BurmaNet News, September 4, 2007

[Editor]

September 4, 2007 Issue # 3284

INSIDE BURMA
Reuters: Myanmar protest march attracts 1,000 people
AP: Activists demand treatment for detained protesters in Myanmar; 41 on
hunger strike
DVB: NLD members march in Hakha
IHT: Myanmar claims first step toward democracy; But junta's measure is 'a
sham,' critic says
Irrawaddy: Location of arrested activists remains unknown
AP: Myanmar protest hits junta leader's hometown as calls for UN action
intensify
KNG: Poster in Kachin state demanding oil price roll back and scrapping NC
Mizzima News: Burma Army's battalion commander arrested for corruption

ON THE BORDER
Bangkok Post: Thai dam project in Burma suspended

BUSINESS / TRADE
IMNA: Citizens of Burma have to pay taxes to travel
Irrawaddy: Burma hybrid rice testing under fire

HEALTH / AIDS
Irrawaddy: Su Su Nway runs out of heart medicine in hiding place

REGIONAL
Mizzima News: 'Stop using violence': Burmese activists in India to junta
Mizzima News: Burmese activists in Korea urge junta to release student
leaders

INTERNATIONAL
FT: UN plans big rise in food aid to Burma
Irrawaddy: Gambari defends UN against “Inaction on Burma” charge
Mizzima News: European Union Parliament to vote on Burma Resolution

OPINION / OTHER
Irrawaddy: A very special kind of courage - Jim Andrews
Gulf Times: Myanmar junta's environmental practices come under fire - Dr
Cesar Chelala
Washington Post: Building Bridges to the Myanmar Government - Ibrahim Gambari

____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

September 4, Reuters
Myanmar protest march attracts 1,000 people

Around 1,000 people staged a peaceful protest march in northwest Myanmar
on Tuesday demanding the release of two men arrested for demonstrating
against a sudden rise in fuel prices, residents and marchers said.

The march in the coastal town of Taunggok, 250 miles (400 km) northwest of
Yangon, was the largest in a rare string of protests in the army-ruled
former Burma over the last two weeks.

The march started with 15 members of the opposition National League for
Democracy (NLD) heading to the local government offices to demand the
release of Se Thu and Than Lwin, a Taunggok resident told Reuters by
phone.

"On their way there, they made speeches at two busy public places and then
the crowd started to grow to at least 1,000 people," the resident said.

"The responsible officers told us these two activists had been sent to
Thandway, a district town, and we came back and the crowd dispersed
peacefully about an hour later" and there were no immediate arrests, one
marcher said.

Se Thu and Than Lwin, both in their 20s, were picked up on August 31 after
walking through the town for an hour waving placards criticising the junta
and its shock decision to double diesel prices and raise gas prices
five-fold last month.

The NLD says more than 100 people have been arrested in the fuel protests
crackdown, one of the harshest since the army put down a mass uprising in
1988 with the loss of an estimated 3,000 lives.

Most of the leaders of the 1988 protests, including Min Ko Naing, the most
influential dissident after detained Nobel laureate and NLD chief Aung San
Suu Kyi, have been picked up and the generals are tightening the net on
those still at large.

Buses are being stopped and searched on the road to Thailand, a major
escape route in 1988, and police have raided the homes of well-known
activists and distributed their photographs to hotels and guesthouses
around the city.

____________________________________

September 4, Associated Press
Activists demand treatment for detained protesters in Myanmar; 41 on
hunger strike

Pro-democracy activists demanded medical treatment Tuesday for scores of
injured protesters imprisoned in Myanmar following demonstrations over
high fuel prices, as 41 detainees continued a hunger strike.

A Washington-based activist group, the U.S. Campaign for Burma, said 41
detainees — including seven women — have staged a hunger strike since Aug.
30 to demand medical care for a colleague, who reportedly suffered a
broken leg during his arrest.

The group also called on Myanmar's military government to allow the
International Committee of the Red Cross access to the prisoners, most of
whom have been detained since protests broke out Aug. 19 in the
impoverished country.

"Many detainees were beaten brutally ... during the arrests and therefore
they all have sustained injuries, but they are not receiving any medical
treatment by the authorities," the U.S. Campaign for Burma said in a
statement.

ICRC official Thierry Ribaux said the Red Cross remains barred from
prisons in Myanmar, also known as Burma. The ban was imposed in December
2005 and discussions with the junta have failed to end it.

A family member of one detained activist on a hunger strike, requesting
anonymity for fear of official retaliation, said the detainees were moved
to two separate locations outside Yangon on Sunday night.

Myanmar's junta has beaten and detained scores of activists and used gangs
of hired thugs in Yangon to curtail a rare wave of protests that began
after fuel prices were raised overnight by as much as 500 percent.

Last week, protests reached Mandalay, one of the country's biggest cities
and a popular tourist destination.

About 15 people held a small protest in Kyaukse, the hometown of junta
leader Gen. Than Shwe, on Monday. Kyaukse is located about 530 kilometers
(330 miles) north of Yangon. Demonstrators eluded several junta thugs in
trucks who attempted to stop the march.

The U.N.'s independent expert on human rights in Myanmar, Paulo Sergio
Pinheiro, said Friday in Geneva he received reports that some people had
been "severely beaten and tortured" while in detention.

The regime's recent heavy-handed tactics have drawn condemnation from
world leaders.

Myanmar has been under military rule since 1962. The current junta — which
has come under widespread international criticism for violating human
rights — tolerates little public dissent.

In 1988, public protests over rising rice prices were a prelude to a burst
of major demonstrations that were violently subdued by the army, which
killed hundreds, perhaps thousands.

____________________________________

September 4, Democratic Voice of Burma
NLD members march in Hakha

A group of about 25 National League for Democracy members staged a protest
in the Chin capital of Hakha this morning, eyewitnesses told DVB.

Hakha NLD secretary U Ban Lian, who was also involved in the protest, said
that the group marched to the township peace and development council
office at about 11:30 this morning to deliver a letter containing several
demands to officials.

“Our demands are for the government to fix the commodity price rises. And
we called for an end to the municipal council’s raising of taxes and the
return of a social welfare program,” U Ban Lian said.

The protestors were reportedly cheered on by bystanders who watched the
demonstration. U Ban Lian also called on the government to stop arresting
peaceful protestors, saying that since they were demanding better social
conditions and not political change, they did not pose a threat to the
military.

____________________________________

September 4, International Herald Tribune
Myanmar claims first step toward democracy; But junta's measure is 'a
sham,' critic says - Seth Mydans

After 14 years of on-and-off sessions, a constitutional convention in
Myanmar produced a set of charter guidelines Monday, the first step on a
''road map to democracy'' whose end is still not in sight.

Six more steps are to lead to a constitutional referendum and an election.
But the document ensures that the military, which has ruled the former
Burma since 1962, will remain the dominant force wherever the road map
leads.

Under the guidelines, the military will control key ministries, hold large
blocs of unelected seats in all legislative bodies and have the right to
declare a state of emergency and seize power at any time.

The document severely limits the rights of political parties, and it
hedges its provisions on human rights and political activity with
limitations based on concerns of ''national security.''

It fails to meet the expectations of minority groups that have been
demanding autonomy and other rights. There are reports that some groups
involved in past cease-fires have begun to rearm in remote jungles.

The document also attempts to limit opposition by setting requirements for
political office that seem tailored specifically for Aung San Suu Kyi and
members of her opposition party, the National League for Democracy.

Western nations have criticized the process as an undemocratic show
designed to produce an undemocratic constitution. It was not clear who
would draft the final charter.

''It's been a sham process,'' said a Western diplomat in Yangon, the
country's major city. ''The whole escapade has been 1,100 hand-picked
delegates who have to get permission before they can table any
interventions.''

''It's becoming increasingly evident that this government is not willing
to give an inch.''

In a sign of continuing opposition and discontent, the end of the
convention coincides with an eruption of street protests following an
unannounced rise in fuel prices two weeks ago.

The protests have been mostly small and the government has responded with
force, arresting most of the leaders. They have dwindled as the days have
passed, and no protests have been reported in Yangon since Tuesday.

The nation has had no constitution since its 1974 charter was abrogated
when the current junta seized power after crushing a pro-democracy
uprising and causing the deaths of thousands of people.

Two years later, the generals then made the tactical mistake of holding an
election and lost in a landslide to the party of Aung San Suu Kyi.

They annulled those results, clung to power and in 1993 embarked on their
long constitution-drafting process. The convention was suspended in 1996
after the delegates from Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy,
many of whom had won seats in the aborted election, walked out, calling
the sessions undemocratic.

It reopened in 2004 with 1,100 representatives, but without members of the
National League for Democracy.

Not much has changed in the politics of Myanmar in the intervening years.
Thousands of opponents of the government have been arrested and Aung San
Suu Kyi herself has been under house arrest for 12 of the past 17 years.

The military junta, which calls itself the State Peace and Development
Council, has kept a grip on power despite sanctions by the United States,
the European Union and other nations.

These sanctions have been undermined by trade from India, Russia and
especially China, which has become a powerful economic and political force
in Myanmar.

Nevertheless, Myanmar has remained one of the poorest countries in Asia,
because of what analysts say is the mismanagement and corruption of the
military leaders.

Cut off from the world, Myanmar's rulers see themselves as under attack
from opponents both abroad and at home.

The constitutional convention took place in the shadow of a special law
that mandates a prison term of up to 20 years for anyone seen to be
criticizing the process.

At a national day celebration in March, Senior General Than Shwe said:
''Judging from lessons of history, it is certain that powerful countries
wishing to impose their influence on our nation will make any attempt in
various ways to undermine national unity.''

He said the junta would ''crush, hand-in-hand with the entire people,
every danger of internal and external destructive elements obstructing the
stability and development of the state.''

Foreign diplomats and the press were excluded from a closing ceremony
Monday that was held at a secure location outside Yangon.

''It's interesting the way this session has ended with a whimper,'' the
Western diplomat said. ''Not much fanfare. I was expecting to get an
invitation so that I could turn it down. But nothing.''

The Associated Press quoted a delegate who declined to be named because he
was not authorized to speak to the news media as saying that the acting
prime minister, Thein Sein, in his closing speech, had declared the
convention a success.

____________________________________

September 4, Irrawaddy
Location of arrested activists remains unknown - Khun Sam

The whereabouts of many of Burma's leading pro-democracy activists,
arrested following the recent crackdown on demonstrations, remains a
mystery, according to sources close to those arrested.

“We are not sure where they are now, though some people suggest they might
be in Insein Prison,” said Han Thar Myint, a spokesperson for the
opposition party National League for Democracy, told The Irrawaddy on
Tuesday.

At least 131 people have been arrested following a series of
demonstrations throughout the country against a sharp rise in fuel prices,
according to the Thailand-based Burmese rights group, the Assistance
Association for Political Prisoners.

Tate Naing, the secretary of the AAPP, said he had heard unconfirmed
reports that detainees were being moved out of the infamous Insein Prison
to other locations.

"We have no idea where they are now,” Tate Naing said.
Some sources suggested that a group of detainees are at a detention center
on the Kyaikkasan sport grounds.

Insein Prison, located in northern Rangoon, is the regime’s most notorious
prison. Burma is believed to have about 1,100 political prisoners
throughout the country.

During the protests, the junta's support groups, the Union Solidarity
Development Association and the paramilitary group Swan Arr Shin,
violently broke up peaceful demonstrations.

Many fellow activists, including the prominent activist Su Su Nway, are in
hiding.

International governments and Burmese exiled rights groups have condemned
the military government for its violent attacks and the arrests of
peaceful demonstrators and called for the release of all activist
detainees.

Tate Naing said the health of detained activists is of great concern.

“We believe they are now suffering mentally and physically from
interrogation," he said. "I want to urge Burmese citizens and the
international community to put pressure on the junta for the release of
detainees.”

Meanwhile, there are unconfirmed reports that some detainees have staged a
hunger strike to protest the authority’s refusal to treat Ye Thein Naing,
a demonstrator whose leg was broken after he was beaten, punched and
dragged into a truck by pro-junta thugs.

____________________________________

September 3, Associated Press
Myanmar protest hits junta leader's hometown as calls for UN action intensify

Defiant activists held a protest over high fuel prices in the hometown of
Myanmar's military leader Monday, as the British prime  minister joined
calls for the United Nations to take action against the  regime's brutal
crackdown on a rare wave of dissent.

Protesters had planned to stage a 260 kilometer (160 mile) protest march 
from Laputta township in Myanmar's southwestern Ayeyarwaddy delta to the 
country's biggest city, Yangon, on Monday, but authorities broke up the 
march and detained several protest leaders as they were about to set off, 
witnesses said.

More than 15 people, however, held a small protest in Kyaukse, the
hometown of junta leader Gen. Than Shwe. Kyaukse is located about 530
kilometers (330  miles) north of Yangon. Protesters eluded several junta
thugs in trucks who attempted to stop the march.

"Kyaw Thu Moe Myint, one of the organizers of the march in Kyaukse, was
arrested Sunday night, but we managed to implement the plan by staging the
protest march," one of the participants told reporters, acknowledging he
was released later Monday.

Myanmar's junta has beaten and detained scores of activists and used gangs
of hired thugs in Yangon to curtail protests that began Aug. 19 after fuel
prices were raised overnight by as much as 500 percent. The price hike has
 made public transport and some consumer goods vastly more expensive in
the impoverished country.

Last week, protests reached Mandalay, among the country's biggest cities
and a popular tourist destination. About 30 members of Aung San Suu Kyi's
National League for Democracy staged the protest to "reflect the hardship
that the people of Myanmar are going through," Win Mya Mya, an NLD member,
told reporters.

The U.N.'s independent expert on human rights in Myanmar, Paulo Sergio
Pinheiro, said Friday in Geneva he had received reports that some people
had been "severely beaten and tortured" in detention.

The regime's heavy-handed tactics have drawn condemnation from world
leaders including U.S. President George W. Bush, who has urged Myanmar's
government to heed international calls to release the detained activists
and to stop intimidating citizens who are promoting democracy and human
rights.

Britain's Prime Minister Gordon Brown echoed those sentiments Monday,
demanding the regime release all political prisoners and urging the U.N.
Security Council to take up the "grave situation" in Myanmar, also known
as Burma, as soon as possible.

"As the lives of ordinary Burmese people continue to deteriorate, it is
all the more important that all countries and organizations with an
influence over the regime impress upon the generals the need for an early
transition to democratic rule, full respect for human rights and genuine
national reconciliation," Brown said in a statement.

Myanmar has been under military rule since 1962. The ruling junta - which
has come under widespread international criticism for violating the human
rights of its citizens - tolerates little public dissent.

In 1988, public protests over rising rice prices were a prelude to a burst
of major demonstrations - violently subdued by the army - that sought an
end  to military rule that began in 1962. The current junta suspended a
1974 constitution when it took power.

____________________________________

September 3, Kachin News Group
Poster in Kachin state demanding oil price roll back and scrapping NC

The first sign of renewed unrest in Kachin State was in evidence this
evening, with students in Myitkyina University putting up a poster
demanding a roll back in oil prices and scrapping the outcome of the
National Convention. The appearance of the posters coincides with the
conclusion of the Burmese military junta’s National Convention.

This is the first such posters by students in a long time in Myitkyina
University in Myitkyina Township, the capital of Kachin State in Northern
Burma, said university students' sources.

Five major points are listed in the poster pasted in front of the second
year Geology lecture room in the University, eyewitnesses told KNG this
evening.

The students have demanded that the junta roll back the prices of
petroleum products and essential commodities, to stop the Myitsone
Hydroelectric Power project near Myitkyina Town, halt land confiscation in
Kachin State, ands scrap the outcome of the National Convention.

The students’ movement is being spearhead by the overseas All Kachin
Students and Youth Union (AKSYU)'s student wing in Burma, said a student
leader in Myitkyina who organized the poster pasting this evening.

He elaborated on the major demands listed on the wall poster and said "We
would like to show that we have solidarity with all students in the
country. We will continue to organize more students' movements in Kachin
State".

AKSYU was formed by 88 Generation Kachin Student leaders in 1996 who later
fled to India. The organization is into students' movements in Kachin
State as well as overseas liberated areas and neighbouring countries.

Meanwhile, security continues to be tight in Myitkyina Township since last
month and locals are forcibly being made to do to guard duty at night on
the orders of Commander Maj-Gen Ohn Myint of Kachin Sate. Residents are on
duty at government offices, the Myitkyina University and township to
village level Administrative Offices around Myitkyina, said locals.

The reserved firefighters' military training with fresh recruits is also
underway in Myitkyina Township for cracking down on any civilian movement
in the township, local sources added.

____________________________________

September 4, Mizzima News
Burma Army's battalion commander arrested for corruption

In the Burmese Army, where corruption is a way of life, in a rare
instance, a battalion commander of Burma's Northeastern Military command
has been arrested and interrogated. His property has been seized, a source
in the military said.
Lt-Col Kyi Aung, Commander of Light Infantry Battalion No.123 (LIB-123),
based in Nam Hpak sub-township in Kutkai Township under the Lashio based
Northeastern Military Command, was arrested on September 2 by a military
team led by Kutkai strategic commander Col. San Shwe Tha. Kyi Aung. He is
said to be held in the division command in Lashio and is being
interrogated.

Kyi Aung was probed and arrested for alleged corruption reports and
complaints to the Army higher-ups. Authorities seized all his property,
sources close to the LIB- 123 said.

One of the complaints against Kyi Aung alleged that the commander in May
had taken bribe from the Kachin Defence Army's business in-charge over the
seizure of a huge cache of assorted drugs.

Col San Shwe Tha, who led the probe into Kyi Aung's case, has been posted
as the strategic commander in Kutkai since 2001 and has reportedly played
a key role in exposing corruption cases of several other border security
officials in the past. While San Shwe Tha is famous for getting rid of
rival officers, sources said Kyi Aung's case is widely believed to be
based on specific complaints.

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

September 4, Bangkok Post
Thai dam project in Burma suspended

Thailand's state-run utility Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand
(EGAT) decided Tuesday to suspend its exploration for a new hydropower dam
on Salween River until safety is ensured.

But the state enterprise insisted the postponement would not affect
Thailand’s energy situation.

Kraisi Karnasuta, EGAT governor revealed the Hatkyi project in Burma had
to be put on hold indefinitely
after EGAT employee Samarn Kantameun was killed in an attack over the
weekend.

He was the second victim after the first fatality, a geologist, stepped on
a landmine near the project site last May.

Meanwhile, the other 47 EGAT staff have moved to a safer zone in Myanmar
to board a plane EGAT
had arranged to transport them to Thailand.

The rebel Karen National Union (KNU) was alleged of firing weapons into
the Thai workers'camp. However, KNU secretary-general Pado Manza denied
the claim, saying Burma’s government and Karen DKBA forces were active in
the area.

Thai Energy Minister Piyasavasti Amaranand said the dam was a bilateral
effort. However, the safety of Thai officials was a priority. He has urged
authorities to expedite power plant development in Laos if the plan in
Burma was uncertain. (TNA)

____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

September 4, Independent Mon News Agency
Citizens of Burma have to pay taxes to travel - Mi Malay Chan

Burmese citizens despite holding identity cards (ID) cannot travel freely.
It is mandatory for people travelling to pay taxes, an euphemism for
extortion, for trips they make. Most people travelling by cars to the
border have to shell out money to the authorities.

Passengers have to pay tax to the authorities, which include the police,
soldiers, immigration officers from Kyainnseikyi, Karen State up to Mudon
in Mon State . Between Kyainnseikyi and Mudon there are six check gates
over a stretch of 32 miles.

Each passenger who comes from the Three Pagoda Pass has to pay 1500 Kyat
to the police at the Kyainnseikyi gate.

The cost of the car ride is cheaper than paying tax at the gates. The
travel cost is about 2500 Kyat from Kyainnseikyi to Mudon. A passenger has
to pay 1000 to 1500 Kyat at every gate. Not only passengers who do not
have identity cards but also those who have ID have to pay the money at
the gate.

The car divers tell passengers, "We will help you when the check gate
authorities check passengers and goods if you pay the money for the taxes
promptly.”

According to the drivers it takes more time at the check gate if
passengers hum and haw about paying and those monitoring it create problem
till passengers cough up the money.

At night the police become more aggressive at the Mudon gate for instance.
The police tell car divers, "The money is not enough only 10,000 Kyat. We
have to buy a bottle of alcohol".

During monsoons, passengers and merchants travel by boat along the Zami
River from Three Pagoda Pass , Chaung-zone village to Kyainnseikyi
Township . The current cost for boat travel is 30,000 Kyat. Along the Zami
River the passengers have to pay tax to check gates including those manned
by the Burmese Army, Karens and Mons.

____________________________________

September 4, Irrawaddy
Burma hybrid rice testing under fire - Violet Cho

Plans by the German biotech corporation Bayer to introduce a new hybrid
rice variety to Burma have run into stiff opposition from
environmentalists, who warn that the project could plunge farmers into
heavy debt.

Harald Printz, country head for the Bayer group in Thailand, confirmed in
an interview with The Irrawaddy that the German giant is testing the new
rice variety and said it could help Burma rival Thailand as a rice
producer.

Printz said the testing program was part of Bayer’s long term strategy to
secure a good position in the future agricultural market in Burma, which
he predicted had fairly high potential.

“At the moment we are seeing the future,” Printz said. “We basically want
to promote our products, in a professional manner, to the farmers,
[showing them] how to best use them, how to apply them in a professional
way. We believe that if the country, if the economic situation improves,
then automatically we will have better sales.

“I do not know when the country will open [up]. But we are basically
prepared to do this, if it takes 20 years, it takes 20 years. We are
really looking at the long term perspective on this. We believe if we do
this year after year, we will have a good position in the market, even if
it takes us twenty years.”

Prominent environmentalists and agricultural activists slammed the Bayer
plans and called on Burmese farmers to resist the introduction of the new
rice variety.

The internationally renowned Indian scientist, author and environmental
activist Vandana Shiva told The Irrawaddy Burma should learn from the
experience of her own country, where more than 150,000 farmers had
committed suicide after being pushed into debt by multinational companies.

“The multinationals have taken over the input sector [in India], whether
it is seeds or agrochemicals. When these companies push costly seeds and
chemicals, they do it through debt, and that debt can't be paid back by
small farmers. So the experience of India is a sign of what could happen
to Burma.”

Vandana Shiva accused Bayer of worsening the political crisis in Burma and
of turning “democracies into dictatorships.”

“These agrochemical and biotech companies are creating a dictatorship,”
she declared. “They are even turning democracies into dictatorship. They
should definitely not be in Burma—they should be nowhere. They should not
even be in democratic societies because they are turning free societies
like India into dictatorships where agrochemical companies and seed
companies decide everything rather than the farmers themselves.”

Vandana Shiva explained that the problem with hybrid seeds is that they
cannot be stored for any length of time, forcing farmers to buy them every
year at current prices and pushing them into debt. Hybrid seeds were also
more vulnerable to pests and disease and usually need greater irrigation,
adding further to costs.

Local biodiversity and traditional agricultural knowledge would also die
with the introduction of hybrid seeds, she claimed.

A representative of an international organization representing the
interests of small farmers called on Bayer to withdraw from Burma and
urged the Burmese people to resist the company’s presence there.

The call came from Achmad Yakub, deputy director of policy studies and
campaigns at the Federasi Serikat Petani Indonesia (Federation of
Indonesian Peasant Unions), which is the current secretariat of La Via
Campesina, the coordinating body for the international small farmers
movement.

“The first and most important agenda is to organize farmers and labour,”
he said. “When the government is repressive, the farmers and labor must
organize slowly at the grassroots. We can organize a small boycott or
something [like that]
it is dangerous to do something openly like a
demonstration. We must have a good strategy against Bayer.”

Yakub called for an alternative agricultural agenda, including organic
farming, food sovereignty and agrarian reforms.

Paul Sein Twa, director of the Karen Environment Social Action Network
(KESAN), said his organization was aware of the threat Burma faced from
corporate agriculture and was working to educate community leaders and
farmers about sustainable alternatives such as organic farming and seed
saving.

He said the Karen people currently had more than 100 traditional varieties
of rice, which were under threat from modern rice hybrids. “In all Asian
countries, including Burma, rice is our life. We cannot live without
rice,” he added.

Bayer is one of the few Western multinational corporations still working
in Burma. Many other   corporations, including Pepsi Cola and Reebok, have
withdrawn from the country because of public and political pressure.

Bayer currently runs an office in Rangoon with eight staff, including one
technical manager who develops contracts with the Ministry of Agriculture.
Bayer's testing of hybrid rice is contracted to the Ministry of
Agriculture.

In the Fortune 500 list of the world's biggest corporations, Bayer is
rated as the third biggest chemical corporation in the world, with annual
revenues of 39.89 billion US dollars.

____________________________________
HEALTH / AIDS

September 4, Irrawaddy
Su Su Nway runs out of heart medicine in hiding place - Aye Lae

Prominent Burmese peo-democracy activist Su Su Nway, who remains in hiding
from Burmese authorities, has run out of her prescribed medicine for heart
disease.

 “I am only surviving with medicine, and I've now run out,” said the
35-year-old activist who went into hiding seven days ago.

“I need to see the physician twice a week, but I can’t go out to see my
doctor,” Su Su Nway told The Irrawaddy by telephone from her hiding place.

Last Tuesday, plainclothes officers and pro-junta thugs violently dragged
Su Su Nway away from a demonstration in Hledan in Rangoon’s Kamaryut
Township. She was able to struggle free and narrowly escaped.

Photographs of Su Su Nway have been prominently displayed by media
throughout the world, showing her in the forefront of recent
demonstrations.

Her photograph and the photographs of other leading activists have been
widely distributed by Burmese authorities who have asked the public to
report the whereabouts of the activists.

“I am now sick, and I'm supposed to go to the hospital,” she said, adding
that she can stay in one place only for a short time to avoid arrest.

“Our leaders were arrested, so I have to lead even if I’m a woman,” she said.

Thirteen prominent leaders, including Min Ko Naing, of the 88 Generation
Students group were arrested on Aug 21 when they marched with about 400
people protesting fuel price increases.

In May, she was hospitalized for treatment of heart disease, hypertension
and arthritis after she was detained for three weeks in Kyaikkasan Stadium
in Rangoon, following her prayer campaign for the release of pro-democracy
icon Aung San Suu Kyi.

In 2006, Su Su Nway received the Humphrey Freedom Award from the
Canada-based Rights and Democracy group for her human rights work in
Burma.

____________________________________
REGIONAL

September 4, Mizzima News
'Stop using violence': Burmese activists in India to junta

Nearly a hundred Burmese pro-democracy activists in New Delhi today
condemned the Burmese military junta for resorting to violent means to
rein in peaceful protesters and urged India to raise its voice and mount
pressure on the junta to desist from high handedness.

The junta using violence arrested and detained at least 100 peaceful
protesters during the recent spate of demonstrations since August 19 in
Rangoon, which spread to other parts of Burma.

Dr. Tint Swe, cabinet member of Burma's government in exile (NCGUB)
speaking at the New Delhi rally said, "Protests are continuing everyday
inside Burma. We honour those brave people inside and want to urge the
others to join in. We also strongly urge Burma's closest neighbour India
to wake up and raise their voice."

The rally held near Jantar Mantar Park in New Delhi, is part of a series
of international action condemning the junta for its ruthless crackdown on
peaceful protesters.

A similar protest was also held in Korea today, with Burmese activists and
supporters demanding the immediate release of those arrested including
prominent 88 generation student leaders.

Meanwhile, on Sunday, the Mon Unity League, an umbrella organization of
seven ethnic Mon groups in exile, issued a statement condemning the junta
and calling for the immediate release of those arrested.

"We stand by the peaceful protesters in Burma. The junta should stop
beating and harassing women. Besides demonstrations other practical means
should also be used," Nai Sunthorn Sripanngern, chairman of the Mon Unity
League told Mizzima.

____________________________________

September 4, Mizzima News
Burmese activists in Korea urge junta to release student leaders

As is part of a global action by Burmese pro-democracy activists, 15
supporters in Seoul, South Korea today urged the Burmese military junta to
immediately release prominent student leader Min Ko Naing and others
arrested in the recent spate of protests in Rangoon and other parts of
Burma.

The Burmese junta has detained over 100 activists including 13 prominent
student leaders, during the recent protests in Burma over an unannounced
fuel price hike on August 15 and the consequent spiraling effect on prices
of essential commodities.

The demonstration held in front of the Burmese Embassy in Seoul also
demanded that the military junta resolve the ongoing social and political
crisis in Burma.

The demonstration in Korea is part of a global action called by Burmese
pro-democracy activists to urge the military junta to immediately release
those arrested and detained and to solve the current political stalemate
in Burma.

Joining the international action on Burma, nearly 100 Burmese activists in
India staged a protest in New Delhi demanding that pressure be mounted by
India on the Burmese military junta.

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

September 3, Financial Times
UN plans big rise in food aid to Burma - Amy Kazmin

The United Nations’ World Food Programme is seeking to increase
dramatically the provision of emergency food aid in military-ruled Burma,
especially to former poppy farmers impoverished by opium eradication
campaigns.

The WFP aims to provide food assistance to a total of 1.6m people over the
next two years in border areas, where the junta’s restrictions on the
movement of both rice and people – many of them ethnic minorities – are
creating hardships.

“There is no reason why Burma should require food aid based on an
examination of their natural resources,” said Anthony Banbury, the WFP’s
regional director for Asia. “But for now, they do – and we have a
responsibility to meet these pressing humanitarian needs.”

The WFP’s ambitious expansion plan – which will cost $52m (€38m, £26m)
over two years – comes amid growing tension between the military junta and
the aid community.

In June, the International Committee of the Red Cross lashed out at the
government’s “severe violations of humanitarian law” after the regime
effectively barred it from visiting prisons and eastern border areas,
where civilians are caught in the conflict between the army and rebellious
ethnic militias, such as the Karen National Union.

The eastern conflict zone remains off-limits to the WFP as well. But the
aid agency says it has secured permission to work in other remote,
politically sensitive ethnic minority areas, where many struggle to get
by.

“We have managed to get better access than other UN agencies to remote,
difficult, challenging places,” Mr Banbury said. “If we did not have the
access we believed was needed to ensure legitimate distribution of
resources, we would stop our work.”

The UN has recently blamed the regime’s “ill-informed and outdated
socio-economic policies” for fuelling poverty, with about 10 per cent of
Burma’s 52m people thought to be too poor to meet their basic food needs.

Restrictions and taxes on transporting rice means prices in mountainous
and impoverished border areas, inhabited mainly by ethnic minorities, are
up to 30 per cent higher than in the Burmese heartland – making the
essential commodity beyond reach of many families, the WFP says.

Recent poppy eradication campaigns have exacerbated poverty, as former
poppy farmers have received limited assistance in growing alternative
crops, and are also prevented from venturing out of their areas in search
of work, the WFP says.

The recent sharp rise in subsidised fuel prices – which triggered a series
of small but rare protests – is expected to put further upward pressure on
rice prices, particularly in border areas which obtain the rice from
distant parts of the country.

____________________________________

September 4, Irrawaddy
Gambari defends UN against “Inaction on Burma” charge

The UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative on Burma, Ibrahim
Gambari, said in a letter published by a leading American newspaper on
Tuesday that the Burmese regime's response to recent demonstrations was
"all the more disappointing, as it runs counter to the spirit of the good
offices mandate."

The letter to the Washington Post was in response to an editorial in which
the newspaper criticized UN inaction over Burma. "UN Secretary General Ban
Ki-moon's special envoy for Burma has been missing in action," it said.

Gambari responded: "I have been the only international actor to maintain
face-to-face dialogue with Myanmar's [Burma's] leaders about the need for
democracy and human rights.

“In that context, I have been able to advance the international
community's concerns directly with Myanmar's [Burma’s] senior leadership
and with Aung San Suu Kyi each time I have visited Myanmar [Burma]."

Gambari said the Washington Post had ignored the efforts made by UN
Secretary General Ban Ki-moon through his "good offices mandate" to
promote national reconciliation, the restoration of democracy and respect
for human rights in Burma.

"Since UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon appointed me three months ago to
continue this work on his behalf, no effort has been spared to rally
international support behind the mandate," Gambari wrote.

"As a result, for the first time, all key interested countries, including
China, India, Russia and Myanmar's [Burma’s] Association of Southeast
Asian Nations neighbors, are mobilized to encourage the country to make
progress."

As a part of a larger plan to consult key nations ahead of the
secretary-general’s announcement of a new approach on Burma—restoring
democracy, protecting human rights and negotiating with the military junta
on the release of pro-democracy leader Suu Kyi—Gambari also recently
visited Russia and several European capitals—including Paris, Brussels,
London and Geneva—and key Asian capitals: Beijing, New Delhi and Tokyo.

"Expectations are high that the Myanmar [Burma] government will continue
to cooperate," Gambari said. "Engagement is not an end in itself: Process
must translate into real progress. But let us not forget that until
recently, there was no opening for dialogue between Myanmar [Burma] and
the international community."

Gambari has visited Burma twice, in May and November 2006. Charles Petrie,
UN resident coordinator in Burma, told The Irrawaddy by phone on Tuesday
that Gambari intended to return but no date had been fixed.

____________________________________

September 4, Mizzima News
European Union Parliament to vote on Burma Resolution

European Union Parliament Ministers will vote, Thursday, on a resolution
aimed at strengthening a common European approach to facilitating aid and
fostering reconciliation inside Burma.

The resolution, in addition to encouraging work toward a binding Security
Council resolution concerning Burma, petitions European Union member
countries "to ensure humanitarian assistance reaches those most in need"
and to "increase funding for projects promoting human rights and democracy
in Burma."

"It's time the dithering ended. EU leaders must back Gordon Brown's call
for UN Security Council action and unite behind clear timetables and
benchmarks for genuine reform and the restoration of democracy and human
rights in Burma," commented European MP Glenys Kinnock, in a statement
released today.

The resolution reiterates British Prime Minister Brown's call for a
tripartite dialogue to address the crisis in Burma, as outlined by United
Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon.

European Union Foreign Ministers are scheduled to meet next week in Portugal.

____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

September 4, Irrawaddy
A very special kind of courage - Jim Andrews

It must take a very special kind of courage for people to give up all they
hold dear—family, livelihood, convivial evenings with friends—for a
democratic cause that they know in advance offers no short road to freedom
but only to the confines of a prison cell.

Kyaw Min Yu and his wife Nilar Thein have a comfortable home, where they
regularly entertain friends. Many, like them, are members of the 88
Generation Students group, and the talk usually centers on political
issues and the struggle for democracy and a better life for all in Burma.

The young couple have a common experience of the grim reality of
present-day Burma—Kyaw Min Yu spent 15 years in prison for his involvement
in the 1988 popular uprising, Nilar Thein was locked up for 10 years after
participating in demonstrations in 1996.
The young couple have something else of importance in common—a four-month
old daughter Phyu Nay Kyi Min Yu, and both regard their pro-democracy work
as an investment in her future. “We want her to grow up in a just,
democratic society, free from fear and conflict,” Nilar Thein has said.

Kyaw Min Yu often slipped out for a beer with friends and political
comrades at a Rangoon bar where members of the 88 Generation Students
group meet at shadowy corner tables and discuss their peaceful campaign to
bring democracy to Burma. The bar, one of Rangoon’s most popular haunts,
is an unlikely venue for their political debate. A live band shares the
nightly program with screenings of international football matches.

Kyaw Min Yu is known there as Jimmy, and that’s how he was introduced to
me. It was something of a private joke. “Hi, Jim,” I would say. “Hi,
Jimmy,” he’d reply.

In the night of August 21, the joking ended. Jimmy was arrested, along
with at least a dozen other opposition activists who had demonstrated that
day against the sharp increases in the price of fuel announced with no
warning by a capricious regime out of touch with its own people. In a
typical display of gratuitous callousness, the regime has kept their
whereabouts unknown, although it’s reported that they are being held in
several separate locations, including the notorious Insein prison.

So it appears that the detained activists don’t even have the company of
their comrades to keep their spirits up. That comradeship kept Jimmy going
during the 15 years he spent in prison.

He hadn’t been long out of prison when I first met him at his favorite
bar. He’d invited some other former student activists along, and they
reminisced about their prison experiences like a group of former
schoolmates at an annual reunion.

Memories were exchanged of successful attempts to circumvent prison
regulations and trick the jailers. one artist in the group had smuggled
out his works painted on tee shirts with paint mixed from crushed bricks
and grime. Other former prisoners recounted how they had developed a
communications code, tapped out on the pipes that ran through their cells.

Tales of prison brutality also laced the conversation at our rebel table,
but not a hint of bitterness surfaced as the activists talked of a
democratic future where even the rights of the members of the current
ruling elite were to be protected. “Reconciliation” was the key word.

“We’ve seen enough of brute force, violence, hatred and senseless
retribution,” said one former prisoner. “We are working for a future of
peaceful cooperation among all sectors of our society.”

Jimmy’s own immediate future is now determined by the confines of prison
walls. His wife is in hiding, hunted by the agents of a vengeful regime.
Their little daughter is in the care of his mother-in-law.

Others of that happy, unaccountably optimistic group with whom I had spent
such pleasant evenings in a Rangoon bar are also now in prison or in
hiding. They had all staged peaceful demonstrations knowing full well what
awaited them and fully conscious of the sacrifices they were making.
“Somebody has to speak out,” Jimmy said in one of the bar-table debates.

The courage of Jimmy, his wife and their friends in the face of official
obduracy and oppression is exemplary. If only it were recognized or even
emulated by Burma’s cowardly military rulers.

____________________________________

September 4, Gulf Times
Myanmar junta's environmental practices come under fire - Dr Cesar Chelala

Although the human rights abuses carried out by Myanmar's military are
widely known, the harm done to the country's environment is frequently
neglected. Since assuming direct power in 1988, the military junta has
been conducting an unrelenting assault on Myanmar's flora and fauna.

Myanmar (Burma) has been called the last frontier of biodiversity in Asia.
But many species are now endangered as a result of pipeline and dam
projects, and of mining and logging policies carried out by the country's
military.

And the junta's environmental practices have significantly harmed the
health and quality of life of the Burmese people, particularly women and
children.

The regime's own survival rests on the exploitation of the country's
natural resources.
The generals have allowed massive logging –- particularly of teak- and the
construction of gas pipelines and other development projects that have
provoked serious damage to the environment.

Highly-prized teak forests that have provided livelihoods for many ethnic
minorities are being destroyed by Thai loggers at a very fast rate,
causing erosion, floods and landslides, and threatening the survival of
endangered animal species.

Extensive fishing represents a depletion of an important resource for
quick commercial benefit.

Uncontrolled fishing by Thai companies to whom the junta gave fishery
concessions has led to the impoverishment of the people from whole
villages that depend on this activity as their only sustenance.

The families' worsening economic situation affects the children's already
poor health and nutrition rates, among the lowest in Asia.

The under-5 mortality rate, which is the probability of dying between
birth and five years of age is 109, compared to 28 in neighbouring
Thailand. The percentage of children with low birth weight is 15, compared
to 9 in Thailand. Over onemn children are malnourished, 9-12% of them
severely so.

Natural gas and minerals exploitation and large dam projects continue to
be implemented with little concern for their environmental effects or the
effects on the populations living in the areas being exploited.

The most significant cause of environmental destruction is presently the
Yadana natural gas pipeline which goes into Thailand. In Myanmar, the
pipeline cuts through rich ecosystems, disrupting the natural habitat of
rare animals. In Thailand, the pipeline goes through an important
rainforest, threatening the survival of endangered wild Asian elephants.

The negative effects of mining go beyond a particular mining site, since
pollutants generated in the process can be spread through the waterways
hundreds of miles from the source of contamination.

It is well known that copper mining produces a high amount of poisonous
pollutants. This situation is worsened by Myanmar's poor mining
regulations and almost no enforcement of the existing ones.

Large dam projects can also have serious consequences on the environment.
On several fronts, the country's ecological crisis is worsening, poverty
is growing, and a group of people called "environmental refugees" are
forced to leave their homes.

What can be done to alleviate the serious attacks on the environment by
the Burmese military?

A critical step is to involve all sectors of society, particularly ethnic
minority groups, into a broad discussion of environmental issues as a
preliminary step to developing safeguards for environmental protection.

International assistance should be provided to indigenous grass roots
organisations, which have been working intensely for the protection of the
environment.

At the same time, an agreement should be sought between the government and
environmentally conscious organisations on a set of priority actions to be
implemented together, such as detailed environmental assessments that take
into consideration the views of the affected communities.

The key to Myanmar's environmental problems, however, rests on the
military junta. Unless it establishes that protection of the environment
is one of its main concerns, the prospects for the country will continue
to be gloomy.

* Dr Cesar Chelala, a co-winner of an Overseas Press Club of America
award, is the author of Impact of the environment on children's health, a
publication of the Pan American Health Organisation.

www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=170471&version=1&template_id=46&parent_id=26s

_______________________________________

September 4, Washington Post
Building Bridges to the Myanmar Government - Ibrahim Gambari


The Aug. 30 editorial "Courage in Burma" ignored the efforts deployed by
the U.N. secretary general through his "good offices mandate" to promote
national reconciliation, the restoration of democracy and respect for
human rights in Myanmar.

Far from being "missing in action" as the secretary general's special
envoy, I have been the only international actor to maintain face-to-face
dialogue with Myanmar's leaders about the need for democracy and human
rights. In that context, I have been able to advance the international
community's concerns directly with Myanmar's senior leadership and with
Aung San Suu Kyi each time I have visited Myanmar.

Since U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon appointed me three months ago to
continue this work on his behalf, no effort has been spared to rally
international support behind the mandate. As a result, for the first time,
all key interested countries, including China, India, Russia and Myanmar's
Association of Southeast Asian Nations neighbors, are mobilized to
encourage the country to make progress.

The government's response to recent demonstrations is all the more
disappointing, as it runs counter to the spirit of the good offices
mandate. The secretary general immediately expressed his concern, calling
for dialogue instead of confrontation. We cannot, however, let such
incidents weaken our determination to work with and for the people of
Myanmar. Equipped with broad international support, it is time for us to
reengage with all the relevant parties in Myanmar to build on the recent
openness and potential for progress in a number of areas. Engagement is
not an end in itself: Process must translate into real progress. But let
us not forget that until recently, there was no opening for dialogue
between Myanmar and the international community.

Expectations are high that the Myanmar government will continue to
cooperate. In this regard, it is essential that the authorities refrain
from actions that undermine the process of national reconciliation through
an all-inclusive dialogue.

The writer is the U.N. secretary general's special envoy for Myanmar.