BurmaNet News, October 12, 2007

[Editor]

October 12, 2007 Issue # 3318

INSIDE BURMA
AP: Myanmar opposition endorses UN push for talks with govt
Mizzima News: Defence likely to take over MPT
Irrawaddy: Protesting dogs are now on the regime’s wanted list - Saw Yan
Naing
AP: Burma's junta of beating, killing detainees, Norway-based radio says
Mizzima News: Censor board bans Awpikye's cartoons
Khonumthung News: Burmese police gun down civilian
Irrawaddy: Detainees suffering the effects of torture
DVB: Special tribunal for protestors convened in Thayet prison

BUSINESS / TRADE
AFP: Italian jeweller Bulgari joins boycott of Myanmar's precious stones
Merinews.com: India sealed Kaladan deal as Myanmar bled - Shyamal Sarkar
Mizzima News: Insurer stops coverage of MAI flights

REGIONAL
AFP: Japan welcomes UN criticism of Myanmar

INTERNATIONAL
The Guardian: China joins UN censure of Burmese regime
DPA: Amnesty says "witch-hunt" continuing in Myanmar
Reuters: Senate panel studies new ways to press Myanmar

OPINION / OTHER
Irrawaddy: Reconciliation is far away, but transition plan is needed -
Kyaw Zwa Moe
Financial Times: Do not give up on the Burmese revolution yet - Victor Mallet
AIPMC: Silent Burmese days - Vaclav Havel
WP: More than talk for Burma; where's the 'intensification' to aid a
courageous people?

STATEMENT
88 Generation Students: Statement on dialogue (Unofficial Translation)

PRESS RELEASE
ITUC calls for end of business links with Burma
ALTSEAN: "Put your money where your mouth is" Asean activists urge tougher
EU sanctions on Burma

OBITUARY
AP: Myanmar Prime Minister Soe Win dies after long illness

____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

October 12, Associated Presss
Myanmar opposition endorses UN push for talks with govt

Myanmar's embattled opposition party urged the ruling military junta
Friday to quickly meet fresh demands by the U.N. Security Council for
dialogue between the generals and pro-democracy forces and the release of
political prisoners.
The U.N. also was to dispatch its special envoy to Myanmar to the region.
Ibrahim Gambari was traveling to Asia over the weekend, making his first
stop in Thailand on Sunday in a series of consultations with key
governments before heading to Yangon.

In a statement, the National League for Democracy - led by detained
activist Aung San Suu Kyi - also endorsed the Council's condemnation of
the government's violent crackdown on pro-democracy protesters, when
troops opened fire on marchers Sept. 26-27.

"Since Myanmar is a member country of the United Nations and as the
government has declared it would work with the U.N., we earnestly
underscore the need to urgently implement the demands made by the Security
Council," the NLD said.

The 15-member Security Council issued its first statement on Myanmar
Thursday in an attempt to pressure the military rulers in charge of the
impoverished country since 1988 to enter a dialogue with the opposition
and make moves toward democratic reforms.

The fourth-ranking member of the junta, Prime Minister Gen. Soe Win, 59,
died Friday in a military hospital after a long illness, relatives and
state media said. Soe Win reputedly oversaw a 2003 attack against Suu Kyi
from which she escaped unscathed.

His death, however, was unlikely to cause a ripple in the regime's grip on
power. Soe Win had little if any influence in policy-making as prime
minister and was largely considered a figurehead for the junta.

The U.N. envoy, Gambari, was to begin his consultations in Thailand on
Monday and then travel to Malaysia, Indonesia, India, China and Japan,
"with a view to returning to Myanmar shortly thereafter," U.N. deputy
spokeswoman Marie Okabe said. She gave no date for his trip to Yangon.

Gambari met with the junta's leaders earlier this month during a four-day
trip to Myanmar after troops opened fire on peaceful protests in Yangon.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said after Gambari's visit that he
could not call the trip "a success."

Myanmar's military junta has said 10 people were killed and nearly 2,100
arrested in last month's demonstrations, with 700 later released.
Diplomats and dissidents say the death toll is likely much higher and up
to 6,000 people were seized, including thousands of monks who led the
rallies.

At least a dozen freed prisoners described brutal treatment at detention
centers, including one who said "dozens" of detainees were killed, the
Democratic Voice of Burma, a Norway-based short-wave radio station and Web
site run by dissident journalists, said in a report Thursday.

There was no way to independently confirm the reports attributed to freed
prisoners.

In an interview with The Associated Press, another released prisoner, Zaw
Myint, 45, said he was arrested Sept. 26 on a Yangon street after a
soldier bashed his face with the butt of his gun, leaving a bloody gash
across his cheek.

Zaw Myint said he was denied treatment for three days then stitched up by
a doctor at Yangon's notorious Insein prison, after the physician had
treated several other wounded prisoners.

Human rights groups have long accused the military government of abuse and
torture of prisoners. The Thailand-based Assistance Association for
Political Prisoners, comprised of around 100 former inmates, has put out a
report describing homosexual rape, electric shocks to the genitals, near
drowning, burning with hot wax and other abuse.

Myanmar's national airline announced Friday it was halting most of its
flights amid a dramatic downturn in visitors. Myanmar Airways
International suspended flights to Thailand and Malaysia after its insurer
halted coverage "due to the recent crisis in Myanmar," the airline said in
a statement. It didn't name the insurance company.

The number of people traveling to Myanmar has dropped dramatically
following globally televised reports of the crackdown. A number of
governments have advised their citizens against visiting Myanmar because
of possible violence. Several big tour operators have called for a boycott
as the debate on the ethics of visiting Myanmar intensifies.

Also Friday, Thai police said a bomb exploded in a guesthouse just across
the border inside Myanmar, injuring one person. Col. Photsawat Tangchui, a
police chief in the border district of Mae Sod in Tak province, said the
blast hit the Shwebyisaya hotel, about 30 meters from border.

____________________________________

October 12, Mizzima News
Defence likely to take over MPT

The Ministry of Defence and Communications will take over the Myanmar Post
and Telecommunication near future, according to sources.

Tech savvy people splashed photographs of protests by monks and of the
brutal crackdown around the world. Digital pictures and videos were
uploaded in blogs embarrassing the Burmese military junta no end. This led
the regime's plan to substitute army men in civilian posts at the MPT,
sources said.

While the peaceful demonstrators were being beaten up and shot on streets
of the biggest city Rangoon, on September 28, the junta shut down the
internet to check the information flow.

However, believing that the mass protests are over and have been
effectively controlled since Oct 4, the junta restored internet connection
but it continues to be unstable.

The junta is scanning the internet and is on the lookout for anyone trying
to send out information to the outside world.

Some cafes are warning users against surfing political sites because the
MPT and Myanmar Teleport (formerly known as Bagan) are monitoring the net,
an internet user said.

The news of protests had attracted employees of private business houses
and some companies restricted the time of use of the internet for their
work, according to an IT programmer .

____________________________________

October 12, Associated Press
Burma's junta of beating, killing detainees, Norway-based radio says

Guards at detention centers in Burma beat, kicked and slashed protesters
rounded up during the crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrations, sometimes
leaving their victims to die of their injuries, a dissident group said.

Burma's repressive military junta has said 10 people were killed and
nearly 2,100 arrested in last month's demonstrations, with 700 later
released. Diplomats and dissidents say the death toll is likely much
higher and up to 6,000 people were seized, including thousands of monks
who led the rallies.

At least a dozen freed prisoners described brutal treatment at detention
centers, including one who said "dozens" of detainees were killed, the
Democratic Voice of Burma, a Norway-based short-wave radio station and Web
site run by dissident journalists, said in a report Thursday.

"They beat everyone, including women and girls," the dissident group
quoted an unidentified female detainee as saying. "I was beaten myself.
Monks were targeted and they were not only beaten but also verbally abused
by security officers."

"I heard people shouting and crying from the interrogation room and then,
I saw an army medical surgeon carrying people away," the woman said. The
group said she was held at the Government Technical Institute detention
center in Rangoon for five days following the crackdown.

DVB, which has supplied reliable information in the past, also reported
that a 48-year-old detainee, Than Aung, died September 30 at a detention
center in Yangon. He was arrested on September 27, beaten in custody which
left him with severe internal injuries, and died when he was not given
immediate medical attention, the group said, citing sources close to the
institute.

There was no way to independently confirm the reports attributed to freed
prisoners.

In an interview with The Associated Press, another released prisoner, Zaw
Myint, 45, said he was arrested September 26 on a Rangoon street after a
soldier bashed his face with the butt of his gun, leaving a bloody gash
across his cheek.

Zaw Myint said he was denied treatment for three days and then stitched up
by a doctor at Rangoon's notorious Insein prison, after the physician had
treated several wounded prisoners.

"He used the same needle to treat all patients. And I saw him give
injections to wounded people using the same syringe," said Zaw Myint, who
was released after a week in custody. He said was "extremely worried"
about having contracted HIV as a result of the treatment. Rights groups
say that Burma's prisons have soaring rates of HIV/AIDS.

DVB also released video of an unidentified man who said "dozens" of
detainees died. Another man was quoted as saying he saw two people die
from severe beatings at Rangoon City Hall. Authorities failed to give a
boy medical treatment for a gunshot wound and even refused to let him
drink water from a toilet before he died, the man was quoted as saying.

Human rights groups have long accused the military government of abuse and
torture of prisoners. The Thailand-based Assistance Association for
Political Prisoners, comprised of around 100 former inmates, has put out a
report describing homosexual rape, electric shocks to the genitals, near
drowning, burning with hot wax and other abuse.

____________________________________

October 12, Irrawaddy
Protesting dogs are now on the regime’s wanted list - Saw Yan Naing

The Burmese authorities have a new enemy to hunt down—dogs which are
roaming Rangoon with pictures of Than Shwe and other regime leaders around
their necks.

A resident of Shwegondine, Bahan Township, told The Irrawaddy on Friday
that she saw a group of four dogs with pictures of the regime’s top
generals around their necks.

Sightings were also reported in four other Rangoon townships—Tharkayta,
Dawbon, Hlaing Tharyar and South Okkalapa.

Some sources said the canine protest had started at least a week ago, and
was keeping the authorities busy trying to catch the offending dogs. “They
seem quite good at avoiding arrest,” laughed one resident.

Associating anybody with a dog is a very serious insult in Burma.

Spray-painters are also at work, daubing trains with the words “Killer
Than Shwe” and other slogans.

____________________________________

October 12, Mizzima News
Censor board bans Awpikye's cartoons

Cartoonists are persona non grata in military ruled Burma. The country's
censorship board has once again banned caricatures of famous cartoonist
Awpikye, after the artist joined a group of Burmese celebrities in
offering 'Swan' (food) to monks leading the protest last month.

"Journal publishers told us that the censorship board has banned cartoons
drawn under his pen-name," Awpikye's wife told Mizzima.

As is normal, the Burma's Press Scrutiny and Registration Board, under the
Ministry of Information, has not provided any reason for banning Awpikye's
caricatures.

Burmese literary circles believe that Awpikye's work has been banned
because of his involvement in the Swan offering by veteran politician U
Win Naing to protesting monks at Shwe Dagon pagoda in September. A few
celebrities, including actor and critic Zarganar, who joined the Swan
offering, have been arrested.

The Burmese censorship board has long been in the habit of randomly
banning writers and artists, who are known to be critical of the
authorities and Awpikye is no exception to the board's scissors

"He has been banned several times by the board and he is not surprised.
Even when he is permitted, the board will find faults in his caricatures
and not allow it to be published," his wife added.

Awpikye, a veteran cartoonist, has been publishing cartoons and
caricatures in magazines for over two decades

____________________________________

October 12, Khonumthung News
Burmese police gun down civilian

On suspicion that he was working for the Chin rebels, the Burmese police
shot dead a local Mr. Bawi Ceu (31) near the entry gate of Thangtlang town
in Chin state, Burma at 8 p.m. on October 3.

The victim Bawi Ceu from Hrangpi village in Thangtlang Township put up in
the house of U Tin Aung in Thangtlang town for a few days. However, he
didn't report his presence to the Quart Council office.

A police team on patrol duty shot Bawi Ceu when he tried to run away to
avoid a penalty for failing to report his presence in Thangtlang, a local
in Thangtlang said.

"Of course, I know him very well. He is from Hrangpi village. He was shot
dead near the signboard that says "welcome" to visitors, erected at the
entrance of Thangtlang town", said a local.

The local authorities spread the falsehood that Bawi Ceu was gunned down
because the Chin National Army asked him to buy liquor for them.

"What they said relating to the cold blooded murder is totally distorted.
They spread the misinformation to avoid blame. Moreover, there is no
liquor available in Thangtlang," the spokesperson of the Chin Nation Front
said.

In Thangtlang Township, the selling and trafficking of liquor has been
prohibited by local authorities since 2005 on the orders of Colonel Tin
Hla, former Tactical Commander of Chin state.

The ban on liquor by local authorities was welcomed by locals, church
leaders and the medical fraternity in Thangtlang.

____________________________________

October 12, Irrawaddy
Detainees suffering the effects of torture - Aye Lae

A member of the 88 Generation Students’ Group, Hla Myo Naung, suffered
nerve damage during an unsuccessful operation while in detention,
according to his colleague Soe Tun.

Hla Myo Naung was arrested on Wednesday morning when he emerged from
hiding to be treated in a Rangoon clinic. According to his doctor, he was
suffering from a ruptured cornea and required surgery to save his sight.

Soe Tun, also a member of the 88 Generation Students’ Group, told The
Irrawaddy, “A policeman informed his wife that Hla Myo Naung had some kind
of injury to his nervous system, although we don’t know exactly what
happened.”

The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma) secretary Tate
Naing said, “We are concerned for him. We suspected that the authorities
wouldn’t operate on his eye, because he was only arrested on Wednesday and
needed the operation the following day.”

Meanwhile, activists, pro-democracy supporters and suspected protesters
are being arrested by authorities.

On Wednesday, 17-year-old Ye Myat Hein, a student at the United States
Information Service in Rangoon, was arrested for involvement in the
pro-democracy demonstrations.

His mother San Aye cried when she told The Irrawaddy by telephone: “My
heart is breaking for my son. At the same time, I believe that other
mothers are also suffering like me in this country.”

Hla Myo Naung, aged 39, played a leading role in the 1988 pro-democracy
uprising and spent five years in prison during the early 1990s. Thirteen
of his fellow activists, including the most prominent, Min Ko Naing, were
arrested on August 21 following a peaceful march against the government’s
sharp increase in fuel prices.

On the same day Hla Myo Naung was arrested, 42-year-old Win Shwe died. An
NLD member in Kyaukpadaung Township in Mandalay Division, Win Shwe had
been arrested on September 26. Hla Myo Naung is also from Kyaukpadaung
Township.

On Tuesday, the AAPP reported that two university students who were
arrested on September 27 died while being interrogated in Rangoon’s
Kyaikkasan interrogation center.

The AAPP said it is concerned about the risk of torture to more than 2,000
monks, activists and members of the public now in detention centers.
“Numerous prisoners are being subjected to torture,” said the group.

____________________________________

October 12, Democratic Voice of Burma
Special tribunal for protestors convened in Thayet prison

Sixteen monks were brought before a specially-convened tribunal inside
Thayet prison at around noon yesterday.

According to a prison source, speaking on condition of anonymity, the
tribunal has been set up in a facility that usually house official
visitors to the prison.

There is no further information on whether the monks have been sentenced
or what charges they face.

Local residents reported the arrival of several monks and women at Thayet
prison on Wednesday. The detainees were believed to have been transferred
from Mandalay and Magwe, where they had been arrested for taking part in
demonstrations.

NLD party members from Taung Twin Gyi township were also seen being
brought to the same prison yesterday.

____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

October 12, Agence France Presse
Italian jeweller Bulgari joins boycott of Myanmar's precious stones

Italian jewellery and luxury goods maker Bulgari said on Friday it had
asked its suppliers to certify that their jewels did not come from
Myanmar.

"Even though the company has never bought stones directly from Myanmar,
but only on the international markets, it has expressly asked its
suppliers for guarantees on the geographical origin of their precious
stones," Bulgari said in a statement.

Myanmar's military government last month violently suppressed the largest
protests against its rule in nearly two decades, unleashing bullets and
tear gas in the commercial hub Yangon and killing at least 13 people.

The move by Bulgari, the world's third-biggest jeweller, follows a similar
one from French jewellers Cartier, a subsidiary of Switzerland's
Richemont, and by US company Tiffany which itself stopped buying Myanmar
jewels in 2003.

One of the poorest countries in the world, Myanmar supplies up to 90
percent of the world's rubies and has rich jade deposits that are highly
prized in neighbouring China.

Despite sanctions on the regime, many stones from Myanmar are smuggled
through neighbouring Thailand, where they are often cut and polished for
eventual sale in the United States or Europe.

For the past 700 years, the so-called "Valley of Rubies" in the Mogok
region of northeast Myanmar has been mined for "pigeon blood" rubies --
considered the finest in the world -- as well as for sapphires and other
rare gems.

The stones are mined at a huge human cost, with reports of horrific
working conditions in Myanmar's ruby mines, which outsiders are forbidden
to see.

____________________________________

October 12, Merinews.com
India sealed Kaladan deal as Myanmar bled - Shyamal Sarkar

India succeeded in inking a deal for the $ 103 million Kaladan Multi-Modal
Transport Project, which had hit a major bottleneck. The deal was
finalised in the backdrop of turmoil-stricken Myanmar, as India was driven
by its own interest. An analysis.

IN THE MIDST of the social turmoil in Myanmar, which saw a repressive
military killing and making arbitrary arrests, India pulled off a coup of
sorts to finalise the agreement for the $ 103 million Kaladan Multi-Modal
Transport Project, which had hit a major bottleneck.

Even as Myanmar bled, India went ahead unabashedly to finalise the
agreement, which envisages developing the Sittwe port in Arakan state in
the neighbouring country. By its own admission India has been driven by
its own interest to acquire a transit route to southeast Asian countries
through Myanmar.

While Pranab Mukherjee External Affairs Minister persuaded his Myanmar
counterpart in New York to diffuse the explosive situation and begin talks
with democracy icon Aung Suu Kyi, Indian officials worked frenetically to
see to India's interest. India is now quietly mediating between the
obdurate military junta and pro-democracy leader Aung san Suu Kyi to
initiate national reconciliation. It is learnt that the Indian ambassador
in Yangoon, Bhaskar Mitra met Aung San Suu Kyi, under house arrest, last
week.

The Sitwee sea port project on the Kaladan river in Myanmar will open up
India's landlocked north-eastern states - Assam, Manipur, Meghalya,
Mizoram, Tripura, Sikkim, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh - to
international trade routes through the Bay of Bengal and give a fillip to
the country's 'Look East' policy. It will also offer an alternative route
for India, given that Bangladesh had refused to allow transit facilities.
The project papers will be signed in the coming weeks.

A major upgradation of infrastructure of Sittwe, dating back to British
rule in Myanmar, is on the cards. The port is about 250 kilometres from
the Mizoram border and is located on the northwestern coast of Myanmar
where the Kaladan River merges with the Bay of Bengal.

The military junta had been soft-pedaling on finalising the project. The
bone of contention was the control of the port. Given that India is
investing heavily in this project, it wanted control of the port, which
was not going down well with Myanmar. India had little option but to
compromise and has finally agreed to hand over the port soon after it is
developed. The other thorny issue was that though Myanmar was committed to
shelling out about $ 10 million in the project it is now unwilling to
invest the money. India therefore has decided to provide the regime a soft
loan of about $10 million helping resolve the issue.

The multi-modal transport project also takes in to account building roads
and waterways in Mizoram and Myanmar that would connect Kaletwa in Myanmar
with the National Highway 54 at Nalkawn in Mizoram.

The port's development is likely to take three years and will facilitate
movement of cargo vessels on inland water routes along Kaladan River to
Sittwe. It will take 12 hours from Haldia to and 36 hours from
Vishakapatnam to connect Sittwe port.

____________________________________

October 12, Mizzima News
Insurer stops coverage of MAI flights

The Myanmar Airways International suspended its flights after the London
based insurance company put a stop to its insurance coverage till the end
of October.

The London Market Aviation Insurer of MAI's lesser Lion Air gave a notice
to Burma's state-run airlines. It was "due to the recent crisis in
Myanmar" which forced suspension of MAI's Bangkok and Malaysia flights,
said the statement issued today by the airline.

"We are in the process of getting new aircraft as replacement," the
statement added.

However, the flight to Singapore is still operating with MAI's code share
partner 3K (Jetstar).

The airline previously told Mizzima that passengers decreased due to visa
restrictions on tourists, anti-regime protests and the brutal crackdown in
the country.

The airlines cancelled the flights to Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur as of
yesterday, the state run media said.

____________________________________
REGIONAL

October 12, Agence France Presse
Japan welcomes UN criticism of Myanmar

Japan on Friday welcomed a UN Security Council statement denouncing
Myanmar's violent crackdown on protests and called for the junta to
improve its human rights record.

"We welcome it, as it was issued with the consensus of the international
community," Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura said.

"We hope that the government of Myanmar would improve its democratisation
efforts and human rights conditions by responding to the efforts of UN
special envoy (Ibrahim) Gambari," said Machimura, the top government
spokesman.

Gambari, the UN point man in efforts to promote reconciliation between
Myanmar's military regime and opposition, was due to head back to the
region this weekend.

In its non-binding presidential statement, the UN Security Council
deplored Myanmar's crackdown, urged the release of all political prisoners
and called for "genuine dialogue" with detained pro-democracy icon Aung
San Suu Kyi.

China, Myanmar's main ally, joined the unanimous statement, the first
action by the Security Council since the clampdown that left 13 dead,
including a Japanese video journalist shot by junta troops while covering
protests.

But Japan, which often jostles for influence in the region with China, has
broken ranks with its Western allies by refusing to suspend humanitarian
aid to Myanmar.

Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura said Tokyo will work to promote democracy
in Myanmar.

"The government will coordinate efforts with the United Nations and the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations to make progress in the
democratisation of Myanmar," Komura said.

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

October 12, The Guardian
China joins UN censure of Burmese regime

China turned against the Burmese government last night and supported a UN
security council statement rebuking the military regime for its
suppression of peaceful protests, and demanding the release of all
political prisoners.

The security council statement, which also called for "genuine dialogue"
with the opposition leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, marked the first time that
Beijing had agreed to UN criticism of the junta.

The statement did not threaten sanctions, but the significance of its
unanimous support by all 15 members of the security council would not have
been lost on Burma's generals, who had hitherto been able to count on
China, a neighbour and key trading partner, to block UN censure.

"That represents a very significant shift in global politics from just a
few weeks ago," said the foreign secretary, David Miliband.

"It is proof that the recent brutal crackdown and ongoing persecution of
peaceful protesters has isolated the Burmese regime. They must now respond
to these growing global calls for them to work with others in building a
better future for the people of Burma."

Britain co-sponsored the statement with the US and France, which also
signalled they would maintain the pressure on the junta to respond to UN
demands for the release of prisoners, including Ms Suu Kyi.

The US ambassador to the UN, Zalmay Khalilzad, said that if the junta
failed to respond accordingly, the security council would take the matter
up again in as little as two weeks. "We will not relent. We will persist,"
he told journalists.

"What is important is that the government of Myanmar delivers," France's
deputy UN ambassador, Jean-Pierre Lacroix, said.

China's deputy UN ambassador, Liu Zhenmin, did not respond to questions on
what further action the council might take, saying only that he hoped the
statement would contribute to the success of a mission to the region by a
UN special envoy, Ibrahim Gambari, due to start next week. Mr Gambari will
visit Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, India, China and Japan, before going
to Burma by the end of the month.

The statement had to be diluted from earlier drafts to win Chinese
approval, dropping a demand for the Burmese government to account for what
had happened to detained demonstrators, and a call for a transition to
democracy.

A Burmese dissident group yesterday accused the security forces of beating
and killing protesters, and leaving them to die of their injuries. The
Democratic Voice of Burma, a Norway-based radio station run by dissident
journalists, said at least a dozen freed prisoners had given accounts of
brutal treatment in detention centres. One said that "dozens" of prisoners
had been killed.

The government has said that 10 people were killed and nearly 2,100
arrested in the course of last month's street demonstrations, and that 700
detainees had since been released.

The regime has denied torturing its prisoners and has blamed the protests
on western instigation. The state-owned New Light of Myanmar newspaper
denounced the protesters, as "stooges of foreign countries putting on a
play written by their foreign masters".

____________________________________


October 12, Deutsche Presse-Agentur
Amnesty says "witch-hunt" continuing in Myanmar

Amnesty International Friday welcomed the UN Security Council's "strong"
condemnation of the continued use of violence against demonstrators in
Myanmar but criticized the world body for failing to call for the
immediate release of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

"Obviously, we wish the council had spoken out much stronger and had
called for the immediate unconditional release of Aung San Suu Kyi and
other prisoners of conscience," Amnesty's Secretary General, Irene Khan,
said in a statement released in London.

Such releases were essential if there is to be any progress on the
"genuine dialogue" and "national reconciliation" sought by the Security
Council, said Khan.

However, in its first formal statement on the situation in Myanmar, the
council had addressed crucial human rights issues, and for the first time
ever, welcomed  a resolution recently adopted by the Human Rights Council,
Khan added.

She said Amnesty had new reports from Myanmar that the military government
was continuing a "witch-hunt" against those suspected of involvement in
the demonstrations.

"This clearly flies in the face of the commitment the government has made
to work with the United Nations," said Khan.

"The Security Council has called for concrete actions and tangible
results. We call on the council not only to keep the human rights
situation under close and constant review but also to set a clear
timetable and benchmarks for progress," said Amnesty.

____________________________________

October 11, Reuters
Senate panel studies new ways to press Myanmar - Paul Eckert

A U.S. Senate committee is weighing measures to press for democratic
change in Myanmar, including an arms embargo and prosecuting its leaders
in an international criminal court, a senior aide said on Thursday.
Members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee will soon present draft
legislation, after the former Burma crushed pro-democracy protests last
month, said Keith Luse, a senior committee staff member.

"There's a thought to encourage the equivalent of a six-party process
within the region to include Burma, China, India, Russia, Japan, ASEAN and
perhaps other countries, understanding that the Burmese leaders might
initially boycott," he said, drawing a parallel to the six-nation nuclear
disarmament negotiations with North Korea.

ASEAN is the Association of Southeast Asian Nations that includes Myanmar
as a member.

"Leaders of a country friendly to Burma could enter the scene to serve as
broker to negotiate safe passage and arrange exile for the generals out of
the country while the U.N. would provide a stabilizing presence as Burma
transitions to a civilian democratic government," Luse said.

Other proposals being studied were an arms embargo, more U.S. sanctions
targeting Myanmar's leaders, their families and business partners and
appointing a special U.S. envoy.

Luce told a forum conducted by the U.S. Institute of Peace, a Washington
think tank, that senior U.S. Senators including Massachusetts Democrat
John Kerry and Indiana Republican Richard Lugar were strongly committed to
action on Myanmar.

U.S. experts said the junta had discredited itself at home and around the
world by shooting Buddhist monks.

But one analyst warned that a country impoverished and ruined by 45 years
of military rule was ill-prepared for democracy.

"It will still be many years that there will be a military government in
some form or another," said Priscilla Clapp, a retired diplomat who served
as top U.S. envoy in Myanmar from 1999-2002.

With the army as Myanmar's only cohesive institution, she said, the
country would not see an ideal transition to full-blown democracy.

Bridget Welsh, Southeast Asia expert at the Johns Hopkins School of
Advanced International Studies in Washington, said experience in other
countries indicated that it was important to "split the military as an
institution."

"When you use targeted sanctions, you don't treat the military as a
complete monolithic institution; you actually focus on specific
individuals, as opposed to others" to foster jealousy and schisms among
generals, she said.

____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

October 12, Irrawaddy
Reconciliation is far away, but transition plan is needed - Kyaw Zwa Moe

The word "reconciliation" can barely be found in books about Burma’s
political history. The recent bloody crackdown has made national
reconciliation seem even more elusive and distant.

Yet national reconciliation is the only thing that can prevent more
bloodshed in Burma. But how can Burma create a spirit—a will—for true
reconciliation?

In fact, reconciliation may seem too idealistic, at this particular
moment. The military regime and the people are as polarized as ever since
the bloody days of September when monks and protesters were gunned down.

Bloodshed makes reconciliation very hard. The Burmese people, the entire
world, reeled at images of blood soaked monks’ robes, pools of blood on
monastery floors, and blood stained sandals abandoned on the streets of
Rangoon. Critics and diplomats inside the country who witnessed the
crackdown say it was “very systematic.”

The Burmese people's anger over the way the monks were treated will never
end. Public opposition to the ruling regime will never end.

And, the aftershocks, especially in Rangoon, continue day and night, with
troops hunting down activists and monks who played important roles during
the demonstrations.

The regime seems determined to keep cracking down on democratic forces
until the opposition is totally eliminated.  Myanma Alin, the junta’s
mouthpiece, said on Wednesday all “destructive elements” would be
uprooted.

For now, tolerance—the will for reconciliation—seems to be gone, on both
sides. But for how long can we afford to go on without reconciliation?

Only a few days ago, the junta’s Foreign Minister Nyan Win said in the UN
General Assembly, “Normalcy has now returned to Myanmar [Burma].”

But in truth, there is no normalcy without reconciliation.

The US ambassador to the UN, Zalmay Khalilzad, said recently it is "time
to prepare for a transition" in Burma. As farfetched as it sounds now,
that is exactly what opposition pro-democracy groups, inside and outside
Burma, must seriously consider and begin making appropriate plans.

This week the regime appointed a liaison officer, called Minister for
Relations, to work with detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Here are some significant areas that must be realistically addressed,
looking beyond the anger and distrust that exists today:

1. Transition planning must be inclusive. All sides must accept that all
parties: opposition groups, ethnic groups and the military have legitimate
and vested interests in finding a path toward reconciliation and the
transition to a power-sharing arrangement.

2. The junta must announce a national ceasefire.

3. All political prisoners must be released.

4. Suu Kyi must play a key role in the reconciliation and transition process.

5. Asean must play a leadership role in negotiations between the ruling
junta and opposition groups. The generals will be more flexible in dealing
with Asean than the West. China should be invited to take part in the
process.

6. Economic responsibilities should be in the hands of economic experts.

We all know it will be difficult, but the reconciliation process must
begin. There's no other choice.

The top US diplomat in Rangoon, Shari Villarosa, told reporters in Hawaii,
referring to a political solution in Burma, that all nations need to “push
it and push it and push it some more.”

The UN and the international community have no other choice but to keep
pushing the idea of national reconciliation and governmental transition in
Burma.

Only in that way can we save the lives of more Burmese people and monks,
who—make no mistake—are willing to die for freedom.

The world doesn’t need to see any more bloodshed on Burma’s streets. We
must all work harder to find a way to national reconciliation—no matter
how distant or farfetched it may sound.

____________________________________

October 10, Financial Times
Do not give up on the Burmese revolution yet - Victor Mallet

It is remarkable how quickly the world has given up on the popular
uprising in Burma, abandoning the country once more to the oppressive rule
of the generals who have run it with singular incompetence and brutality
since 1962.

The reasoning is simple: with the failure of US President George
W. Bush’s democratisation drive in the Middle East, democracy itself
is in worldwide decline; in Burma, where troops gunned down and jailed the
marching Buddhist monks, the army is too strong and the protesters too
weak for democracy to have a chance; let us therefore return to the
uncomfortable but familiar status quo ante.

This analysis is too hasty and the conclusion flawed. Such arguments
recall the pessimism about the Soviet bloc. Even after the wave of east
European revolutions had begun in 1989, I remember watching an academic
explain on British television how Nicolae Ceausescu of Romania would
survive because he had forged a nation and ruled it with a rod of iron.
The next day he was dead.

Burma’s armed forces are strong – they number 400,000 in a nation of 50m –
but they lack legitimacy and the reclusive generals are deeply unpopular.
This is not an Asian authoritarian government, like those of China or
Vietnam, that has delivered growth and prosperity. A third of Burmese
children under five are malnourished. As Lee Kuan Yew, founding father of
Singapore, put it in a recent interview, the generals are “rather dumb”
when it comes to the economy.

But the army – it is argued by apologists for the junta – is the only
institution capable of unifying the ethnically diverse peoples of Burma.
Not true. The army has steadily increased its numbers but has struggled
for decades to unite Burma by force; it has finally engineered an uneasy
peace across most of the country only by resorting to extreme violence, by
driving its enemies into exile and by co-opting tribal warlords and giving
them control of smuggling and the opium trade. This is not a recipe for
long-term stability.

Although it is the army, not the opposition, that has a dismal record, it
has become fashionable to dismiss Aung San Suu Kyi, the pro-democracy
leader, as a naive, foreign-educated liberal with scant understanding of
her own country.

Not true either. Her father, Aung San, was the founder of the modern
Burmese army and she has always taken care to show respect for the
military and to pursue national unity. Her National League for Democracy
and its allies won an overwhelming victory across Burma in the 1990
election (the result of which was never honoured by the junta), winning
even in constituencies inhabited predominantly by soldiers and their
families.

It is also absurd for foreign governments that have connived with Burma’s
military dictators to blame Ms Suu Kyi and the NLD for lacking experience
in government. She has spent 12 of the past 17 years under house arrest or
in prison. Most of the NLD’s 392 elected members of parliament have either
been jailed, exiled or silenced, and 73 have died.

Authoritarian critics of Ms Suu Kyi have nevertheless seized on remarks by
Thant Myint-U, grandson of a former UN secretary-general, who rather
unconvincingly criticises her politics and argues strongly against
economic sanctions (which she supports) in the closing pages of The River
of Lost Footsteps (Faber 2007), his history of Burma. The critics should
keep reading. Mr Thant Myint-U also insists that only a free and liberal
society can provide stability and prosperity in such a diverse country.
“That a democratic government for Burma should be the aim is not in
doubt,” he writes.

The junta’s only real asset, other than fear, is the support of Burma’s
powerful and unprincipled neighbours, trading partners and arms suppliers:
China, India, Thailand and Singapore.

Full economic sanctions would fail not because they are wrong but because
they would not be fully implemented. It was always a stretch in any case
to imagine Chinese leaders who oversaw the shooting of pro-democracy
demonstrators in Beijing in 1989 wagging their fingers at Burmese military
commanders for doing the same. When he ran Tibet in the 1980s, Hu Jintao,
the Chinese president, declared martial law and cracked down hard on
protesting Buddhist monks.

The futility of sanctions, however, does not mean the Burmese should be
left to their fate. Burma’s military rulers have been caught off-guard by
the protests and have reluctantly agreed to negotiate with the detained Ms
Suu Kyi. An embarrassed Singapore government has shown uncharacteristic
leniency in allowing Burmese to hold unauthorised demonstrations outside
their embassy in Singapore.

It is time for Asians to show that freedom and human rights are more than
“western” concepts. A good start would be for the Singaporean, Malaysian
and other leaders of the Association of South East Asian Nations, which
welcomed Burma into its ranks in 1997, to shun men who order the killing
of unarmed monks.

The world should maintain the diplomatic pressure on the junta and its
allies and reject the notion that Burma is a hopeless case because
“democratisation is dead and popular revolutions do not work”. Try telling
that to the Iranians (1979), the Filipinos (1986), the Poles (1989), the
South Africans (1994) or the Indonesians (1998), to mention just a few.
Revolutions happen. It is just hard to predict when.

victor.mallet at ft.com

____________________________________

October 11, ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Myanmar Caucus (AIPMC)
Silent Burmese days - Vaclav Havel

In the coming days – perhaps even hours – the destiny of Burma (also known
as Myanmar), and the fates of over 50 million Burmese, will be decided.
Today’s crisis has been brewing for many years. But nobody knew with any
precision just when open revolt against Burma’s military dictatorship
would erupt.
I fear that, with only a few exceptions, most countries have been
surprised and caught off guard – once again – by the rapid course that
events have taken in Burma. So they seem to be completely unprepared for
the crisis and thus at a loss as to what to do.

How many times and in how many places has this now happened? Worse,
however, is the number of countries that find it convenient to avert their
eyes and ears from the deathly silence with which this Asian country
chooses to present itself to the outside world.

In Burma, the power of educated Buddhist monks – people who are unarmed
and peace loving by their very nature – has risen up against the military
regime. That monks are leading the protests is no great surprise to those
who have taken a long-term interest in the situation in Burma.

An overwhelming number of Burma’s Buddhist monks have found it difficult
to bear the central and regional governments’ efforts to corrupt their
monastic orders, and to misuse the example of the monks’ self-restraint to
increase the pressure on other believers.

Of course, without universal and coordinated international political,
economic, and media support for these brave monks, all development in
Burma may quickly be put back nearly 20 years.

Losing dignity

On a daily basis, at a great many international and scholarly conferences
all over the world, we can hear learned debates about human rights and
emotional proclamations in their defense.

So how is it possible that the international community remains incapable
of responding effectively to dissuade Burma’s military rulers from
escalating the force that they have begun to unleash in Rangoon and its
Buddhist temples?

For dozens of years, the international community has been arguing over how
it should reform the United Nations so that it can better secure civic and
human dignity in the face of conflicts such as those now taking place in
Burma or Darfur, Sudan.

It is not the innocent victims of repression who are losing their dignity,
but rather the international community, whose failure to act means
watching helplessly as the victims are consigned to their fate.

The world’s dictators, of course, know exactly what to make of the
international community’s failure of will and inability to coordinate
effective measures. How else can they explain it than as a complete
confirmation of the status quo and of their own ability to act with
impunity?

Václav Havel is a former president of the Czech Republic.

____________________________________

October 12, The Washington Post
More than talk for Burma; where's the 'intensification' to aid a
courageous people?

One week ago the U.N. Security Council met to consider a bloody crackdown
by Burma's dictatorship against Buddhist monks and others who had been
peacefully protesting in favor of democracy. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon
called the use of force "abhorrent and unacceptable" and urged Burma's
rulers to "take bold actions towards democratization and respect for human
rights." Mr. Ban's special envoy to the country, having returned from a
visit to the Southeast Asian nation, relayed "continuing and disturbing
reports of abuses . . . including raids on private homes, beatings,
arbitrary arrests and disappearances." He said he had found "accelerating
impoverishment" in Burma (also known as Myanmar) and "deep and widespread
discontent." He promised an "intensification" of diplomatic efforts.

Since then, we haven't seen much in the way of intensification. The
Security Council did issue a unanimous statement yesterday that "strongly
deplores" the regime's violence. But it's still not known how many monks
and others have been killed and how many arrested; the regime claimed to
have released more than 2,000, without disclosing how many had been swept
up in the first place. There's been talk of sanctions, of an arms embargo,
of the need for united action, of sending the special envoy back -- but so
far talk is all it's been. First lady Laura Bush has spoken out, but we
haven't heard much from Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Burma's
dictator, Than Shwe, named an underling to meet with Aung San Suu Kyi, who
-- by virtue of a landslide victory in a 1990 election that the regime
refused to honor -- is Burma's rightful leader. But no meeting has taken
place.

The strangest statement at that U.N. meeting a week ago came from China's
ambassador, who noted with satisfaction that the situation in Burma was
"calming down thanks to the joint efforts of all parties." If by "joint
efforts" he meant the decision by one side to shoot and bludgeon, and by
the other to submit to shooting and bludgeoning, that was true. But even
stranger, perhaps, has been the silence emanating from India, the world's
largest democracy and the birthplace of Buddhism. As long as India and
Southeast Asian democracies put commercial interests ahead of principle,
progress will be slow.

The Nobel Peace Prize is due to be announced today, 16 years after Aung
San Suu Kyi herself was the recipient. In all those years, spent mostly
under house arrest, she has remained true to the ideals of democracy,
reconciliation and nonviolence. Perhaps, in the midst of celebrating this
year's winner, global leaders will pause to think about whether they could
do a bit more to support her and her unspeakably courageous comrades.

____________________________________
STATEMENT

October 11, 88 Generation Students
Statement on dialogue (Unofficial Translation)

1. Dialogue is the only way out to current crises of Burma. Dialogue is
the way longing for by the political forces, ethnic people, and the entire
people besides international community to resolve the crises peacefully
and politically.
2. Regarding the dialogue, only the genuine dialogue can produce good
result for national reconciliation. Free, frank and transparent
negotiation without precondition is essential for the genuine dialogue.

3. Contrary to this, continuation of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's house arrest,
continuation of the arrests of monks, students, people and democratic
forces and setting unilateral precondition are stumbling blocks for
genuine dialogue from being materialized. Moreover, it would be a game of
the junta for buying time to trick the international community and the
Burmese people.

4. Thus we profoundly urge SPDC to follow the following points as
preliminary stage to make dialogue genuine and being materialized.

(a) To release Daw Aung San Suu Kyi unconditionally
(b) To stop arrest and persecution of monks, students and the people
(c) To create positive and healthy political environment without precondition

88 Generation Students
Contact email: 88gstudent at gmail.com

____________________________________
PRESS RELEASE

October 12: International Trade Union of Confederation
ITUC calls for end of business links with Burma

ITUC calls on Companies to End Business Links with Burma

The ITUC is currently writing to 430 companies worldwide which have or are
suspected to have business links with Burma, calling on them to end their
business links.

The action is in support of the ITUC associated organisation the
Federation of Trade Unions - Burma (FTUB), which today renewed its call
for companies to disinvest in the country.

In the letter, ITUC General Secretary underlines that in spite of the
growing number of companies doing business there, economic conditions for
the vast majority of Burmese are deteriorating, while it is the military
junta and its small coterie of supporters which are benefiting.

"The Burmese junta, responsible for years of murder, torture, massive
forced labour and absolute repression of the population, is ripping off
billions of dollars and every single business deal which is done helps
line the pockets of the generals. This corrupt and incompetent regime is
responsible for a catastrophic fall in living standards across the
country. Foreign investment has done nothing to stop that. On the
contrary, it fuels repression by enabling the regime to purchase weapons
used against defenceless civilians: the army's share in the national
budget is 40%. Health and education combined amount to less than 7%!
'Business as usual' in Burma will only make the junta stronger", said
Ryder.

The Global Unions public database listing companies with actual or
suspected business relations with Burma is updated on an ongoing basis,
and companies which show that they no longer have business links are
removed from the list. Companies which do not withdraw will be the subject
of further pressure in their home countries from ITUC national affiliates
and also by the Global Union Federations in the different economic
sectors.

The company-based action is taking place alongside trade union campaign
action to get governments, the European Union and other intergovernmental
bodies to strengthen and deepen economic and financial sanctions and cut
off military and security supplies to the regime.

ITUC and European TUC affiliates are currently pressing the European
governments to ensure that EU sanctions, which will be reviewed on Monday,
include a comprehensive ban on EU trade with Burma covering all strategic
sectors, including in particular oil and gas, gemstones, and tropical
wood.

Founded on 1 November 2006, the ITUC represents 168 million workers in 153
countries and territories and has 305 national affiliates.

____________________________________

October 12, Alternative ASEAN Network on Burma
"Put your money where your mouth is" Asean activists urge tougher EU
sanctions on Burma

The Alternative ASEAN Network on Burma (Altsean-Burma) today urged the
European Union to fulfill its promise to impose targeted economic
sanctions against Burma's State Peace and Development Council (SPDC).

"The people of Burma have risked their lives to peacefully protest against
the SPDC's economic and political mismanagement. It is time that the EU
and the international community send an unequivocal message to the SPDC
that their murderous rampage against monks and unarmed civilians is
absolutely unacceptable," said Debbie Stothard, coordinator of
Altsean-Burma, a regional human rights group.

"The regime is using diplomacy to stave off international pressure while
continuing its vicious crackdown against monks and civilians. Tougher
sanctions will send a clear message that the EU sees through the regime's
subterfuge. Otherwise, European support for democracy and human rights
will be dismissed as mere rhetoric and diplomatic posturing.

"The EU has an important opportunity to affect real change in Burma at
this time when the SPDC is already economically vulnerable. The junta will
have no choice but to commence political dialogue with the democracy
movement and ethnic groups if it is hit by targeted economic sanctions,"
emphasized Ms Stothard.

On September 25, the EU warned the SPDC that it would strengthen sanctions
if the military regime resorted to violence against its civilians. The
next day, the SPDC launched a violent crackdown on Burmese citizens and
members of the Buddhist clergy who had gathered for the ninth consecutive
day to protest the military regime's oppressive rule. More than 3,000
monks and civilians have been detained, with the majority still
incarcerated. At least 138 protesters have been killed, including many
monks and a Japanese photojournalist*.

The SPDC's violent reaction to the protests continues. Kyaukpadaung
Township NLD member Ko Win Shwe died as a result of torture during
interrogation in Plate Myot Police Center near Mandalay. Those who have
been released from various detention centers throughout the country report
horrific, overcrowded conditions, with no sanitation, little food and
drinking water, and denial of medical treatment. Protesters are being
tortured during interrogation and monks have forcibly disrobed. Many have
died.

"Now is the time for the EU to put its money where its mouth is. If the
Europeans do not have the determination to keep up the pressure, it gives
the rest of the world an excuse to backtrack on Burma, as well," stressed
Ms Stothard.

Enquiries:
Tel +6681 686 1652 / + 6681 850 9008

* Detention figures reported by the Irrawaddy. Deaths reported by Mizzima.

____________________________________
OBITUARY

October 12, Associated Press
Myanmar Prime Minister Soe Win dies after long illness

Myanmar Prime Minister Gen. Soe Win died Friday in a military hospital
after a long illness, state media announced. He was 59.

Soe Win, a reputedly ruthless member of the ruling military junta, had
been blamed with overseeing a 2003 attack against democracy icon Aung San
Suu Kyi.

The fourth-ranking member of the junta, he had been ailing for months with
what relatives said was acute leukemia. He returned Sept. 30 from extended
hospitalization in Singapore and had been warded at Mingaladon Military
Hospital on the outskirts of northern Yangon, relatives said.

Soe Win's death came as the junta continued its crackdown on democracy
advocates that followed more than a month of street protests in the
tightly controlled country.

His departure was unlikely to cause a ripple in the regime's grip on
power. Soe Win had little if any policy-making role as prime minister and
was largely considered a figurehead for the junta.

Lt. Gen. Thein Sein, who has been serving as acting prime minister at
least since May, was expected to succeed Soe Win. Thein Sein is known as a
fierce loyalist of Senior Gen. Than Shwe, the junta leader.

Soe Win was nicknamed the "Butcher of Depayin" for his role in the 2003
attack on Suu Kyi and her followers in the northern town of Depayin.

Details of the attack remain murky, but several dozen of Suu Kyi's
supporters were believed killed when a mob of government supporters
ambushed her motorcade. Soe Win is considered the mastermind behind the
attack, according to diplomats, rights groups and government critics.

He first achieved notoriety as one of the officers who brutally suppressed
a 1988 pro-democracy uprising, commanding troops around Rangoon University
a center for demonstrations and giving orders to open fire on a crowd of
protesters in front of Rangoon General Hospital. Rangoon is the old name
for the Myanmar's former capital, Yangon.

Soe Win was also an air force chief and a commander for the northwestern
military region of Myanmar. He joined the junta's inner circle as
Secretary-2 in February 2003, and was promoted to Secretary-1 in an August
2003 Cabinet shake-up, replacing Khin Nyunt.

He is survived by his wife, and their son and daughter. Soe Win's twin
brother died on Sept. 19.

The current junta seized power in 1988, then held a general election in
1990 but refused to recognize a landslide victory by the opposition party
of Suu Kyi, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991.

Simmering anger with the military's 45-year rule exploded in mid-August
after it hiked fuel prices by as much as 500 percent a crushing burden in
this impoverished nation. The marches soon ballooned into mass
pro-democracy demonstrations led by the nation's revered Buddhist monks.

The military crushed the protests on Sept. 26 and 27. The government says
10 people were killed in the violence. But dissident groups put the death
toll at up to 200. They say 6,000 people were detained, and that arrests
continue.