BurmaNet News, September 15-17, 2007

[Editor]

September 15-17, 2007 Issue # 3293

INSIDE BURMA
Irrawaddy: More than 600 monks march in peaceful demonstrations in Burma
DVB: Henzada monks hospitalised after food poisoning
Irrawaddy: Burmese activists in hiding appeal to China, Asean
Irrawaddy: Monks ready to demonstrate Tuesday; regime ready to crackdown
KNG: Student monks disappear mysteriously from four monasteries in Myitkyina
Irrawaddy: Burmese turn to foreign radios for latest news
DVB: Military steps up restrictions on Muslims
KNG: Army recruitment of Kachin schoolboys makes many flee

BUSINESS / TRADE
Mizzima News: Depositors in panic run to banks for withdrawals
AFP: Myanmar to auction gems, jewellery in November

DRUGS
NY Times: No blowing smoke: Poppies fade in Southeast Asia

ASEAN
Asia Pulse: China, ASEAN plan to open transportation routes

OPINION / OTHER
Irrawaddy: Monks’ boycott looms as regime withholds apology - Aung Zaw
Mizzima News: Civilian journalists and media in the 2007 Burma uprising -
Christopher Smith
The Nation: India's policy on Burma a shame
Progress Magazine: In our court - Burma's democracy activists urgently
need our support - Glenys Kinnock MEP

____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

September 17, Irrawaddy
More than 600 monks march in peaceful demonstrations in Burma - Shah Paung

More than 600 monks in the central and upper areas of Burma have taken
part in peaceful demonstrations in preparation for refusing alms from the
families of military personnel on Tuesday, September 18.

A senior monk at Ledi Monastery in Chauk Township in Magwe Division told
The Irrawaddy on Monday that about 300 monks had demonstrated peacefully
in Chauk from 5:30 a.m. to around 7 a.m. that morning. The monks had
marched around the city market and on to Sasana Beikman, the city’s
religious hall. The monks recited “paritta sutta” (a prayer for protection
from evil or harm) during the demonstration.

However, the monks in Chauk have not enforced “patam nikkujjana kamma”
(refusing alms) from the military regime and its supporters as they have
not yet received an official letter from the “The Alliance of All Burmese
Buddhist Monks”, a senior monk said.

Meanwhile, a resident of Tharrawaddy in Pegu Division said that monks at
Kyaikto Monastery in Tharrawaddy had begun refusing alms from military
families since they had received a letter of authorization from “The
Alliance of All Burmese Buddhist Monks”.

Rangoon residents have said that the city has been quiet, while citizens
of Pegu, about 80 km north of Rangoon, claimed that security has been
beefed up in the town ahead of a large demonstration expected on Tuesday.

In Sagaing Division, two army trucks carrying around 300 armed soldiers
had set up a roadblock at Thayet Bin Seik, a junction for all the
monasteries in Sagaing, according to an anonymous activist who spoke to
The Irrawaddy on Monday. Owners of passenger buses are apparently worried
that either the military or the monks might commandeer their buses if
tensions rise.

September 17 was the deadline for the Burmese military government to issue
an apology to the monkhood after the authorities had violently cracked
down on monks in Pakokku, Magwe Division during a peaceful demonstration
on September 5, according to a recent statement by the “The Alliance of
All Burmese Buddhist Monks”. In its first statement the organization urged
monks to refuse alms from military families and military supporters if the
apology was not forthcoming. A second statement released on Saturday
called for monks to begin refusing alms on Monday and called for
demonstrations on Tuesday.

A senior monk at Bawdi Mandine Monastery told The Irrawaddy on Monday
afternoon that the Burmese military government had yet to issue an apology
to the monasteries in Pakokku. Several young monks and novices from Maha
Visutarama Monastery, also known as “Ah Le Tiak”, had returned to their
homes, their families worried that they would get caught up in the
demonstrations.

“If about 40 and 50 young monks go home that will not affect the
demonstration at Ah Le Tiak as there are more than 700 young monks and
novices there,” the senior monk said, adding that his own monastery housed
only 100 novices and young monks, but that they had not been allowed to go
home as they would miss their lessons.

According to a senior monk at Kay Mar Thi Wun Monastery in Kyaukpadaung, a
town in Mandalay Division, a peaceful demonstration was also held by more
than 300 monks in Kyaukpadaung on Monday morning at 6 a.m. The group of
monks had marched to Zaydi Gyi Pagoda and had been reciting “metta sutta”
(the Buddha’s words on kindness), dedicated to those who are suffering and
who face daily challenges making a living. Further details regarding the
conclusion of the demonstrations or any military crackdowns have not yet
been verified as the phone line was cut during the interview between The
Irrawaddy and the senior monk.

By Monday evening, there had not been any reports of a crackdown on
demonstrations by the military government.

The state-run newspaper on Monday reported that families of the Burmese
military government defense services had donated rice, cooking oil, salt,
medicine and cash to 15 monasteries and a nunnery in Sanchaung Township,
Rangoon on Sunday. Other similar donation ceremonies were also held in
Rangoon’s Thakayta and Dawbon Townships, the newspaper said.

____________________________________

September 17, Democratic Voice of Burma
Henzada monks hospitalised after food poisoning

More than 20 monks from the Irrawaddy township of Henzada were
hospitalised on Saturday after contracting serious bouts of food
poisoning, residents told DVB.

One Henzada local said that more than 100 monks from five monasteries in
the area fell ill at about 6:30am on Saturday morning after eating a
breakfast of fish offered by a wealthy devotee from the area.

“The monks were all sick after eating the fish that was offered to them
for their meal. A lot of towns people went to the monasteries to look
after them. They became really weak and some of them had to be
hopsitalised,” the resident said on condition of anonymity.

While rumours that the monks had been deliberately poisoned spread through
the township on the weekend, a monk from the affected Moe Kaung monastery
said that food poisoning was the most likely suspect.

“All of the monks who were sent to hospital have now been sent back to
their monasteries after receiving treatment,” the monk said.

____________________________________

September 17, Irrawaddy
Burmese activists in hiding appeal to China, Asean - Saw Yan Naing

The 88-Generation Students group has sent a letter to the leaders of the
Chinese government and Asean calling for their help in achieving
reconciliation and democratic reforms in Burma.

“We want the Chinese government to review its policy on Burma, to stop
financial and military support to the SPDC [State Peace and Development
Council] and to join together with the United Nations, the United States,
Asean, the EU and other countries to help achieve national reconciliation
and democratization in our country,” said 88 student leaders in a letter
received by The Irrawaddy on Monday.

The letter was signed by three 88-Generation leaders who are hiding— Tun
Myint Aung, Nilar Thein and Soe Htun—and addressed to the leaders of the
Government of the People’s Republic of China, including President Hu
Jintao, and officials of Asean, including Secretary-General ong Keng Yong
of the Asean Secretariat.

Burma's Foreign Minister, Nyan Win, visited Beijing last Thursday. China
has urged Burma to move on with a “democracy process that is appropriate
for the country,” cautiously adding its weight to international pressure
on Burma to defuse recent public unrest, Reuters new service reported.

The letter, however, criticized China for using its veto power to reject
the non-binding resolution on Burma sponsored by the United States and
United Kingdom in January 2007 before the UN Security Council.

Regarding Asean, the letter said, “We want the Asean governments to review
their policy on Burma, [and to] stop financial support to and economic
cooperation with the SPDC,” and urged Asean to assist in achieving
national reconciliation and democratization in Burma.

The letter also criticized Asean for not working hard enough to pressure
Burma's junta.

Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda said recently at Sydney’s APEC
Summit that Asean recognized that its "constructive engagement" policy has
not produced any tangible result.

The group said, “collective and effective action" by the international
community is necessary to persuade the junta to stop using violence and
accept that political dialogue is the only solution. It urged Burma’s
military government to enter into a political dialogue with the winning
party in the 1990 election, the National League for Democracy, and ethnic
political parties to solve problems peacefully.

The group earlier sent a similar letter to UN Secretary-General Ban
Ki-moon, urging him to revive the issue of Burma at the UN Security
Council with the intention of adopting a resolution on Burma and to send
Special Envoy Ibrahim Gambari to the country to hold talks with the junta.

Since August 19, when the protests against high fuel prices began, the
Burmese regime has detained nearly 200 pro-democracy activists including
members of the National League for Democracy and several prominent
88-Generation leaders, including Min Ko Naing, Ko Ko Gyi, Pyone Cho, Min
Zeya, Kyaw Min Yu and Mya Aye.

The regime is hunting down other prominent activists and 88 Generation
leaders including Htay Kywe, Nilar Thein, Soe Htun, Tun Myint Aung and Su
Su Nway, who are all currently in hiding.

____________________________________

September 16, Irrawaddy
Monks ready to demonstrate Tuesday; regime ready to crackdown - Shah Paung

Burmese monks released a second statement on Saturday saying monks should
not accept alms from members of the military government and their
supporters, starting on Monday, and called for a demonstration of monks
nationwide on Tuesday.

The announcement came in a second leaflet released by a group calling
itself "The Alliance of All Burmese Monks." The first leaflet, released
last week, demanded an apology from the junta by Monday for using violence
against monks in peaceful demonstrations.

The first announcement warned authorities that monks would enact a "patam
nikkuijana kamma," or refusal to accept alms, if an apology was not made.

The second statement calls for a peaceful march on Tuesday at 1 p.m. in
Mandalay, Rangoon and other towns.

Monks in Mandalay were urged to march from their monasteries to Maha Myat
Muni Pagoda. Monks in Rangoon were told to march from their monasteries to
Shwedagone Pagoda.

Monks in other townships and villages were advised to march from their
monasteries to well-known nearby pagodas.

The statement also called for an alms boycott of all members of the Union
of Solidarity and Development Associaiton, Swan Arr Shin, a paramilitary
group, and all government workers.

A monk at Masoeyein Monastery in Mandalay said on Sunday: "We are
preparing for this [protest]. If all monks agree, we will carry on. The
main thing is we have to be united."

A monk at Bawdi Mandine Monastery in Pakokku told The Irrawaddy on Sunday
monks in the monastery will likely join the demonstration.

It escalates the stand-off between the highly respected Sangha, or
organization of monks, and the military junta, following rising tension
between the two sides.

Meanwhile, the Burmese military government has increased security in many
restive towns across the country.

Observers say the stage is set for a violent confrontation between the
public, gangs of thugs who support the junta and military troops.

An activist in Mandalay who asked to be anonymous told The Irrawaddy on
Sunday that authorities have provided about 20 machetes to each Damayone
(a gathering place for Buddhist religious purposes) that is believed to be
loyal to authorities.

He said he had heard that officials told paramilitary groups that support
the junta to crackdown on anyone involved in a demonstration, whether
monks or ordinary citizens, by using the machetes.

He said that it appears to be a standing order, and the junta-friendly
groups, made up of thugs, can exercise their discretion on how to put down
protestors.

Residents in Pegu about 80 km north of Rangoon also say authorities there,
including the USDA and the SAS, have been positioned at locations across
the town, particularly near monasteries.

Scattered groups of thugs are said to number about 50 members each,
carrying bamboo sticks and slingshots. Sources at Pegu said some members
have shaved their heads and may have Buddhist robes to wear, an apparent
move to infiltrate groups of monks.

Residents in Rangoon said on Saturday morning about 100,000 members of the
USDA and SAS had gathered at Thuwunna Stadium in Rangoon to be briefed by
authorities.

Meanwhile, local sources say Burmese security officers continue to keep a
close watch on key members of the National League for Democracy in several
towns of Irrawaddy Division. Some NLD members are not allowed to leave
their homes.

____________________________________

September 17, Kachin News Group
Student monks disappear mysteriously from four monasteries in Myitkyina

Several hundred student monks called Koyins, mysteriously disappeared
early this morning from the four main Buddha monasteries in Myitkyina
Town, capital of Kachin State in Northern Burma, said local devotees.

There are over 200 monks in each monastery—the Myo-Oo and Andawshin
Monasteries in Yangyi Aung Quarter and Suu Taung Pyi Monastery in Nan
Thindar Quarter. Nobody saw them today, said local Buddha devotees and
eyewitnesses.

The immediate reason for their disappearance is not known.  No one is
aware where the Koyins have gone. Today is the deadline set by Burma's
Buddhist monks for the Burmese military junta to apologize to them for
beating up hundreds of monks a couple of weeks ago when they were
peacefully protesting in Pakokko in Magway Division.

If the junta refuses to apologize, the monks have threatened to boycott
military leaders and their families as early as on Tuesday in the major
cities of the country like Rangoon.

In Myitkyina downtown, the security forces have been alerted and there are
four or five security agents including traffic policemen, policemen and
soldiers stationed on major road junctions. Several military trucks and
military officials' cars are patrolling downtown today, said eyewitnesses.

Meanwhile the Myitkyina University students' poster movement with its five
point charter of demands continues in the township and the authorities had
to tear off some posters on Myitkyina-Sumpra Bum Road, yesterday.

Last week, the junta's Northern Command Commander Maj-Gen Ohn Myint urged
leaders of Wuntu Monastery in Shanzu South Quarter in Myitkyina to stop
sending monks to lower Burma- Sagaing and Rangoon cities on religious
issues.

However, the monastery has replied that it is not possible to do what the
junta wants

____________________________________

September 17, Irrawaddy
Burmese turn to foreign radios for latest news - Violet Cho

The people of Burma are turning ever more to outside broadcasts and the
media in exile to learn the latest news about the continuing protests
against recent price hikes.

With state media strictly censored and most Internet news sites blocked,
people in increasing numbers are tuning in to the shortwave broadcasts of
such international radio stations as the BBC, the Voice of America and
Radio Free Asia.

Although the regime blocks most Internet news sites and keeps users under
surveillance, those with the know-how are still able to access online
services provided by The Irrawaddy, Mizzima and NewEra.

According to an Open Net Initiative survey, 85 percent of email service
provider sites are subject to a high level of filtering in Burma. Of sites
with content judged to be sensitive to the Burmese state, 84 percent are
blocked. They include nearly all political opposition and pro-democracy
sites.

More than 50 phone services, mostly mobile phones used by members of the
opposition National League for Democracy and other activists, were cut off
last week in another regime move to prevent the spread of free and
accurate information.

Media censorship by the Burmese military regime severely restricts access
to unbiased information. State-monopoly radio and television closely
control all broadcast media, and the junta's Press Scrutiny Board orders
articles even slightly critical of the regime to be inked over or torn
from offending issues.

In its own coverage of the continuing demonstrations, the regime media
invariably blame protesters, activists and NLD members for the violence
that results when the authorities and pro-regime thugs crack down on the
protests.

One Rangoon woman spoke for many when she told The Irrawaddy: “We rely on
Burmese media in exile a lot now; they are the main source of news about
what is currently happening in our community and areas around us.”

Another Rangoon resident said he and others he knew had stopped reading
the local press for news of current affairs.

____________________________________

September 17, Democratic Voice of Burma
Military steps up restrictions on Muslims

The Burmese military has reportedly stepped up its restrictions on
Muslims, with several Rangoon and Mandalay residents claiming they have
been banned from praying in large groups.

Muslims in both cities also said that their local mosques had been banned
from airing the daily call to prayer on loudspeakers during the holy
Muslim month of Ramadan as part of the military's latest moves to
intensify security across the country.

“Mosques in some wards are not allowed to use loudspeakers and since the
start of Ramadan the authorities have also been asking us to apply for
permission to worship in private houses,” one Muslim from Rangoon told DVB
on condition of anonymity.

“The permits are only valid for one month and we have heard it will be
hard to get them renewed,” he said.

A Muslim woman from Mandalay said that the ban on the broadcast of the
call to prayer was making it difficult for many Muslims to make it to
their local mosque on time.

“Without the loud speakers it is very difficult for people to coordinate
their religious activities,” the woman said.

The activities of Muslims are already heavily restricted in Burma with
many prevented from holding identification cards and some barred from
marrying.

____________________________________

September 17, Kachin News Group
Army recruitment of Kachin schoolboys makes many flee

No matter what the Burmese military junta tells the world, it has gone
back to recruiting child soldiers. In the process of the mass recruitment
into the Burma Army, since early this month in Kachin State, middle and
high school students are being forcibly inducted.  Such is the fear
generated by this that many youth have fled and are in hiding in paddy
fields and forests.  Machyangbaw village now has only children, women and
elders left. The army has threatened to recruit girls now.

Headmasters of four state high schools and a state middle school in Putao
district are under tremendous pressure to facilitate recruitment of their
schoolboys, residents said.

The Putao, Kawng Kahtawng village based No. 46 Infantry Battalion has
demanded that 200 students from Putao State High School be sent over to
join the army. The Munglang Shidee village based No. 138 Infantry
Battalion has asked for 100 students from Dukdang State High School and 30
students from a joint Dukdang State High School in Lungsha Yang Village.
The Machyangbaw Town based No. 137 Infantry Battalion wants 30 students
form Machyangbaw State High School, locals said.

On September 3, three high schoolboys from Myachyangbaw State High School-
Kumna Brang Awng (18), Shanghkyen Tu Nan (20) and Ahdi Yawshu (22), were
detained on the road between Machyangbaw Town and Alang Ga Village and
sent for military training in Naypyitaw, the new capital of Burma in a
special military aircraft, villagers in Alang Ga said

Such is the apprehension generated by the forced recruitment that a joint
Machyangbaw State High School in Nam Kham Village has closed down since
early this month. The students are not attending school but are running
away from their homes, according to sources in the school.

"Now, all schoolboys and girls including young men and young married men
are hiding in paddy fields and forests.  Only children, women and elderly
men are left in the villages.  Parents have to deliver food to the youth
in hiding.  Some students have been infected with malaria in the forests
and had to be sent to the government hospital in Machyangbaw Town", a
resident in Machyangbaw told KNG today.

About 200 men belonging to Rawang tribes in Kachin have been recruited by
a local Rawang armed group- the Rebellion Resistance Force (RRF) a militia
group backed by Burma's ruling junta. It is led by a businessman Tanggu
Dang (Ahdang). The RRF has been sent the recruits to Naypyitaw for
military training. Two secret trips were made by a military aircraft from
Putao early this month, said eyewitnesses.

The RRF was formed in early 2006 in Hkawnglang Hpu areas, 70 miles east of
Putao town and the organization receives both financial aid and weapons
from the ruling junta, the locals added.

On the other hand, fresh military recruitment of locals by detaining them
on roads at night after 8 p.m. is still underway and the administrators
(Ya-Ya-Ka) of villages in Putao district have been ordered by local
military bases to get hold of the required number of people for the Burma
Army, said residents.

There is hardly anymore school boys left in the government high schools in
Putao district for recruitment and the schools may be forced to close
down, added locals.

The army started the biggest recruitment drive ever in Kachin State since
July 18 after the final session of the National Convention began in Nyaung
Napyin in Rangoon.

____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

September 16, Mizzima News
Depositors in panic run to banks for withdrawals

There was an uncontrolled rush among depositors in Mandalay , who panicked
to withdraw their savings last week amidst anxiety about political
instability in Burma.

The Yoma and Kanbawza suffered the most but the former had to contend with
the maximum withdrawals on Friday, residents said.

"Private owned banks give no guarantee to account holders but state-owned
banks have said clients can rest assured," a resident told Mizzima.

She said depositors ran to private banks to hurriedly withdraw their
savings and bought gold instead.

The price of gold price rose to 503,000 per tical from 490,000 a month
ago, when protests against the fuel-price increase began.

Residents are concerned that the demonstrations would spread to Mandalay,
one of the biggest towns where Buddhist monks in Burma gather. It is home
to half the country's over 400,000 monks.

In mid August, the junta doubled the price of petrol and diesel and
increased the rates of compressed natural gas by 500 percent which
triggered demonstrations. The Burmese military junta cracked down on the
protesters and imprisoned many. The tension escalated after the
authorities in Pakkouku, a town in a neighbouring division of Mandalay
beat up Buddhist clergy who were protesting. .

The news black-out in Burma has led to speculation and panic withdrawals
by depositors from private banks including Yoma and Kanbawza in a
situation similar to 2003 when there was a national banking crisis.

____________________________________

September 16, Agence France Presse
Myanmar to auction gems, jewellery in November

Myanmar will auction off more precious gems and jewellery in November in
the fifth such sale this year aimed at bringing foreign currency into the
isolated nation, state media reported Sunday.

"National entrepreneurs are to contact Myanmar Gems Emporium Central
Committee and have their gems and jewellery scrutinised," the
government-run New Light of Myanmar newspaper said. It gave no exact dates
for the sale.

Military-ruled Myanmar is one of the world's poorest nations and is
subject to US and European economic sanctions because of human rights
abuses and the house arrest of democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

A hike in fuel prices on August 15 left many people unable to afford even
the trip to work, sparking rare demonstrations across the country.

A wealth of oil, gas and other natural resources, however, has lined the
junta's coffers, with India, China and Thailand jostling to exploit their
neighbour's natural wealth to fuel their growing economies.

Previous gem and jade auctions, which attract buyers from all over the
world, are believed to have earned the junta more than 100 million
dollars.

Myanmar is the source of up to 90 percent of the world's rubies and has
rich jade deposits that are highly prized in neighbouring China.

The junta has been holding gem auctions with increasing frequency. Four
were held in 2006.

Some exiled pro-democracy groups have urged people to boycott the
auctions, accusing the ruling military junta of using forced labour to
mine gems.

____________________________________
DRUGS

September 16, The New York Times
No blowing smoke: Poppies fade in Southeast Asia - Thomas Fuller

The enduring image of Southeast Asia's Golden Triangle is of brightly
colored poppy fields, opium-smoking hill tribes and heroin labs hidden in
the jungle.

But the reality is that after years of producing the lion's share of the
world's opium, the Golden Triangle is now only a bit player in the global
heroin trade.

''The mystique may remain, and the geography will be celebrated in the
future by novelists,'' said Antonio Maria Costa, executive director of the
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. ''But from our vantage point, we
see a region that is rapidly moving toward an opium-free status.''

The decline of the Golden Triangle is a major, if little noticed,
milestone in the war on drugs. The question now is whether that success
can be sustained.

Three decades ago, the northernmost reaches of Laos, Thailand and Myanmar
produced more than 70 percent of all the opium sold worldwide, most of
which was refined into heroin. Today the area produces about 5 percent of
the world total, says Mr. Costa's agency.

What happened?

Economic pressure from China, crackdowns on opium farmers, and a switch by
criminal syndicates to methamphetamine production, appear to have had the
biggest impact. At the same time, some insurgent groups that once were
financed with drug money now say they are urging farmers to eradicate
their poppy fields.

As a result, the Golden Triangle has been eclipsed by the Golden Crescent
-- the poppy-growing area in and around Afghanistan that is now the source
of an estimated 92 percent of the world's opium, according to the United
Nations.

Much of the growth in opium production there is in areas controlled by the
Taliban, which United States officials say uses revenue from opium and
heroin to finance itself. This shift to Afghanistan has had major
consequences for the global heroin market: a near doubling of opium
production worldwide in less than two decades. Poppies grown in the
fertile valleys of southern Afghanistan yield on average four times more
opium than those grown in upland Southeast Asia.

A striking aspect of the decline of the Golden Triangle is the role China
has played in pressing opium-growing regions to eradicate poppy crops. A
major market for Golden Triangle heroin, China has seen a spike in addicts
and H.I.V. infections from contaminated needles.

The area of Myanmar along the Chinese border, which once produced about 30
percent of the country's opium, was declared opium-free last year by the
United Nations. Local authorities, who are from the Wa tribe and are
autonomous from Myanmar's central government, have banned poppy
cultivation and welcomed Chinese investment in rubber, sugar cane and tea
plantations, casinos and other businesses.

''China has had an underestimated role,'' said Martin Jelsma, a Dutch
researcher who has written extensively on the illicit drug trade in Asia.

''Their main leverage is economic: These border areas of Burma are by now
economically much more connected to China than the rest of Burma,'' he
said, using the former name for Myanmar. ''For local authorities it's
quite clear that, for any investments they want to attract, cooperation
with China is a necessity.''

Myanmar remains the world's second-leading source of opium but is a
distant second; its production declined by 80 percent over the last
decade.

Insurgents have long used opium to help finance civil wars in the Golden
Triangle. But some are now working to destroy the crop. At least one
faction of the Shan State Army, a group that long had ties to the heroin
business, says it is leading eradication efforts.

Kon Jern, a military commander for the group, which is based along
Myanmar's border with northern Thailand, says he is cracking down because
government militias and corrupt officials profit from opium. ''They sell
the drugs, they buy weapons, and they use those weapons to attack us,'' he
said.

The United Nations credits Myanmar's central government with leading the
eradication effort in Shan areas. In Laos, where the political situation
is more stable, the government began a crackdown in the 1990s to increase
its international credibility and because officials realized their own
children were at risk, said Leik Boonwaat, the representative in Laos for
the U.N.'s Office on Drugs and Crime. Laos finally outlawed opium in 1996.

The government, Mr. Boonwaat said, also saw that opium did little to help
poor farmers who grew poppies. ''It's mostly the organized crime
syndicates that made most of the profits,'' he said.

The amount of land cultivated in Laos for opium has fallen 94 percent
since 1998. The country now produces so little opium that it may now be a
net importer of the drug, the United Nations says.

Yet experts warn that the reductions may not hold unless farmers develop
other ways to make a living.

Pierre-Arnaud Chouvy, an opium specialist at the National Center for
Scientific Research in Paris, says it took Thailand 30 years to wean opium
farmers from poppy production, a transition led by the Thai royal family,
which encouraged opium-growing hill tribes to use their cooler climate to
produce coffee, macadamia nuts and green vegetables.

But, he said, ''In Laos and Burma, we've had a very quick decrease.'' He
asked, ''Is it going to last?''

Four years ago farmers in Banna Sala, an isolated Laotian hamlet of
several hundred ethnic Hmong, grew opium poppies with impunity. No longer.
And some farmers are angry.

''They stopped me from growing opium, so I don't have money to send my
children to school,'' said one villager, Jeryeh Singya, 34, who has seven
children. She once bartered the opium she grew for soap, salt and
clothing. ''If they let me grow it I would,'' she said.

Mr. Kon, the rebel commander in Myanmar, says farmers are finding it
difficult to switch crops. ''If they change and grow other kinds of plants
nobody comes to buy their products -- the transportation is not good,'' he
said.

Experts say that to stay free of opium, isolated villages that depended on
it will need assistance and investment for better roads, schools and
clinics.

But Myanmar, which is run by a military junta, poses a dilemma for Western
countries. The United States has an embargo on trade with Myanmar. The
European Union has suspended trade privileges and defense cooperation,
limiting its aid to humanitarian assistance.

''This policy of boycott and isolation has, of course, meant that only
very little development aid and humanitarian assistance is flowing into
the country,'' said Mr. Jelsma, the Dutch expert on drugs. ''That makes
the chances of the sustainability of this decline very questionable.''

____________________________________
ASEAN

September 7, Asia Pulse
China, ASEAN plan to open transportation routes

China will reinforce transportation cooperation with the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) by opening "four north-south and two
east-west" trunk transport routes.

The Ministry of Communications recently delivered a cooperation layout to
transportation experts from China and ASEAN.

According to the layout, one of "four north-south" routes will run from
China's Yunnan Province to the Indian Ocean via Burma. It will include
highways, inland waterways, and railways.

One route will go from Kunming, capital of Yunnan Province, to Bangkok and
then Singapore. It will link up with the Trans-Asian Railway from
Singapore to Kunming, the Kunming-Bangkok highway and the Lancang-Mekong
River navigation course.

Another route from China to Vietnam consists of ports in southeast China
and northern Vietnam, the China-Vietnam Red River course and inland
waterway ports, as well as highways and railways from Kunming, Nanning to
Hanoi.

The last one will be a sea route linking China with eight ASEAN countries,
leading to the Gulf of Tonkin, the Gulf of Thailand and the Bay of Bengal.

One of the "Two east-west" transport routes will sail across the Strait of
Malacca between the Malay Peninsula and Sumatra, and the other runs from
China to Burma, Bangladesh and India.

____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

September 17, Irrawaddy
Monks’ boycott looms as regime withholds apology - Aung Zaw

Buddhist monks in Burma have stepped up their protests against the
military authorities and warned of their intention to hold “patam
nikkujjana kamma”—meaning a refusal to accept alms from members of the
military regime and their families or to attend religious ceremonies held
by them.

Monks in central Burma were reported on Monday to have organized a
peaceful march as part of the “patam nikkujjana kamma” boycott campaign.
It remains to be seen how monks and the Sangha community in Rangoon, Pegu
and Mandalay will react to this campaign.

Eight offences are listed as reasons for holding “patam nikkujjana kamma.”
These include vilifying or making insidious comparisons between monks,
inciting dissension among monks, defaming Buddha and Dhamma and the
Sangha.

In 1990, the Burmese Sangha community decided to boycott the regime led by
then chairman Snr-Gen Saw Maung. The monks and abbots in Mandalay decided
to hold “patam nikkujjana kamma” after regime forces killed, arrested and
disrobed several monks in 1988 and in the following years.

Some senior monks belonging to the State Sangha Maha Nayaka Committee were
also involved in the boycott campaign, which was initially underestimated
by the military authorities.

In one incident, the Mandalay Division commander at that time, Tun Kyi,
who later became trade minister, invited senior monks and abbots to attend
a religious ceremony but no one showed up. Military leaders realized the
seriousness of the Sangha boycott, and later decided to launch a fierce
counter-campaign.

On 20 October 1990, the regime issued Order 6/90, dissolving “illegal”
monk organizations and unions. The next day, Order 7/90 was issued,
declaring that any monk or novice who contravened regulations banning
non-religious activities would be disassociated from the Sangha and would
be prosecuted.

The following day, the military crackdown began. In Mandalay alone, more
than 130 monasteries were raided and monks were disrobed and imprisoned.
As many as 300 monks nationwide were forced to disrobe and were arrested.

Former political prisoners recalled that monks who shared prison quarters
with them continued to practice their faith despite being forced to wear
prison uniforms and being officially stripped of their membership of the
Sangha.

Several monks, including the highly respected Thu Mingala, a Buddhist
literature laureate, and at least eight other respected senior abbots,
were arrested. Thu Mingala was sentenced to eight years’ imprisonment.

Apart from being stripped of their robes, imprisoned monks in Mandalay
were forced to wear white prison uniforms and were taunted with nicknames
instead of being addressed with their true titles, according to former
political prisoners.

Now, the regime and the authorities seem to be unprepared to deal with a
repeat of “patam nikkujjana kamma.” It also remains to be seen how the
Sangha boycott campaign gains in momentum.

The monks could decide to call off the “patam nikkujjana kamma” campaign,
if they receive what they accept as a proper apology for offending action
by individuals or the authorities. This would involve a ceremony hold by
at least four monks inside the Buddhist ordination hall, at which the
boycott would be canceled.

Some monks in Burma may believe that the “patam nikkujjana kamma” of 1990
is still in effect, since they haven't yet received any proper
apology—only a harsh crackdown.

Last week, officials including industry minister Aung Thaung, who was
allegedly behind the thuggish campaign against activists, visited some
temples in Rangoon and offered alms and gifts to monks and abbots
considered to be close to the military or at least neutral in the present
standoff.

If independently-minded monks decide now to go ahead with “patam
nikkujjana kamma,” it will take more than alms and gifts to head off their
action.

____________________________________

September 17, Mizzima News
Civilian journalists and media in the 2007 Burma uprising - Christopher Smith

The dramatic wave of demonstrations inside Burma in 1988 (popularly known
as the "8888 Uprising") took place amidst a virtual media vacuum. The
dearth of real-time historical documentation of events clearly attests to
this fact. The stories of those who fell in the face of bullets were left
largely to be told at a later date. Still today, there is no accurate
information on the number killed or disappeared as a result of the
government's heavy handed reaction.

Less than a year after the 1988 uprisings in Burma, Lhasa, Tibet,
witnessed the largest demonstrations against Chinese rule since occupation
by Chinese forces in 1959. An estimated 40,000 inhabitants of the ancient
city were forcefully relocated in the wake of the three-day long mass
uprising. By any account, a gross violation of human rights. Try finding
real-time media accounts of this important period of Tibetan history.

The Emergence of Civilian Journalists and "Digital Democracy"

Yet the current protests in Burma that began on August 19th, though on a
drastically smaller scale than those of 1988, are subject to a relentless
barrage of media exposure – owing largely to the empowerment of the
civilian population and small, independent media and information
organizations taking advantage of technological advances. For instance,
the Assistance Association of Political Prisoners (Burma) daily updates
the profiles and fates of those detained by the regime in ongoing
crackdowns on protestors and dissidents. And if demonstrations were to
wreak havoc in Lhasa, a similar phenomenon would likely manifest itself.

In a nutshell, this is precisely why Time Magazine awarded its "2006
Person of the Year Award" to
"you'". The award acknowledged the
empowerment of the individual as a result of advances in technology,
specifically those of a digital nature.

"It's about the many wresting power from the few and helping one another
for nothing and how that will not only change the world, but also change
the way the world changes," reads an excerpt from Time's lead article
explaining the selection.

The fact that "civilian journalists" and independent media are coming to
prominence in the coverage of the 2007 Burma protests is not proof of an
exceptionally dynamic Burmese population, rather it is evidence of the
lack of mainstream media options effectively servicing the ostracized
country. The Burmese population, in conjunction with media outlets
operating largely outside the country, is but playing its role alongside
the global consumer, a role made possible largely as a result of the great
strides in technological innovation.

Through the advent of "digital democracy," local knowledge has become
global knowledge.

And it is accurately coined a form of democracy, no less so than the
mechanical routine of casting a vote in a ballot box. Each time an
individual takes advantage of media technology they are capturing the
world in which they live, the way they want to capture it. By electing to
capture a flawed image, they can also be construed as casting a vote for
change. The message is also one of here and now, and thus much more
tangible to a 21st century world enamored with the present.

"They're [communications technologies] anti-authoritarian, because
authoritarians control societies by their ability to control access to
information," responded Professor Francis Fukuyama to a question regarding
the democratizing influence of information technology during a Closer to
Truth panel discussion.

"So if people can get information on their own simply by dialing up a
computer, then we have ways of getting around hierarchies. The Internet
helps to spread power out rather than concentrating it," continued
Fukuyama.

Every computer in the offices of Naypyidaw is not only a cog in the wheels
of repression, but also a reminder to the generals of the democratizing
influence of technology.

This, then, brings into serious question the proposed "disciplined
democracy" of which the Burmese generals speak. Not as a matter of whether
it is the best means forward or not, but whether it is structurally
feasible or not in this day and age.

In Southeast Asia, and most of Asia for that matter, their remains a
staunch refusal to diverge from honoring the stated ideal of national
integrity. Countries are routinely apprehensive to insert themselves into
the affairs of other countries. It is a sentiment ascribed to even by the
regional stalwart of democracy: India. But again, the advent of the media
revolution has made such a position ever more tenuous.

Take for example Ukraine's Orange Revolution of 2004/2005, though
neighboring countries, most notably Russia, had little interest in meeting
the demands of those demonstrating in the aftermath of elections, the
ability to collect and disseminate information and images globally
provided that the West, regardless of how their intentions are
interpreted, was able to insert itself as an influential player throughout
the course of the protests and successfully internationalize the
proceedings. In short, the notion of noninterference in national
sovereignty was effectively curtailed, if not altogether circumvented.

Coverage of events inside Burma is also drawing the attention and reaction
of a global audience, even if certain regional players may otherwise
prefer to turn a blind eye. A quick You Tube search recently yielded 43
hits for "Burma protests." Meanwhile, at the height of protests over the
most recent price hikes, Mizzima, reporting in real-time on the events
occurring inside Burma by means of linking with citizens inside the
country, experienced a 15 fold increase in online readership.

Though the Internet is often awarded center stage in discussions of media
innovations, it is by no means the only media sphere in which vast strides
have been realized in the past few decades. Advances have been made in
projecting sound and video, as a greater number of Burmese gain access to
alternative news sources inside the country, as well as breakthroughs in
telephony which have greatly facilitated the enhancement of information
transmission.

Though still lagging far behind other countries, the estimated number of
people inside Burma using cell phones has mushroomed from 3,000 in the
year 2000 to some 200,000 users in 2006. With the black market providing
the necessary technical components that may otherwise be unavailable, each
of these handsets is, at least theoretically, a link with the
international community and a valuable source of information.

Absent the orchestrated sensationalism and structure of traditional media
sources, alternative sources of information may very well carry more
authority in the minds and analysis of people around the world engaged in
similar acts of expression and dissemination.

Repressive means on one hand

The threats posed as a result of the technological actions of "civilian
journalists" and media outlets perceived as hostile to the Burmese regime
have been increasingly realized by oppressive governments throughout the
world. In early 2006 the Nepalese monarchy attempted to block cell phone
service in a desperate attempt to obstruct real-time communication in a
social crisis quickly spiraling out of control. Thailand banned You Tube
service for most of 2007 purportedly due to the content of videos and
information hostile to the monarchy and government.

Now the Burmese junta has proceeded to expand upon similar measures,
including disconnecting the phone lines of politicians, political
activists and prominent contacts for media sources, disrupting cell phone
coverage, and disabling blog and Internet sites. Already, prior to the
most recent protests, it was a criminal offence simply to own a computer
or a fax machine without government registration.

However technology can almost always be countered with technology, and
voices from inside Burma, citizens by default covering daily events
throughout the country, continue to find their way to a wider
international audience. And in this way the plight of the Burmese
population is less easily forgotten in a world where there is always
something else to watch, something more to entertain.

A cautionary word on the other

But there are cautionary notes to sound with regard to this avant-garde of
digital democracy. For starters, real-time news is often just
that
obsessed with the present. It is then occasionally too convenient to
perceive the happenings as occurring in isolation, as opposed to what they
are, singular events along a historical stream. And certainly the new
means of dissemination can just as easily be used by those of opposing
view, as the Burmese regime is increasingly trying to do and as outfits
such as Al-Qaeda, through their media arm Al-Sahab, have proven effective.

Further, dialogue and reconciliation, often spoken of as key components in
addressing change inside Burma, are centered on human relationships. The
over reliance on technology to deliver messages could prove
counterproductive. So, while President Bush could be confident that his
harsh words regarding the Burmese junta at the APEC summit in Australia
were almost immediately heard in Naypyidaw, the reliance on technology to
deliver the message is a poor substitute for personal interaction.

Yet, in the end, why was Time's annual award given to the general
population at large? Quite possibly without even being aware of the fact,
masses in the age of "digital democracy" are said to toil pro bono at the
helm of an unstoppable force: the technological devolution of power.
Though the burgeoning community of independent media may not necessarily
work pro bono, they do take advantage of technology and a lower operating
cost to effectively deliver information to a global audience.

While it may not necessarily spell the end of the hierarchical
nation-state, the evolving channels of information procurement and
transmission will at least go some distance in assuring that Burmese
voices are heard, if not necessarily domestically, at least
internationally. And for the citizens of Burma, this is at least one good
bit of news.

____________________________________

September 17, The Nation
India's policy on Burma a shame

New Delhi's support of the regime in Rangoon severely damages its
international credibility

It was amazing to witness how India chose to respond to questions on its
relations with Burma. When visiting Indian Foreign Minister Pranab
Mukherjee was in town last week, he was immediately taken to task on the
issue. Questions from the floor by American and British diplomats as well
as journalists focused exclusively on relations between India and Burma.
After all, India, the world's largest democracy, is actively supporting
one of the world's most famous rogue states, which continues to oppress
its people.

Confronted with uncompromising and undiplomatic questions, Mukherjee
simply recited the textbook answer that one of India's cardinal principles
is not to interfere with the domestic affairs of another country. When he
was asked how India could back a regime with one of the world's worst
human-rights records, he responded with a deadpan expression that it is
essentially the job of the people in the country to decide what government
they want.

It is very disappointing that India has chosen to maintain this strange
policy of support concerning the military junta in Burma. Certainly, one
realises that India, which shares a border with Burma in Nagaland in
eastern India, would have to accommodate the leaders in Rangoon to a
certain degree on issues of common concern along the border, especially
insurgents. But nobody would have expected India to kowtow to Burma in
such a way.

India's policy towards Burma is a shame. The Burmese people have already
decided that they do not want their government and India is doing nothing.
The Indian foreign minister's answers help explain why India will remain
aloof in the scheme of things in Asia, especially when it comes to
institutional building.

No wonder that when India is compared with China, China prevails. Even
though China is also a supporter of Burma, the reasons its leaders give
for relations with Burma have been more circumspect and sensible.
Following growing international pressure, including that from UN
secretary-general Ban Ki-moon, China has begun to assert pressure on Burma
in discreet ways. Burmese foreign minister Nyan Win was summoned to
Beijing recently.

If India wants to "Look East" and continues to deal with Burma in such an
unaccountable manner, its future position and reputation will be greatly
jeopardised. One of the few reasons why India was not admitted into Apec
this year in Sydney was its support for the Burmese regime. With the US, a
key Apec member, lashing out at Burma, it would have been odd for India's
membership bid to receive support. If New Delhi continues with its current
policy, India will be caught in a dilemma, as the country would become
Burma's only strong supporter.

Since 1991, India has pursued a Look East policy to very good result. It
started out courting the economies of Asean and East Asia. In the
following years, it has forged closer ties with Singapore, Thailand,
Indonesia and Japan. The country's relations progressed and resulted in
the overall strengthening of ties between India and Asean.

The abrupt change in its policy towards Burma in the mid-1990s was in
response to China's southward policy in Southeast Asia and domestic
concerns over insurgents in Nagaland. That was understandable, but the
trouble is that India has been doing more by strengthening the regime in
the past several years with ammunition and arms. Mukherjee denied outright
that India has sold arms to Burma. Maybe India did not sell the arms but
simply gave them to the junta. India has to answer these questions in
front of the international community.

Obviously, India-Burma relations cannot go on forever like this. It does
not make sense.

It is strange but true, but this policy is reminiscent of the days when
New Delhi chose to back the Heng Samrin regime, knowing full well that it
would be fruitless. That misguided policy caused a long delay in the
strengthening of India-Asean relations. It will be interesting to watch
India and its diplomatic efforts if a new consensus emerges within Asean
pushing for India to do more to contribute to the opening up of Burma.

____________________________________

September, Progress Magazine
In our court - Burma's democracy activists urgently need our support -
Glenys Kinnock MEP

A Burmese political exile recently asked me with despair in her voice, how
can we get the international community to take action against the regime
in Burma? She had been forced to leave Burma when still a child because
her village had been attacked by soldiers. She joined hundreds of
thousands of Burmese refugees in camps on the Thailand-Burma border. Most
of them are from the Karen ethnic minority, who face a policy of ethnic
cleansing by the brutal junta. Rape is used as a weapon of war against
women and children, hundreds of thousands have been used as forced labour
by the army, and more than 3,000 villages destroyed in the past 10 years.

While in Burma, she had thought that the reason the atrocities continued
was because the world didn¹t know what was going on. On arriving in
Thailand she was horrified to learn that governments did know what as
going on, but were doing nothing about it.

I too, have sometimes felt despair as I have watched the international
community look the other way as the regime continues its atrocities. Aung
San Suu Kyi, the world¹s only imprisoned Nobel Peace Laureate, has now
spent almost 12 of the past 18 years in detention.

Perhaps what is most frustrating is that this regime is vulnerable to
pressure, if it were only applied. It depends on international trade and
investment for its survival. Most of its revenue comes from exports of
gas, timber and gems, with clothing exports and tourism also important
sources of foreign exchange. Effective sanctions targeted at these sectors
would deal a serious blow to the regime, without hurting most ordinary
Burmese people, and it is, after all, the Burmese people who are asking
for these sanctions.

Although the British government has been sympathetic in words, it has
failed to take effective action. There is nothing to stop British
companies investing in Burma, and there are no trade sanctions to stop
imports. We do have an arms embargo, but in effect we are saying to the
regime we won’t sell you guns, but we¹ll give you the money so you can buy
them elsewhere.¹ I am sometimes told that there is no point in the UK
unilaterally banning investment or trade, as they will only do business
with China instead. But if you follow the logic of that argument, we¹d be
selling them guns as well.

The government would prefer Europe-wide sanctions, but France vetoes
sanctions by the European Union because of investment in Burma by French
oil giant Total Oil. We cannot have British foreign policy held hostage to
the commercial interests of a single French oil company. The UK must take
the lead and introduce unilateral sanctions to ban new investment in
Burma, and stop key imports, such as timber, gems and clothing.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown¹s recent personal pledge to raise Burma with
his European counterparts is exactly what is needed to break the current
paralysis of action in the European Union. We saw how effective Brown can
be in getting results when he used a combination of cajoling and
unilateral action to get international agreement to cancel the debt of the
world¹s poorest countries.

In echoes of the 1988 uprising, when thousands were massacred, activists
are once more taking to the streets of Burma, risking imprisonment and
torture to demand their freedom. They are calling for and deserve our
support. Is our government happy to allow British companies to pay for the
guns that might be used to shoot them? Why is the Labour party the only
major party in the UK that does not support a unilateral ban on new
investment in Burma?

My answer to that political exile today would be to say that the
international community can be forced to take action, but that it is up to
progressive members of the Labour party to demand that our party and our
government do so. The ball is in our court.

Glenys Kinnock MEP is Patron of Burma Campaign UK.