BurmaNet News, June 29, 2007

[Editor]

June 29, 2007 Issue # 3237

INSIDE BURMA
DVB: SPDC steps up efforts to issue ID cards before referendum
Irrawaddy: Piracy crippling Burma’s music industry
AP: Myanmar agrees to closer contact with UNICEF over child soldiers
Irrawaddy: Three die as tornado hits Rangoon

ON THE BORDER
Mizzima News: Border security tightened after series of weapons seizure

BUSINESS / TRADE
Comtex News Network: China Nonferrous Metal Group starts nickel project in
Burma

DRUGS
SHAN: Burma's war on drugs: A glass half full, or half empty

INTERNATIONAL
AFP: US, Myanmar hold rare talks in China over Aung San Suu Kyi
Irrawaddy: UN coordinator’s report lists causes of Burma’s social problems
Xinhua: Japan to provide Myanmar grant aid for two projects
National Post: Hijacker likely in Canada for good; Burmese activist

OPINION / OTHER
Irrawaddy: US-Burma meeting was a good start

PRESS RELEASE
ICRC: Myanmar: ICRC denounces major and repeated violations of
international humanitarian law
UC Berkeley-Johns Hopkins: UC Berkeley-Johns Hopkins report faults Burma’s
military junta for proliferation of infectious diseases

____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

June 29, Democratic Voice of Burma
SPDC steps up efforts to issue ID cards before referendum

The Burmese government has reportedly stepped up efforts to issue
identification cards to ethnic minority civilians in preparation for a
referendum tipped to happen after the National Convention ends.

Sources from cease-fire groups have told DVB that civilians living in
government-controlled areas are now being told that they can apply for ID
cards and that the processing time will be just one day.

Naing Aung Ma Ngae, spokesperson for the New Mon State Party, said that
the government appeared to trying to keep record of the civilian
population in the group’s cease-fire area for the first time.

“Now people are saying that the idea of issuing ID cards and collecting
house-hold data is to make it possible for everyone to participate in an
upcoming referendum,” Naing Aung Ma Ngae.

“We give the government the details of our troop population every year,
but this is the first time that we have given them the details of the
civilians in our area.”

The order to step up efforts to issue the ID cards was reportedly laid
down by the Ministry of Immigration and Population last weekend and was
relayed to cease-fire groups via regional military offices.

Vetern politician Amyotharyay Win Naing said that while it was normal for
the military to launch identification drives every few years, the scale of
the current program suggested that the government was preparing for a
referendum.

“They have boosted their efforts and that leads us to assume that they are
trying to make it easier for people to vote in elections,” Amyotharyay Win
Naing said.

“But still it is too early to predict anything because they can extend the
time limit to any length they want. For the time being, they still haven’t
finished the draft of the constitution,” he said.

____________________________________

June 29, Irrawaddy
Piracy crippling Burma’s music industry - Aye Lae

Piracy in Burma has brought the country’s music industry to its knees,
according to performers and music producers, who say they can no longer
compete with the stream of cheap copies of CDs and VCDs.

“Piracy drives the industry into absolute paralysis,” well-known
songwriter Maung Thit Min told The Irrawaddy. “We used to discuss
intellectual property laws under the World Intellectual Property
Organization, but nothing has been done to follow these guidelines.”

The availability of cheap pirated products—despite periodic crackdowns by
Burmese authorities—means that Burma’s numerous performers can no longer
make a living from their music.

Pirated music, films and software are readily available from street stalls
in Rangoon and other larger cities. While legal copies sell for about
2,000 kyat (US $1.50), pirate editions go for as little as 300 kyat (25 US
cents).

The sale or purchase of pirated goods in Burma is illegal, but legislation
protecting international copyright is difficult to enforce. Many of
Burma’s most popular songs are derived from popular international artists.

Penalties for piracy in Burma range from a fine of 1 million kyat ($800)
to three years in prison, but weak governmental efforts at enforcement do
little to decrease the availability of pirated materials.

“Chinese-made machines can make 50 copies of CDs or VCDs within five
minutes,” said Zarganar, a famous Burmese comedian and social critic, who
said pirated materials are hurting the country’s music industry in
particular. “We can even see pirated CDS o­n sale near police stations.”

Frustration over the piracy issue among music producers has led to a
steady decline in music production.

“For the production of o­ne VCD, we invest 40 million kyat (about
$31,800), but we o­nly earn back about half of our investment,” said a
Rangoon-based singer and producer. “We cannot survive under these
conditions.”

According to a report in the Rangoon-based Burmese language journal Weekly
Eleven, the most popular artists in Burma can expect to move o­nly about
7,000 copies of a new CD or VCD.

“I have already finished everything with my new album,” said well-known
singer/songwriter Maung Maung Zaw Latt. “But the producer is now scared to
release it and is afraid of losing his investment.”

____________________________________

June 29, Associated Press
Myanmar agrees to closer contact with UNICEF over child soldiers

Myanmar's military junta has agreed to set up a special government
position to deal with the U.N. children's agency on the issue of child
soldiers, a U.N. envoy said Friday.

"The good news is they agreed to set up a focal point at the Ministry of
Social Welfare to engage directly with UNICEF," said Radhika Coomaraswamy,
the U.N. special representative for children and armed conflicts. She gave
no further details before leaving the country.

Coomaraswamy arrived in Myanmar on Monday to act on a 2005 U.N. Security
Council resolution to set up a system to monitor abuse of children in
armed conflict. The U.N. lists Myanmar as a country that uses child
soldiers.

She met with acting Prime Minister Lt. Gen. Thein Sein, who is also
chairman of the Committee for Prevention of Recruitment of Minors for
Military Service, and other senior officials in Naypyidaw, the new
capital, 400 kilometers (250 miles) north of Yangon. She also visited a
military recruitment center in Mandalay, 715 kilometers (445 miles) north
of Yangon.

Coomaraswamy said she also met with the United Wa State Army, one of the
armed ethnic groups that was listed in the Security Council report as
using child soldiers. The UWSA, with an estimated 20,000 soldiers, at
times fights the Shan State Army in the northeast of the country.

She did not meet with the Karen National Union and the Karenni army
because of "political sensitivities," she said.

"We are in the process of negotiating an arrangement (with the Myanmar and
Thai governments) by which we can talk to them," Coomaraswamy said.

Both the Karen and Karenni people are concentrated in eastern Myanmar near
the border with Thailand.

Human rights groups have long criticized the military junta and ethnic
minorities fighting for more autonomy for recruiting large numbers of
child soldiers, some as young as 11.

Currently only the Karen National Union, through its armed wing the Karen
National Liberation Army, is fighting the government. The Karenni National
Progressive Party signed a cease-fire agreement with the government in the
1990s, but continues to have an army.

Both Myanmar's government and the KNU have denied the allegations.

Myanmar, also called Burma, has also faced international criticism for
other human rights abuses, including summary executions, torture and
forced labor.

The U.S. and Europe have imposed tough political and economic sanctions on
the junta for its human rights record and failure to hand over power to a
democratically elected government.

New York-based Human Rights Watch published an extensive report in 2002
that estimated 70,000 soldiers in Myanmar's army of about 350,000 were
under the age of 18.

____________________________________

June 29, Irrawaddy
Three die as tornado hits Rangoon - Shah Paung

A tornado ripped through parts of Rangoon on Thursday, killing three
people, injuring at least five and destroying about 90 houses.

The worst hit area was South Dagon Township, where more than 1,000 trees
were uprooted and around 500 houses lost their roofs, a government
official told The Irrawaddy, on condition of anonymity. Telephone lines
and power cables had been brought down by the storm, disrupting
communications and electricity supplies.

State-run newspaper The New Light of Myanmar, which reported only one
death, describes the tornado as a “strong wind” and said that, apart from
South Dagon Township, it had ravaged the townships of Thingangyun,
Botahtaung, Kyauktada, Lanmadaw and Dala. A government official said
Hlaing Thar Yar Industrial Zone had also been hit, and a relief center was
being established in a primary school there.

A cyclone storm hit the area of Sittwe in western Arakan State in mid-May,
killing at least 14 people and destroying around 2,000 houses. More than
10,000 people were affected by that storm.

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

June 29, Mizzima News
Border security tightened after series of weapons seizure - Subhaschandra M

A spate of arms and ammunition seizures from border areas and passenger
vehicles coming from Moreh by Indian troops, has led to tightening of
security along the Indo-Burma highway.

Following the recent clashes between two rebel groups in Moreh, Indian
forces deployed for counter-insurgency operations in Manipur's border
areas had increased vigilance along the Imphal- Moreh sector of the
Indo-Burma route. Soldiers have been conducting rigorous searches of all
vehicles on the highway, official sources said.

The troops of the 22 Maratha Light infantry posted in Khudengthabi, around
10 kilometre north of Moreh town in Manipur's Chandel district intercepted
a passenger vehicle (MN1K-4532) coming from the border town and seized
nearly a thousand rounds of 'unmarked' ammunition from the vehicle on June
25 morning.

The force seized 945 rounds of "unmarked" AK-type ammunition in the
vehicle. First hand information collected by the Inspector General Assam
Rifles (South) suggests the ammunition was collected from a shop in Moreh,
sources said.

It is not yet clear whether these are made locally or smuggled. A senior
Assam Rifles officer said Indian made ammunition has a particular trade
mark.

The ammunition was likely to be delivered to a bus parked somewhere in
Thoubal district. The arrested person and the ammunition were later handed
over to the Imphal west district police, he said.

A senior district police officer in Imphal west said over telephone that
they had received only 258 rounds of unmarked ammunition along with the
arrested man.

Similarly police commandoes seized one M-16, magazine with there live
rounds, one M-79 grenade launcher and a lathode bomb from three gun
runners from Chandel district on their way to deliver to a person called
Rahul in Nagaland's Dimapur town around 6.30 p.m.

A M-16, a magazine with five live rounds, a lethode bomb launcher, a
calculator and two scooters were seized from another shop in the Indian
border town last year.

Major General B K Chengapa, Inspector General of Assam Rifles,
headquarters (South) based in Manipur's Mantripukhuri sector near Imphal
had earlier said that the disturbed environment in neighbouring Burma has
led to inflow of arms and drugs to Manipur which in turn, has facilitated
insurgency and terrorism in India's north eastern states.

Besides in two separate raids conducted by Assam Rifles in the past 24 in
Manipur led to the seizure of four SBBL rifles, one pistol and a huge
quantity of ammunition from some members of the proscribed People's United
Liberation Front.

The troops also arrested two of its cadres following a tip off in Mayang
Imphal village in Manipur in the wee hours of Thursday. There was no
report of a fire fight during the two separate operations.

Unless the porous Indo-Burma border is properly fenced and checked, gun
fights between various underground groups mushrooming by the day in
Manipur will continue, observed a police officer based in Imphal.

There are around 20 insurgent groups operating in Manipur according to
official reports available here. All the outfits belong to various ethnic
communities and their objectives range from "restoring sovereignty" of the
region to protecting the interest of their respective ethnic communities.
Interestingly there are over 30 ethnic communities settled in Manipur
state alone. As a result over the past couple of years violence and
extortion has escalated.

____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

June 29, Comtex News Network, Inc.
China Nonferrous Metal Group starts nickel project in Burma

Sources from China Nonferrous Metal Mining (Group) Co., Ltd. (CNMC) say
the company has gained regulatory approval to start constructing its
nickel project in Burma with the financial support from the Export-Import
Bank of China and China Development Bank.

The project, to cost nearly USD 600 million, is the largest one in the
history of China and Burma's cooperation on developing the mining
industry. It is designed to be capable of producing 85,000 tons of
ferronickel upon completion. Canadian-based Hatch and China Nonferrous
Engineering and Research Institute will jointly design the project.

Luo Tao, president of CNMC, remarked during its latest visit to the
Asia-Pacific headquarters of Hatch in Brisbane of Australia with a
delegation that his group has sent task force to Burma to negotiate about
concerned matters for 3 times. The national governments of China and Burma
highly paid attention to his company and its project and will give further
support.

Hatch will be responsible for analyzing the production cost of ferronickel
with the same technics worldwide. The two also discussed relevant
technologic issues such as electric power and coal consumption of the
project.

____________________________________
DRUGS

June 29, Shan Herald Agency for News
Burma's war on drugs: A glass half full, or half empty

Burma's 15-year narcotics elimination exercise which got off the ground in
the 1999-2000 poppy season has so far yielded debatable results,  despite
"clapping and cheering" by the UN Office of Drugs and Crimes (UNODC),
according to SHAN's Drug Watch members in Shan State who turned up on the
border.

For one thing, says one, the plan's Phase One (1999-2004) had targeted 22
townships in Shan State. However, findings by the group reveal that
cultivation is still being witnessed in at least 11 townships such as
Mongyai, Hsenwi, Tangyan, Kutkhai, Lashio, Namkham town in Northern Shan
and Kunhing,  Faikhun (Pekhon), Mongpan, Mongkeung, Hsihseng town in
southern  Shan.

In Phase Two (2004-2009), 20 townships (four in Kachin State and 16 in
Shan State) are being zeroed in on. Notable success is found in six
townships controlled by the Wa, who declared zero production in 2005.
However, increased cultivation is in evidence in the adjoining townships,
particularly Mongpiang, whose sub-township Markmang had yielded, by
conservative calculation, an estimated 3.6 tons during the 2006-07 season.

Meanwhile, according to the Kachin News Group, production has registered
an upswing in the four projected townships in Kachin State: Kamaing,
Waingmaw, Momauk, and Mohnyin, due to the fact that the State is not the
centre of attention. "International focus is on Shan State, not Kachin
State," explains Lahpai Naw Din, the KNG's editor. "As a result,
cultivation has spread to at least two far flung townships: Sumprabum and
Putao."

The ensuing Phase Three (2009-2014) has nine townships (five in Shan, two
in Kayah and another two in Chin), totaling 51 townships in all that have
been targeted by the military regime. "It may well succeed with active
cooperation from local armed groups like Kokang , Wa and Mongla," said a
Drug Watch member. "But the problem is, even in places like Chin State,
townships outside the projected areas have been infected by the poppy
bug."

The two townships projected for eradication in Chin State are Falam and
Tonzang, but cultivation in Tiddim has been reported by Khonumthung, a
news group based in India.

The balloon effect also appears to be taking place outside the four
targeted states: Shan, Kachin, Kayah (Karenni) and Chin. Reports filtering
in say there is poppy cultivation in Mandalay , Sagaing and Magwe
divisions and Arakan State. According to Kaladan Press, it has even
crossed the border into Bangladesh 's Chittagong Hill Tracts, where the
Bangladeshi Army found and destroyed 50 acres of fields in February.

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

June 29, Agence France Presse
US, Myanmar hold rare talks in China over Aung San Suu Kyi - P. Parameswaran

The United States held rare talks with the Myanmar military junta in
Beijing to press for the release of the Southeast Asian state's democracy
icon Aung San Suu Kyi, the State Department said Thursday.

At the China-brokered talks this week, US officials were "clear and
direct" in demanding the release of the opposition leader and thousands of
other political prisoners in Myanmar, spokesman Tom Casey said. The junta
leaders however did not seem to relent, he said.

It was the highest level direct talks between the rival nations in recent
years, with the US officials led by deputy US assistant secretary of state
Eric John, the top Southeast Asian diplomat in the State Department.

One US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the discussions
were "very pointed and very direct."

"I don't think we saw anything coming out of them that will indicate,
unfortunately, that they have changed their basic opinions," Casey said of
the junta leaders who attended the talks -- information minister Kyaw
Hsan, foreign minister Nyan Win and culture minister Khin Aung Nyint.

"We certainly did not hear that they were planning on releasing Aung San
Suu Kyi or other political prisoners," he said.

Myanmar requested the meeting and Beijing, instead of Yangon, was chosen
as the venue because the junta refused to meet a key condition by
Washington -- allow US officials to first meet with Aung San Suu Kyi, who
has spent 11 of the past 18 years under house arrest, Casey said.

"The government of Burma often prefers that we would meet with them in
Burma. Our longstanding policy is we will not meet them in Burma --
outside of our embassy offices -- if they will not allow us to meet with
Aung San Suu Kyi," he said.

Myanmar has been ruled by the military since 1962.

Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) won elections in
1990, but the military did not recognize the result and has kept her
locked in her lakeside home, despite fierce international criticism.

Casey said Washington decided to have the talks with the junta to
"reinforce the messages they were receiving" from the UN special envoy,
Ibrahim Gambari, who had visited Yangon several times to press the
military rulers to release Aung San Suu Kyi and bring about national
reconciliation.

The junta reportedly is anxious for Gambari, who was allowed twice to meet
with Aung San Suu Kyi, to pay another visit to Myanmar in July when it
finalizes a national convention to draw up guidelines for a new
constitution.

Gambari was in Washington last week holding talks with US officials ahead
of the Beijing meeting in what some diplomatic sources said was part of a
fresh bid to bring about political dialogue between the junta and the NLD.

"I believe they want to make use of this small window that is available to
get the dialogue going before the constitution is drawn up," said a
source.

By hosting the US talks with Myanmar, China is playing a role similar to
that of the six-party talks which it convened in 2003 aimed at ending
North Korea's nuclear weapons drive.

"It's especially significant that these talks took place in Beijing and
were arranged by the Chinese, although China will not be a publicly active
participant," said former US envoy to the United Nations Richard
Holbrooke.

"While these talks are unlikely to be productive, after years of nothing
on Burma, perhaps they will be the beginning of a process in which China
can play a role similar to that in North Korea," he said in an opinion
piece in the Washington Post Thursday.
China and Russia, which have both invested in Myanmar's energy sector,
vetoed a US-led UN draft resolution in January urging Myanmar to swiftly
return to democracy and free all political detainees.

Jeremy Woodrum, director of the Washington-based US Campaign for Burma,
said China should respect the call by the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations (ASEAN), of which Myanmar is a member, for the release of Aung San
Suu Kyi.

"Aung San Suu Kyi is much a China prisoner as she is a prisoner of the
Burmese regime," he said.

____________________________________

June 29, Irrawaddy
UN coordinator’s report lists causes of Burma’s social problems - Htet Aung

Many of the difficulties faced by the people of Burma were due to
“ill-informed and outdated” socio-economic policies, neglected social
services and the regime’s “uncompromising attitude” towards opposition and
minorities, according to a confidential report by the UN Humanitarian
Coordinator to Burma, Charles Petrie.

The report, a copy of which was obtained by The Irrawaddy, said: “Many of
the difficulties encountered by the population of Myanmar [Burma] are a
result of ill-informed and outdated socio-economic policies, lack of
public expenditure on much needed social services, an uncompromising
attitude not o­nly towards the NLD/democracy movement, but moreover
towards the ethnic and ceasefire groups.” The report, entitled
“Humanitarian Situation,” was issued in April 2007.

In a phone interview with The Irrawaddy o­n Friday, Petrie said: “The
government has insufficient understanding of what the UN and NGOs are
trying to do. That is one of the reasons why I think there are all of
these problems with the ICRC [International Committee of the Red Cross]. I
don’t think the government really understands what the ICRC is trying to
do.”

The ICRC on Friday denounced the military government in a harshly worded
statement. The report denounced “major and repeated violations of
international humanitarian law” committed by the government.

The confidential report said more than 30 percent of Burma’s people lived
well below the poverty line, and that Burma is the o­nly country in the
world where Beri Beri, a vitamin deficiency affliction, is one of the
major causes of infant mortality.

The report said Burma’s accelerating impoverishment is leading to a wide
range of social problems—the inability of more than 40 percent of children
to complete their primary education; increasing arbitrary and widespread
land confiscation, contributing to greater food insecurity; government
policies of “directed” agricultural production resulting in declining
yields for small farmers, an estimated 10,000 girls trafficked from Burma
to Thailand’s brothels alone every year.

One section of the report is devoted to a “UN strategy for Burma
2003-2007”—a strategy “designed with the belief that the downward slide
could still be checked.”

____________________________________


June 29, Xinhua General News Service
Japan to provide Myanmar grant aid for two projects

The Japanese government will provide Myanmar grant aid assistance for two
projects worth a total of 468 million yens (about 3.8 million U.S.
dollars), according to a press release of the Japanese Embassy available
here Friday.

Notes regarding the provision of the grant aid to the two projects of
human resources development scholarship and afforestation in the dry zone
respectively worth 407 million yens and 61 million yens were exchanged
between Japanese Ambassador Nobutake Odano and Myanmar Minister of
National Planning and Economic Development on Thursday.

The human resources scholarship project, which started in 2002, offers
opportunities to promising youths of Myanmar, both from government and
non-governmental organizations, for further studying at Japanese
universities to attain masters' degrees, the release said, adding that 103
young Myanmar people have already been sent to Japan under the project.

The project for afforestation in the dry zone aims at combating
desertification and mitigating the effects of drought by establishing
sustainable operation and maintenance of afforestation sites in the dry
zone of Myanmar, thus further contributing to the environmental
development of the region and providing the local residents with required
resources and improved living environment, the release also said.

____________________________________

June 29, National Post
Hijacker likely in Canada for good; Burmese activist - Stewart Bell

A Burmese pro-democracy activist who hijacked an airliner and held 50
passengers hostage has lost a court challenge against Canadian immigration
authorities who want to deport him for terrorism.

Than Soe had argued he was not a terrorist because he did not intend to
harm anyone when he hijacked a Burma Airways flight in 1989 and forced it
to land in Thailand, but the Federal Court dismissed his case.

Despite his legal win, there appears to be little chance the convicted
hijacker, who entered Canada illegally in 2003, will be deported any time
soon because of the Burmese military junta's abysmal human rights record.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees says Mr. Soe, also known
as Ye Yint and Thit Lwin, faces torture or indefinite detention in Burma
for his role in the hijacking and pro-democracy activism.

Mr. Soe admits he hijacked the airliner, held hostages and demanded, among
other things, the release of Burmese political prisoners. But he fears he
will be tortured if Canada sends him home.

The case has become the latest terrorism-related challenge to Canada's
refugee system. Canadian immigration policies make it difficult to deport
even known terrorists to countries where they might be mistreated.

In October, 1989, Mr. Soe and another student named Ye Thi Ha hijacked a
Fokker-28 passenger plane shortly after it left the Burmese town of Mergui
for the capital Rangoon. They ordered the pilot to divert the plane to
U-Tapao, Thailand.

Upon landing, they released the 30 oldest and youngest passengers but held
the remaining 50 as hostages and reportedly threatened to blow the plane
up with grenades unless Burma agreed to released all its political
prisoners.

The hostages were eventually released and Mr. Soe surrendered to Thai
authorities. Twenty-two at the time of the hijacking, Mr. Soe was
sentenced to six years imprisonment. He was released after 2½ years,
pardoned by the Thai government and made his way to the United States on a
scholarship. From there he fled to Canada.

The Immigration and Refugee Board in 2004 declared him inadmissible due to
his past connections to terrorism and a deportation order was issued, but
Mr. Soe appealed to Stockwell Day, the Minister of Public Safety, to let
him stay on the grounds that his presence in Canada would not be
detrimental to the national interest.

The President of the Canada Border Services Agency recommended against the
amnesty, writing in a briefing note that "Mr. Soe did commit a terrorist
act. He did hijack a plane and people could have been injured or killed.
This fact cannot be ignored.

"Mr. Soe has been upfront and honest about his hijacking. He presently
does not appear to be a danger to Canadian society; however, his presence
in Canada clearly goes against our national interest. Canada should not
harbour individuals who had admitted to committing terrorist acts."

He added that there was no compelling reason to grant Mr. Soe refugee
status since he was unemployed, had no family in Canada and he could
request to return to Thailand, where he had been pardoned.

Mr. Day accepted the CBSA's recommendation on March 27, 2006, and denied
the appeal. But Mr. Soe challenged the Minister in court and on April 30,
2007, Justice Michael Phelan tossed out the decision, saying the Mr. Day
had failed to consider the UNHCR's report.

"For all these reasons, the application for judicial review is allowed,
the Minister's decision is quashed and the matter is remitted to the
Minister for re-determination," the judge wrote.

A separate legal challenge heard by a different judge ended in the
government's favour on Tuesday when Justice Michel Shore upheld an IRB
decision that found Mr. Soe inadmissible to Canada for terrorism. Mr. Soe
will now likely undergo an assessment to determine whether he faces a risk
if Canada returns him to Burma.

Also called Myanmar, Burma is ruled by a military junta that suppresses
all dissent and opposition with brute force. Nobel Prize winner Aung San
Suu Kyi, who leads the opposition National League for Democracy, lives
under house arrest.

____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

June 29, Irrawaddy
US-Burma meeting was a good start

The rare meeting this week between a senior US official and Burmese
ministers in Beijing perhaps signaled a changing US-Burma policy. The
meeting o­n Tuesday was marked by a frank and free exchange of opinions
from both sides, according to US State Department spokesman Tom Casey, who
said it had come at the request of the military junta.

The Beijing meeting was between Eric John, the deputy assistant secretary
of state for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, and two ministers from the
Burmese regime. Although the substance of their talks was not disclosed,
the continuing detention of Aung San Suu Kyi and other political
prisoners, US sanctions and the political situation in Burma in general
are thought to have been discussed.

It is likely that more meetings will take place and that they may finally
lead to normalizing US-Burma relations, some region-based analysts note.
But caution is always advisable when predicting the future of Burma, since
there is little sign of progress o­n the political front and o­n the fate
of Aung San Suu Kyi. There is obviously much room for improvement of
US-Burma relations, but for this to happen the regime has to adopt a
softer stance toward its dissidents and opposition groups.

Unconfirmed reports of low-level meetings in the region between US and
Burmese officials surfaced several months ago, but the two sides kept
everyone in the dark.

Burmese political sources told The Irrawaddy that the meeting between Eric
John and the Burmese ministers had been prepared since early this year.
They added that Eric John and senior State Department officials were
convinced that the US and China will have to make a move together o­n
Burma. Eric John takes up a key post as US ambassador to Thailand next
year and he has acknowledged China’s important role in the region.

Indeed, both the timing of the meeting and its location were interesting,
as the Burmese regime has recently announced it is to wrap up the
constitutional drafting process which had been stuttering along since
1993. China, the regime’s political ally and trade partner, reportedly
nudged the regime in Naypyidaw to wind the process up—a clear indication
that the Chinese want to see a political stability in Burma that will
guarantee their trade and business interests, and that they may be happy
to play host in the US-Burma dialogue.

But US state department spokesman Tom Casey, responding to a reporter
wanting to know why the meeting took place in Beijing and not in Burma's
capital, said: “As you know, the government of Burma often asks for us to
meet with them and often prefers that we would meet with them in Burma
itself. Our longstanding policy is that we will not meet with them in
Burma outside of our embassy officials if they will not allow us to meet
with Aung San Suu Kyi.”

A meeting between US and Burmese officials in Beijing clearly needed
China’s blessing and official approval, showing again that China’s
influence o­n Burma cannot be discounted.

Chinese diplomats based in the region and Burma believe that Burma should
improve its relations with US and open a line of communications with
Washington.

The Chinese are also clever enough to send some positive messages to
Burmese opposition groups operating outside Burma, in the way exiled
groups have opened a channel with Chinese officials in past years. Chinese
officials and diplomats recently sent verbal messages to opposition groups
inside and outside Burma, to the effect that although they care about the
release of Aung San Suu Kyi any official Chinese statement condemning the
regime and its human rights abuses cannot be expected.

Although it is premature to assume that the talks between US and Burmese
officials will lead to political reform and the release of Aung San Suu
Kyi or to a political breakthrough in Burma, the meeting was definitely a
good start.

____________________________________
PRESS RELEASE

June 29, International Committee of the Red Cross
Myanmar: ICRC denounces major and repeated violations of international
humanitarian law

Yangon / Geneva  – The president of the International Committee of the Red
Cross (ICRC), Jakob Kellenberger, has strongly denounced violations of
international humanitarian law committed against civilians and detainees
by the government of Myanmar and demanded that the government take urgent
action to end these violations and prevent them from recurring.

''The persistent use of detainees as porters for the armed forces is a
matter of grave humanitarian concern. The actions of the authorities have
also resulted in immense suffering for thousands of people in
conflict-affected areas,'' said Mr Kellenberger. "The ICRC has repeatedly
drawn attention to these abuses but the authorities have failed to put a
stop to them.''

The findings outlined below are based on observations made by ICRC
delegates and numerous allegations of abuse collected by the ICRC during
private interviews with thousands of civilians and detainees, mainly
between 2000 and 2005. Systematic abuses against detainees and civilians
are the primary source of serious concern.

Abuses against detainees

Under the prison system set up by the government, every year thousands of
detainees have been forced to support the armed forces by serving as
porters. This institutionalized and widespread practice has frequently led
to the abuse of detainees and exposed them to the dangers of armed
conflict. Many detainees used as porters have suffered from exhaustion and
malnutrition and been subjected to degrading treatment. Some have been
murdered.

''The practice known as 'portering' persists today despite numerous
representations made by the ICRC. It constitutes a major violation of
various provisions of international humanitarian law," said Mr
Kellenberger.

Abuses against civilians

The Myanmar armed forces have committed repeated abuses against men, women
and children living in communities affected by armed conflict along the
Thai-Myanmar border. These have included the large-scale destruction of
food supplies and of means of production. The armed forces have severely
restricted the population's freedom of movement in these areas, making it
impossible for many villagers to work in their fields. This has had a
significant impact on the economy, aggravating an already precarious
humanitarian situation. Furthermore, the armed forces have committed
numerous acts of violence against people living in these areas, including
murder, and subjected them to arbitrary arrest and detention. They have
also forced villagers to directly support military operations or to leave
their homes.

The behaviour and actions of the armed forces have helped create a climate
of constant fear among the population and have forced thousands of people
to join the ranks of the internally displaced or to flee abroad.

''The repeated abuses committed against men, women and children living
along the Thai-Myanmar border violate many provisions of international
humanitarian law,'' said Mr Kellenberger.

Government refusal to engage in dialogue

''Despite repeated entreaties by the ICRC, the authorities have
consistently refused to enter into a serious discussion of these abuses
with a view to putting a stop to them,'' said Mr Kellenberger. In
addition, increasingly severe restrictions imposed on the ICRC by the
government have made it impossible for the organization's staff to move
about independently in the affected areas and have hampered the delivery
of aid intended for strictly humanitarian, apolitical purposes. Since late
2005 the authorities have also prevented the ICRC from visiting places of
detention in accordance with its usual procedures, which include carrying
out private interviews with detainees.

''The continuing deadlock with the authorities has led the ICRC to take
the exceptional step of making its concerns public,'' said Mr
Kellenberger. ''The organization uses confidential and bilateral dialogue
as its preferred means of achieving results. However, this presupposes
that parties to a conflict are willing to enter into a serious discussion
and take into account the ICRC's recommendations. This has not been the
case with the authorities of Myanmar and that is why the ICRC has decided
to speak out publicly."

"I urge the government of Myanmar to put a stop to all violations of
international humanitarian law and to ensure that they do not recur,"
concluded Mr Kellenberger. "I would also like to remind all States party
to the Geneva Conventions of their obligation, under Article 1, to respect
and to ensure respect for the Conventions."

The ICRC stands ready to do everything it can to pursue its humanitarian
activities for people in Myanmar who require assistance, in accordance
with its internationally recognized mandate under the Geneva Conventions,
the Statutes of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement and
its customary working procedures.

For further information, please contact:
Michèle Mercier / Thierry Ribaux,
ICRC Yangon,
tel. +95 980 20 529 or + 951 662 613 or +951 664 524
Carla Haddad,
ICRC Geneva, tel. +41 22 730 24 05 or +41 79 217 32 26

____________________________________________

June 28, Human Rights Center UC Berkeley and Center for Public Health and
Human Rights, Johns Hopkins University: UC Berkeley-Johns Hopkins report
faults Burma’s military junta for proliferation of infectious diseases

As Congress debates extending political and economic sanctions against
Burma's military regime, a new report from the University of California,
Berkeley, and Johns Hopkins University documents how decades of repressive
rule, civil war and poor governance in the Southeast Asian country have
contributed to the spread of HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and other
infectious diseases there.

Extreme travel restrictions imposed by the Burmese government have forced
Médecins San Frontières (Doctors without Borders) in France and the
multinational Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria to pull
out of the country, and have severely curtailed the work of the
International Committee of the Red Cross, according to the report
co-authored by researchers from UC Berkeley's Human Rights Center and The
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

U.S. Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.)
introduced a bill on June 15 that would extend the U.S. sanctions, set to
expire July 26, against Burma because of continued human rights
violations. The sanctions include a ban on imports from Burma and visa
restrictions for members of the government.

While 40 percent of Burma's annual spending goes to the military, only 3
percent goes to health care, according to the report. The Burmese military
junta spends 40 cents per citizen each year on health care, compared to
the government of neighboring Thailand, which spends $61 per citizen a
year, the report says.

"Military expenditures should be reallocated to support health care
delivery," said Eric Stover, faculty director of UC Berkeley's Human
Rights Center. "Burma is not at war with its neighbors, and its security
is more profoundly threatened by the rise of drug-resistant malaria and
tuberculosis, and by emerging infectious diseases such as avian influenza,
than from external military threats."

Stover and fellow researchers from the Human Rights Center and Johns
Hopkins launched the project last year to discover the roots of Burma's
dire disease epidemics and to determine whether international aid could be
delivered in a way that is responsible and effective.

For the report, researchers traveled to the large Burmese city of Yangon,
formerly known as Rangoon, and to Burma's borders with China, Thailand,
Bangladesh and India. From health clinics in those regions, they gathered
data on HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and lymphatic filariasis, and
interviewed aid officials and health care workers.

The researchers found that the widespread distribution of counterfeit
antimalarial drugs, coupled with the rise of drug-resistant malaria and
tuberculosis, pose a major health threat to the Burmese people, especially
those living in border areas where health care is scarce, if available at
all.

Burma has one of the world's highest tuberculosis rates and is home to
more than half of Asia's malaria deaths. Those most vulnerable to disease
epidemics there are ethnic and religious minorities, displaced farmers,
commercial sex workers and intravenous drug users.

Drug trafficking has also played a major role in the spread of HIV/AIDS
among intravenous drug users and commercial sex workers, the report says.
In addition, aggressive campaigns by the Burmese government and the United
Nations Office on Drugs and Crime to eradicate poppy cultivation and
heroin production have led to the displacement of tens of thousands of
families who have no alternative source of livelihood. Many have relocated
to the Thailand border, where communicable diseases are thriving.
Meanwhile, methamphetamine production in Burma's border regions is rising.

"Decades of neglect by Burma's military government have turned the country
into an incubator of infectious diseases," said Chris Beyrer, a co-author
of the report and professor of epidemiology at The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg
School of Public Health. "While the health situation deteriorates, the
junta continues to limit the ability of international relief organizations
to reach those most in need."

In 1990, Burmese voters elected Aung San Suu Kyi, 62, as their democratic
leader. But the military rejected the election results and placed her
under house arrest, where she has remained for most of the last 17 years.
During the 1990s, international relief organizations began responding to
Burma's neglect of its citizens' health. By 2004, 41 aid organizations
were operating in Burma with a combined budget of about $30 million, and
tens of millions of dollars more aimed at fighting infectious diseases,
according to the report.

But that changed in 2005 when Burmese government authorities imposed
travel restrictions on international organizations. In October 2006, the
European Union, along with Australia, Britain, the Netherlands, Norway and
Sweden, launched the "Three Diseases Fund" to fight infectious diseases in
Burma. Yet the fund, now worth $99.5 million, faces formidable challenges,
including the critical task of ensuring that aid reaches Burma's border
regions and other areas where infectious diseases are rampant and severe.

The report recommends that:

    * The Burmese government develop a national health care system in
which care is distributed effectively, equitably and transparently

    * The Burmese government increase its spending on health and education
to confront the country's long-standing health problems, especially
the rise of drug-resistant malaria and tuberculosis.

    * The Burmese government rescind guidelines issued last year by the
country's Ministry of National Planning and Economic Development
because these guidelines have restricted organizations such as the
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) from providing relief
in Burma.

    * The Burmese government allow the ICRC to resume visits to political
prisoners without the requirement that ICRC doctors be accompanied by
members of Burma's Union Solidarity and Development Association or by
other junta representatives.

    * The Burmese government take immediate steps to halt in eastern Burma
the conflicts and human rights violations that are displacing an
unprecedented number of people and facilitating the spread of
infectious diseases in the region.

    * Foreign aid organizations and donors monitor and evaluate how aid to
combat infectious diseases in Burma is affecting domestic expenditures
on health and education.

    * Relevant national and local government agencies, United Nations
agencies and non-governmental organizations establish a regional
narcotics working group that would assess drug trends in the region
and monitor the impact of poppy eradication programs on farming
communities.

    * These agencies also collaborate more closely, sharing information,
to lessen the burden of infectious diseases in Burma and its border
regions, and to develop a regional response to the growing problem of
counterfeit antimalarial drugs.