Myanmar's mineral wealth and its strategic location ensure that key
players continue to pursue engagement with it.

_____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

April 3, Deutsche Presse-Agentur
Thai petroleum firm claims high gas flow from Myanmar field

Bangkok: Thailand's state-owned PTT Exploration and Production Company
(PTTEP) on Tuesday claimed to have found a "high amount of natural gas" in
its offshore Zawtika-2 field in M9 Block in Myanmar's Gulf of Martaban.

PTTEP President Maroot Mrigadat said the company's fourth well in the
Zawtika-2 area had found natural gas with a flow rate of 109.5 million
standard cubic feet per day (MMSCFD) on average, the highest rate of all
wells drilled at M9.

The company is preparing to drill 4 or 5 more appraisal wells to confirm
the primary data of M9 Block petroleum reserves, said the president.

Since early 2007, PTTEP has found natural gas in 4 exploration wells at
M9, including in the Zawtika-1A, Gawthaka-1, Kaknonna-1, and the latest
well Zawtika-2.

The flow rates have thus far been modest and no associated condensate has
been tapped, according to PTTEP sources.

Nonetheless, PTTEP still plans to start production from the offshore are
in 2011 or 2012, to be piped onshore and across the Thai-Myanmar border to
Thailand.

Myanmar currently supplies Thailand with 869 MMSCFD of natural gas,
delivered by offshore and onshore pipelines from reserves in the Gulf of
Martaban to Ratchburi province where it is used to generate electricity. 
Thailand's total use of natural gas is 3,222 MMSCFD, accounting for 37 per
cent of its energy needs, 27 per cent of which comes from neighbouring
Myanmar.

The majority of the kingdom's natural gas is supplied from offshore
reserves in the Gulf of Thailand, but these are expected to start to
decline within two years.

M9 Block is in the Gulf of Martaban about 300 kilometres south of Yangon,
Myanmar's former capital.

____________________________________
REGIONAL

April 3, Irrawaddy
India promises more military aid, training to Burma - Shah Paung

The Indian government has promised Burma’s military government increased
military aid and training as part of its policy to counter strategic
inroads being made into that country by China and Pakistan, according to a
report in The Times of India on Monday.

The agreement was reached on Monday during a meeting between Burma’s navy
chief, Vice-Admiral Soe Thein, and India’s Defense Minister A K Antony and
navy chief Admiral Sureesh Mehta. Gen J J Singh and Indian Defense
Secretary Shekhar Dutt also attended the meeting.

Soe Thein, who led a seven-member delegation for the five-day trip that
began on April 1, will also visit Indian military installations in Goa and
Mumbai.

India has increased its efforts in recent months to improve relations and
cooperation with Burma in return for assistance in combating an insurgency
in its eastern states along the Burma border.

Soe Thein’s trip this month follows a visit in late January of India’s
External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee and three other officials to
Burma’s new administrative capital Naypyidaw, where they met the junta’s
second-in-command Vice Snr-Gen Maung Aye.

India has reportedly accepted Burma’s request for military hardware and
software in return for the junta's cooperation in flushing out Indian
insurgent groups operating from its soil.

The insurgent groups on the border with Burma include the United
Liberation Front of Asom, the United Nationalist Liberation Front and the
People's Liberation Army, all of which have reportedly set up bases in the
jungle along the border.

In December last year, Burma’s Gen Thura Shwe Mann traveled to New Delhi
to bid on military hardware, including spare parts and service for Burma’s
fleet of MiG-29 jet fighters. In the same month, Burmese soldiers launched
attacks on rebel forces along the Indian-Burmese border, particularly on
the National Socialist Council of Nagaland, which seeks an autonomous
homeland in northeaster India.

India provided support during the attacks with T-55 tanks, helicopters,
mortars, radar technology and other materiel ahead of the military
operations.

____________________________________

April 3, Radio Nepal via BBC
Nepal to assist Burmese democratic movement - PM

Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala has sent a message to the Burma
convention, organized by independent trade unions in Kathmandu, saying
that he extends support to the democratic movement in Burma.

The convention is reportedly being held to create international pressure
for the establishment of democracy in Burma.

Koirala's message says that Nepal will support the quest of the Burmese
people to establish democracy in their country.

His message says that democracy and human rights are legitimate demands of
people all over the world and that a civilized society can be envisoned
through democracy.

Nepali Congress Vice President Sushil Koirala inaugurated the convention
said that Burma's role in the 2007 [1951] democratic movement [in Nepal]
was significant.

_____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER


April 3, The Washington Post
A lifeline for the Burmese - Morton Abramowitz and Jonathan Kolieb

International policies aimed at opening up Burma's military regime are
failing even as they overlook a continuing major tragedy. In January the
situation in Burma could not even win serious attention in the U.N.
Security Council. The world needs an approach that focuses not on
fostering democratic governance but on the critical health and education
needs of Burma's long-suffering people.

Western economic sanctions, international diplomatic pressure and
"engagement" with the ruling junta by its Asian neighbors have produced
scant progress. Given the military's deep stake in the economy, it is
unlikely to relinquish power. Rebellion is improbable, and regime change
by outside forces is not an option. As long as India and China maintain
strong trade, development assistance and military ties with the regime,
and Burma produces more natural gas, efforts to end or reduce five decades
of military control will be ineffective.

Meanwhile, Burma's 52 million people endure increasingly appalling
conditions. About one-third live in poverty; male life expectancy is only
56 years. More than 30 percent of children under age 5 suffer
malnutrition, and nearly half of all children never attend school.
Tuberculosis and malaria are endemic in some areas, and the country's
mortality rates are among the highest in Asia. At least 37,000 people died
of HIV-AIDS in 2005, and more than 600,000 others are infected with HIV.

The junta's brutal conflicts with ethnic minorities have resulted in tens
of thousands of Burmese killed and thousands of villages destroyed. More
than half a million people have been internally displaced, and some
150,000 Burmese minorities live in camps along the Thai-Burmese border.
Reports persist of forced labor, human trafficking and vast numbers of
forcibly recruited child soldiers.

Burma's deprivation also fuels instability across Southeast Asia. Drug
trafficking emanating from Burma is extensive, and more than a million
Burmese have fled ethnic conflicts and poverty, taking with them high
rates of HIV-AIDS and other infectious diseases.

The military leadership bears responsibility for the degradation of the
people. Beyond negligence, the junta increases the people's suffering
through mismanagement of the economy, vast underfunding of key social
services (despite rising oil and gas revenue), and restriction of personal
freedoms and political development. The internationally accepted principle
of the "responsibility to protect" apparently does not apply for Burma's
people. Moral indignation is the practical extent of Western responses to
these atrocities.

Providing humanitarian assistance to a desperate people is a better response.

Annual international assistance to Burma of $150 million, however useful,
is grossly insufficient. Almost every other developing country receives
more. The depth of Burma's situation warrants a multiyear commitment on
the order of $1 billion annually from international donors -- public and
private -- to fund improvements in health and education, including
upgrading the country's crumbling infrastructure in these sectors. A
consortium of donors should be established to review projects and their
implementation, to pursue cooperation from the Burmese government and to
monitor the delivery of aid.

There is, of course, peril in a humanitarian approach. Millions of aid
dollars may well be diverted by the junta, and the flow of aid might
convince the government that it need not reform. Nor can we be sure the
government would accept such a program. Cooperation with the regime, in
any event, will be patchy -- the junta has long placed onerous
restrictions on aid agencies already there. But cooperation must be
pursued, as there is no possibility of working on a large scale inside
Burma without such efforts.

Western officials and politicians may bridle at this approach. Certainly,
vigilance is required to minimize the hazards of working in Burma. But
risk is unavoidable, and the costs of inaction -- measured in mortality,
drug addiction and infection rates -- loom larger. The international
community is caught between the need to address the downward spiral of the
Burmese people and not wanting to inadvertently support the Burmese
military government or see international aid wasted. But this dilemma will
not be solved in any reasonable time frame by relying on the shibboleths
of "engagement" or "pressure."

Concerned countries will continue their efforts to free Aung San Suu Kyi,
the democratically elected Burmese leader who remains under house arrest,
and to get the military to embrace meaningful political change. These
efforts, however important, are an insufficient response to Burma's
worsening situation. The focus must shift from Burma's generals to its
people. Imagining that a massive and sustained increase in humanitarian
aid can produce political change in Burma over the long term may be a
triumph of hope over reality. A program cannot be justified on that score.
But if we can improve the lives of millions and avert further human
disaster, it is incumbent upon us to try.

Morton Abramowitz is a senior fellow at the Century Foundation and a
former U.S. ambassador to Thailand. Jonathan Kolieb is a research
associate at the Century Foundation.

____________________________________
PRESS RELEASE

April 2, United Nations Commission on Human Rights
UN human rights experts call on Myanmar to address discrimination against
members of Muslim minority in North Rakhine State

The following statement was issued today by the Special Rapporteur on the
situation of human rights in Myanmar, Paulo Sergio Pinheiro; the
Independent Expert on minority issues, Gay McDougall; the Special
Rapporteur on contemporary forms of recism, racial discrimination,
xenophobia and related intolerance, Doudou Diène; the Special Rapporteur
on adequate housing, Miloon Kothari; the Special Rapporteur on the right
to food, Jean Ziegler; and the Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone
to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental
health, Paul Hunt:

Under the 1982 Citizenship Law, the members of the Muslim minority in
North Rakhine State, generally known as the Rohingyas, have been denied
Myanmar citizenship, which has seriously curtailed the full exercise of
their civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights and led to
various discriminatory practices. This includes severe restrictions on
freedom of movement; various forms of extortion and arbitrary taxation;
land confiscation and forced evictions; restricted access to medical care,
food and adequate housing; forced labor; and restrictions on marriages. As
a consequence, thousands have fled to neighbouring countries, in turn
creating complex humanitarian situations in the region.

We call on the Government of Myanmar to take urgent measures to eliminate
discriminatory practices against the Muslim minority in North Rakhine
State, and to ensure that no further discrimination is carried out against
persons belonging to this community. We remind the Government of its
obligation to protect all individuals within its territory and subject to
its jurisdiction from any form of discrimination.

We reiterate the important role of minority rights in promoting equitable
development, peace and stability, as enshrined in the Declaration on the
Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and
Linguistic Minorities.

We urge the Government of Myanmar to repeal or amend the 1982 Citizenship
Law to ensure compliance of its legislation with the country's
international human rights obligations, including article 7 of the
Convention of the Rights of the Child and article 9 of the Convention on
the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women; and to
guarantee that the right to nationality as enunciated in article 15 of the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights and article 5 of the Convention on
the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination finds meaningful
expression within Myanmar's borders.

____________________________________

April 3, International Development Committee - British Parliament
New inquiry: DFID assistance to Burmese internally displaced people and
refugees on the Thai-Burma Border

Press Notice 24, Session 2006-07
(Please note, that submissions will be accepted on all subjects relating
to DFID's assistance to Burma - not just on IDPs and refugees)

Hundreds of thousands of Burmese people have left their homes since the
establishment of military government in Burma in 1962, leading to mass
displacement within Burma and into neighbouring countries. As in other
cases of displacement, Burmese internally displaced people (IDPs) and
refugees face particular humanitarian and development challenges. UNHCR,
the UN refugee agency, has said about Burma:  ³Humanitarian needs are
particularly acute in border areas that have been plagued for decades by
instability and armed conflict.²

The International Development Committee is launching an inquiry into UK
assistance to Burma¹s IDPs and refugees and will visit the Thai-Burma
border as part of the inquiry in May 2007.

According to UNHCR there are around 140,000 refugees on the Thai side of
the Thai-Burmese border, many of whom have been there for over 20 years.
In Burma itself, the Thailand Burma Border Consortium (TBBC), an alliance
of non-governmental organisations (NGOs), estimates that the number of
IDPs near the Thai-Burma border was some 500,000 in 2006.

DFID funds work with both the IDPs and refugees. In Burma, DFID has
provided emergency assistance to IDPs through community groups and the
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), although this was
disrupted by the closure of ICRC field offices in Burma in late 2006. In
Thailand, DFID currently funds NGOs working with refugees on the border
through a grant to the TBBC of £1.8 million over three years. The UK
contributes around the same amount again as its share of European Union
support to the TBBC. DFID had specified that UK aid should not be used for
cross-border assistance from Thailand into Burma. It announced a change of
policy on assistance to IDPs in a Written Ministerial Statement on 5
March. DFID has lifted restrictions on cross-border assistance from
Thailand and is increasing its budget for work with IDPs.

The Committee invites interested organisations and individuals to submit
written evidence addressing any of the following points:

•	The particular needs of IDPs in Burma and refugees in Thailand.

•	The challenges faced in delivering aid and assistance to these groups.

•	How different ethnic groups are affected by displacement.

•	The likely trends in the region in terms of displacement, and
development and humanitarian needs.

•	How donors can assist IDPs in Burma and refugees in Thailand most
effectively.

•	The advantages and disadvantages of cross-border assistance compared to
other ways of assisting IDPs in Burma.

•	The impact of DFID¹s policies towards Burma¹s IDPs and refugees.

The deadline for submitting written evidence is Friday 13 April 2007.

Evidence submitted should:

- if possible, be provided electronically in MS Word or Rich Text format,
either by e-mail to indcom at parliament.uk or on a disk. If submitted by
e-mail or e-mail attachment, a letter should also be sent validating the
e-mail. The letterhead should contain your full postal address and contact
details

- begin with a one page summary if it is longer than six pages

- have numbered paragraphs

- avoid the use of colour or expensive-to-print material.

Submissions can also be sent by post to International Development
Committee, House of Commons, 7 Millbank, London, SW1P 3JA.

Further guidance on the submission of evidence can be found at:
http://www.parliament.uk/commons/selcom/witguide.htm;

Material already published elsewhere should not form the basis of a
submission, but may be referred to within written evidence, in which case
a hard copy of the published work should be included.

Once submitted, evidence is the property of the Committee. The Committee
normally, though not always, chooses to make public the written evidence
it receives, by publishing it on the internet, by printing it or by making
it available through the Parliamentary Record Office.  If there is any
information you believe to be sensitive you should highlight it and
explain what harm you believe would result from its disclosure. The
Committee will take this into account in deciding whether to publish or
further disclose the evidence.  Please bear in mind that Committees are
not able to investigate individual cases.

It would be helpful, for Data Protection purposes, if individuals wishing
to submit written evidence send their contact details separately in a
covering letter. You should be aware that there may be circumstances in
which the House of Commons will be required to communicate information to
third parties on request, in order to comply with its obligations under
the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

******

Further Information:

The membership of the Committee is as follows: Malcolm Bruce MP (Chairman,
Lib Dem), John Barrett MP (Lib Dem), John Battle MP (Lab), John Bercow MP
(Con), Hugh Bayley MP (Lab), Richard Burden MP (Lab), Mr Quentin Davies MP
(Con), James Duddridge MP (Con), Ann McKechin MP (Lab), Joan Ruddock MP
(Lab), Mr Marsha Singh MP(Lab).

Media Enquiries: Alex Paterson, 020 7219 1589 or patersona at parliament.uk

Detailed enquiries to Matthew Hedges, Second Clerk, or Chloë Challender,
Committee Specialist, at indcom at parliament.uk