BurmaNet News, November 23, 2007

[Editor]

November 23, 2007 Issue # 3349

INSIDE BURMA
DVB: Monk group calls for exam boycott
Mizzima News: Burmese Army raids KIA's regional command office, arrest two
Irrawaddy: Than Shwe finds Burma’s fate in the stars
Irrawaddy: Ethnic leaders questioned about support for Suu Kyi
Irrawaddy: USDA accused of corruption in Water Project

ON THE BORDER
Irrawaddy: Norwegian NGO stops funding Burmese Student Army
Khonumthung News: China urged not to sell armaments to Burma

BUSINESS / TRADE
Irrawaddy: Weekly business roundup
Financial Times: Concern over Burma’s leap of faith on biofuel

HEALTH / AIDS
Taipei Times: Clinic founder to receive award - Flora Wang
Khonumthung News: UNDP’s health training for Chin people

ASEAN
Mizzima News: ASEAN forges ahead with economic integration

REGIONAL
Jakarta Post: SBY declares 'soft power' approach to Myanmar
Financial Times: Asian neighbours 'must back UN efforts in Burma' - Amy
Kazmin

INTERNATIONAL
Reuters: U.N.'s Myanmar envoy failed to meet China, India PM - paper
BBC News: Burma activist wins exile fight

OPINION / OTHER
Boston Globe: Rubbing elbows with tyrants at Asean

PRESS RELEASE
Women’s league of Burma: Women around the world launch campaign to free
women human rights defenders in Burma

____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

November 23, Democratic Voice of Burma
Monk group calls for exam boycott

The Representative Monks Association has called on student monks not to
participate in their annual examinations, in a statement issued yesterday.

The examinations are organised by the state, and would usually be taken by
monks studying at lecturing monasteries.

The RPA represents leaders of the All-Burmese Monks Alliance who are
currently in hiding.

The statement calls on monks, students and others not to forget about the
monk-led demonstrations and government crackdown in September, and urges
monks and civilians to continue with the movement and not give up.

The group also says it appreciates the work of United Nations special
representatives Ibrahim Gambari and Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, and of detained
democracy leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and world leaders.

The statement was signed by the RPA director, who is among those monks in
hiding from the authorities.

There has been a positive response to the statement from monks.

U Khemar Nanda, temporary spokesperson for the All-Burmese Monks Alliance,
supported the boycott.

"We absolutely encourage the boycott plan; in fact, we have been
organizing the same campaign in collaboration with the young monks from
[Mandalay's] old and new Masoyein monasteries,” he said.

“We monks are continuing our boycott against the government on all grounds
including economic areas and in the education systems. We, the ABMA, fully
support this boycott campaign."

A monk from Masoeyein [New] monastery in Mandalay said that the boycott
had already taken effect.

"Before, we had about 3,000 student monks here. But now there are only
about 500 left as the rest decided not to participate in the exams and
have gone home," he said.

A senior monk from lecturing monastery No 1 in Pakokku, Magwe, also
supported the planned action.

"There are four lecturing monasteries in this town including ours. We
supported the other three monasteries’ ideas for previous protests,” said
the senior monk.

“We monks live in unity and this has no political intentions. We will
follow the boycott if the other monasteries agree with it."

A senior monk from lecturing-monastery No 2 in Pakokku shared this view.

"We have four lecturing-monasteries here and we will go along with the
majority," he said.

In Sittwe, Arakan, a senior monk from a lecturing monastery agreed that
monks there should not participate.

"Most of the monks here have already decided not to go for the exams as
they were disgusted by the government’s actions in September. I personally
think we should not participate in the exams either," he said.

____________________________________

November 23, Mizzima News
Burmese Army raids KIA's regional command office, arrest two - Myo Gyi

In yet another attempt at mounting pressure on the ethnic Kachin
Independence Army (KIA), based along the Sino-Burmese border, the Burmese
Army on Thursday raided one of its regional command office's and arrested
eight, including officers and cadres of the armed group, insiders said.

The Light Infantry Battalion (LIB – 241) under the control of Northern
Military Division of the Burmese Army at about 1 p.m. (local time) on
Thursday raided the KIA regional command office, located in Dingga village
in Dawhpum Yang Township near the armed group's headquarters in Laiza.
Commander Zai San, Assistant Commander Zau Gawng and six other cadres were
arrested, the source said.

However, the Burmese Army today released six of the cadres but continues
to detain the Commander and Assistant Commander, the source added.

In recent times, the Burmese junta has stepped up pressure on the KIA, one
of Burma's longest surviving insurgent groups. On November 20 it imposed a
ban on the movement of pedestrian and vehicular traffic along the Myit
Kyina-Bamaw highway to Laiza, sources said.

The ban on movement, including passenger vehicles was imposed by the
Burmese Army's Infantry Battalion (IB-312), based in Laja Yang village,
about three miles from KIA's headquarters in Laiza.

Sources, however, said the Burmese Army has begun to reopen the highway
and that a few vehicles including trucks were seen moving in and out of
Laiza.

The KIA officials were not immediately available for comment.

____________________________________

November 23, Irrawaddy
Than Shwe finds Burma’s fate in the stars - Wai Moe

Burmese junta leader Snr-Gen Than Shwe’s wife Kyaing Kyaing recently
visited the celebrated Shit Myet Hna pagoda in her husband’s birthplace,
Kyaukse, in central Burma, but she wasn’t just sightseeing or calling on
friends and relatives.


The revered site is known as the “Eight Faces” pagoda because it faces
eight points of the compass. Kyaing Kyaing is reported to have prayed
symbolically there for support from all sides for her beleaguered husband
and his despised regime.

Kyaing Kyaing and her husband, like many members of the ruling military,
are deeply superstitious and rely on astrologers and other soothsayers to
advise them.

They also indulge in yadaya, a kind of voodoo said to ward off
ill-fortune, and are said to have employed its rituals in an occult bid to
influence meetings between opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and the
official appointed by Than Shwe to act as a go-between, retired general
Aung Kyi.

Than Shwe reportedly even attaches significance to Aung Kyi’s name,
combining as it does Aung at the start and Kyi at the end. This
combination is known in Burmese as “Ket’ Kin,” meaning the state of two
names being diametrically opposite to each other and thus astrologically
significant.

There are others examples of ‘Ket’ Kin’ within the military junta. The
names of Than Shwe, Prime Minister Gen Thein Sein and the official who
signs government decrees and statements, Col Thant Shin, all begin with
the letter T and end with S—‘Ket’ Kin,” according to the superstitious.

Than Shwe wasn’t always so subject to superstitious belief—one source
close to the family says he was no strong believer in astrology when he
was regional military commander in the Irrawaddy delta.

His wife Kyaing Kyaing, originally ethnic Pa-O, has long been a strong
believer in nats, or spirits, astrology and yadaya.

She is said to have been told by an astrologer in the 1980s that her
husband would one day head the government. The astrologer, a monk, also
offered the delighted Kyaing Kyaing the information that her husband had
been a king in his past life.

After the first prediction came true, Than Shwe (not surprisingly)
developed his interest in astrology and yadaya and began to seek the
advice of astrologers and soothsayers—including Rangoon’s most famous
fortune-teller, ET (also known as E Thi).

A Buddhist nun, Daw Dhammathi, is believed to be one of his family’s most
favored astrologists, and Kyaing Kyaing is a frequent visitor to her
temple compound in Rangoon’s North Okkalapa suburb.

Than Shwe’s efforts to neutralize the powers of Suu Kyi are also said to
account for his extraordinary initiative to force Burmese to grow physic
nuts, which are intended to provide alternative fuel for the cash-strapped
country.

Physic nuts are known as kyet suu in Burmese, a combination of words that
carry the astrological meaning of Monday-Tuesday. Suu Kyi’s own name has
the astrological meaning of Tuesday-Monday, and it’s said that Than Shwe’s
astrologer suggested that by planting kyet suu throughout the country Suu
Kyi’s powers could be neutralized.

There’s no sign of that happening yet. Astrology and yadaya obviously have
their limitations.

____________________________________

November 23, Irrawaddy
Ethnic leaders questioned about support for Suu Kyi - Saw Yan Naing

A prominent Arakanese ethnic leader, Cin Sian Thang, was still in custody
on Friday after being taken in for questioning by the authorities on
November 20.

Several other ethnic representatives detained the same day have been
released after being questioned about their views of the statement issued
by opposition leader Aung Suu Kyi after the latest peace mission to Burma
by UN Special Envoy Ibrahim Gambari. They say they told the authorities
they supported her stand.

Cin Sian Thang’s daughter told The Irrawaddy on Friday that he had been
taken to Rangoon’s Aung Thapyay interrogation center. The authorities had
told her they wanted to question her father only briefly, but they
returned on Thursday to collect some of his clothes and medicine. “I don’t
know why they haven’t yet sent him home,” she said.

Cin Sian Thang, who is also a member of Committee Representing the
People's Parliament, took part in the September demonstrations in Rangoon.

Other ethnic leaders called in for questioning included Naing Ngwe Thein,
of the Mon National Democracy Front, Aye Tha Aung, chairman of the Arakan
League for Democracy, Ohn Tin, of the Arakan League for Democracy, Khun
Htoo, of the Kachin State National Congress for Democracy, and National
League for Democracy member Soe Win.

Aye Tha Aung said he was detained at Aung Thapyay interrogation center for
about three hours on November 20, without being interrogated. “I think
they worried about what I would tell to the media after I return home,” he
said.

The detentions were condemned on Friday by NLD spokesman Nyan Win, who
told The Irrawaddy the latest actions by the authorities conflicted with
the regime’s talk about national reconciliation.

____________________________________

November 23, Irrawaddy
USDA accused of corruption in Water Project - Wai Moe

The Union Solitary and Development Association is extorting local people
while it manages a water supply and pipeline project in Dagon Myothit
Township in the suburbs of Rangoon, according to sources.

Sources close to the USDA told The Irrawaddy on Friday that leading
members of the USDA are involved in corruption. Secretary Soe Win and
Joint-Secretary Than Oo of the UDSA in Dagon Myothit Township (North) were
specifically mentioned and are currently being interrogated for corruption

“The USDA forced Dagon Myothit residents to pay kyat 170,000 (About US
$130) per household to receive running water. The project has still not
been finished,” said a source.

Residents in the township had complained about low-quality materials being
used in construction of the pipeline project and they also complained that
leading members of the USDA had bought cell-phones with the project funds,
according to the sources. [Cell phones are expensive in Burma, costing
about US $2,000 with a connected line.]

Dagon Myothit Township was built without a water supply in 1989. The
authorities gave the USDA the contract to supply water by connecting a
pipeline to Ngamoeyeik Dam. The project was launched in mid-2007.

“The USDA was given this project because the junta wants it to recruit
more members and manage this kind of state project in the future,” said a
Dagon Myothit resident.

The annual general meeting of the UDSA was held from November 12- 16 in
Naypyidaw. After the meeting all members of the association were asked to
hand in their biographies, or CVs. Members were also asked to give up any
position on the Township or Ward Peace and Development Council they
currently hold. Low-ranking officers often have positions in both places,
according to sources.

“It seems the generals would rather change the USDA into a political
party,” said an observer from Rangoon. “They [the authorities] only called
on respected people to join the USDA”.

Founded in 1993, the USDA is a junta-backed organization, which acts as a
local authority in many areas. Analysts say that the military government
is remodeling the organization to stand as a pro-junta political party in
the event of future elections.

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

November 23, Irrawaddy
Norwegian NGO stops funding Burmese Student Army - Shah Paung

A Norwegian non-governmental organization that works exclusively with
Burma has stopped its financial support to a Burmese students’ armed group
this week, according to a leading member of the exiled students group.

According to a letter dated November 21 from the Norwegian Burma Committee
sent to the All Burma Students’ Democratic Front, the NBC is “disappointed
and very concerned” to learn that the ABSDF released a statement on
October 4, 2007, in which it declared its decision to conduct active
military action against the military regime in Burma.

“Since ABSDF as an organization had decided to be involved in military
action and attack, NBC cannot continue to support any of ABSDF’s
activities,” the letter stated.

The NBC letter also noted that they have supported ABSDF’s social
development activities for nearly 10 years and that ABSDF has confirmed
that the funds from NBC had only been used for non-violent purposes.

But Salai Yaw Aung, the joint-general secretary (1) of the ABSDF said, “I
think they misunderstand us, because of our October 4 press release.”

In the ABSDF statement, members were called on to support September’s
peaceful demonstrations and implement their activities inside the country
by “attacking the roots of the SPDC military machine.”

The ABSDF statement also stated that they are preparing for activists from
inside Burma to join them and that they would receive short-term and
long-term military training.

To implement these activities the ABSDF needs “the ideas, people,
materials and financial support from all friends who are in other
countries,” the ABSDF statement added, urging people to contact them to
pledge support.

Salai Yaw Aung said they have adopted armed struggle in the present-day
revolution in response to requests from the Burmese people. However,
currently the ABSDF cannot be as active in its military role, which is
mostly based on guerrilla warfare, he said.

“We have a lot of limits in our work—like now the NBC is stopping their
funds to us,” he said. “But for the benefit of our country we have made
our decision.”

In addition, Salai Yaw Aung claimed that the cut in financial support
would hurt not only the ABSDF, but also their social work, especially the
schools they had opened for migrant children and Internally Displaced
People.

According to the ABSDF, they have two schools along the Thai-Burmese
border: a high school with more than 400 students, mostly IDPs; and a
primary school for 40 mainly migrant children, which the students group
supports financially.

However, the NBC letter concluded: “Since you have decided not to take a
more peaceful way of responding to the political situation in Burma, NBC
has decided to withdraw and stop all cooperation with you.”

_____________________________________

November 23, Khonumthung News
China urged not to sell armaments to Burma

Pro-democracy activists from Burma and northeast India yesterday urged
China not to provide military hardware to Burma . They also wanted China
to mount pressure on the Burmese military junta to implement quick reforms
to usher in democracy.

In a memorandum submitted to Chinese youth, currently in Aizawl, capital
of Mizoram state, Burmese and Mizo democracy activists from Mizoram
Committee for Democracy in Burma (MCDB) and Campaign for Democracy
Movement in Burma (CDMB) also called on the government of China to stop
selling armaments to the Burmese junta.

"We urged youth from China to join the international community to usher in
democracy in Burma and also appealed to the Chinese government to push the
Burmese regime to speed up democratic reforms in Burma," L. Changte,
Deputy Director of CDMB said.

On November 21, 100 Chinese youth arrived in Aizawl as part of a friendly
tour across states in India under a bilateral agreement between India and
China .

A memorandum to the Chinese government accused the Burmese regime of using
the weapons supplied by China to kill innocent people. It pointed out that
the Burmese regime has no external enemy but views its own people as its
enemy.

The CDMB said that the Mizo people need to see immediate change to
democracy in Burma and a peaceful life for the Burmese people. The CDMB
also said that around 80,000 unrecognized Burmese refugees are taking
refuge in Mizoram as a result of the deteriorating social, political and
economic situation in Burma.

On November 2, CDMB and MCDB jointly sent a memorandum to India 's
Vice-President. The memorandum asked India not to sell military hardware
and not to give training to high ranking military officers from Burma.

____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

November 23, Irrawaddy
Weekly business roundup - William Boot

Burma’s Yuzana in India-China Road Link Deal
A Burmese businessman in particularly good favor with the regime has been
awarded a contract to redevelop most of the country’s section of the
so-called Stilwell Road that linked northeast India with China during
WWII.

U Htay Myint’s Yuzana Company, which is engaged in a several
infrastructure projects as well as retailing and agriculture, will develop
a 120-mile stretch of the road through the northeastern tip of Burma,
according to the Kachin News Group.

India recently agreed with China to redevelop the road, which had fallen
into disrepair and disuse owing to border tensions between the two
countries.

The 1,000-mile road once connected Ledo in Assam with Kunming, capital of
China’s Yunnan province.

It became known as the Stilwell Road after wartime US Gen. Joe Stilwell,
who first pushed its development as a supply route to aid the Chinese who
were fighting Japanese occupation forces.

China has already renovated much of its section of the road.

India was until recently reluctant to develop its section out of concern
it would benefit drug smugglers and breakaway insurgents who hide across
the border in Burma. But New Delhi’s ‘Look East’ economic policy has
changed this attitude.

The Yuzana Company has been awarded a 30-year deal to collect a transport
tax on its section of the road, according to the Kachin News Group, but
it’s unclear how this fits into agreements with India and China on the
functioning of the international road.

Indian ‘Look East’ Trade Policy Hits Problems
The Indian federal government’s hopes of expanding trade east via Burma
has again fallen foul of local bureaucracy and petty disputes.

Because of a transportation dispute, imports of all goods except a few
items on an exemption list of perishable farm produce have been banned by
the Indian state of Mizoram, bordering Burma, for two months from November
20.

Traders on the Burmese side of the border object to a monopoly on
transport by bus owners and transport union workers in the Champhai
district of Mizoram, said a statement by the Champhai area government,
citing some obscure local right to close the border crossing to trade in a
dispute.

Earlier this year, the Zokhawthar-Champhai border crossing was closed for
a number of weeks because Mizoram suspected drugs and weapons might be
smuggled in freight.

This border pettiness mirrors similar trade holdups on the only other
cross-border trade crossing between the two countries, at Moreh in the
neighboring Indian state of Manipur.

Only a few weeks ago, New Delhi finalized an agreement with the Burmese
regime for a US $100 million modernization of the Burmese port of Sittwe,
at the mouth of the Kaladan River which flows from Mizoram.

As part of the Sittwe development, India hopes to make the river more
navigable to bigger boats and so to improve cross-border trade.

China Takes Thailand’s Stake in Salween Hydro Project
China’s grip on Burma’s energy resources has tightened with a Chinese
state company acquiring a controlling stake in the planned US $6 billion
hydroelectric dam project at Tasang on the Salween River.

The China Gezhouba Water & Power Group was awarded a 51 percent
shareholding by the military government in place of Thailand’s shadowy MDX
Group.

Reports say MDX had found it difficult to comply with the development
program for the project, which envisages a 7,100 megawatt electricity
generating capacity.
MDX will maintain a reduced interest in the project, which also involves
the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand.

Under the original MDX-led scheme, at least half of the electricity was
earmarked to be sold to Thailand. It’s not clear if this will remain so,
or whether more power will instead be pumped into China’s energy-hungry
Yunnan province.

The China Gezhouba Group was the lead developer of the world’s largest
hydropower dam project, the Three Gorges system on China’s Yangtze River.

Once hailed as a marvel of engineering achievement, the Three Gorges has
in the last few weeks been revealed as an environmental nightmare.

More than 1 million people were forcibly moved to build the huge reservoir
behind the dam, and now a similar number may have to be relocated due to
collapsing shorelines, water- poisoning algae infestations and other
unforeseen calamities due to the size of the project.

The Tasang hydrodam is the largest of several planned along the Salween,
which is one of the last large free-flowing rivers in Southeast Asia.

Dhaka Seeks Access to Shwe Gas
Bangladesh has asked Burma for access to some of the gas deposits of the
huge offshore Shwe field in the Bay of Bengal.

Dhaka said it would use the gas to fuel a factory to make fertilizer, some
of which it planned to send back to Burma in exchange for the gas.

The proposal was made at the first meeting for three years of the
Bangladesh-Myanmar Joint Trade Commission, in Dhaka.

Bangladesh Commerce Secretary Feroz Ahmed told the Bangladesh Times that
although the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and
Industry said Burma could build a fertilizer plant itself, “Bangladesh has
greater expertise, infrastructure and resources for the project”.

Bangladesh is also seeking a lifting of restrictions on the free movement
of Bangladeshi citizens by making visa requirements less bureaucratic.

Ahmed said this would help to improve cross border trade between the two
countries.
Several other ideas discussed at the joint meeting included a joint
pharmaceutical venture, increased rice sales by Burma and more sea-borne
trade.

However, more detailed talks have been suspended because of the cyclone
emergency in Bangladesh.

____________________________________

November 23, Financial Times
Concern over Burma’s leap of faith on biofuel - Amy Kazmin

Biodiesel and the cultivation of energy-yielding crops have become for
many countries an important component of energy planning. But few have
embraced biofuels with the single-minded zeal of Burma, where the military
junta has launched a massive national campaign to grow jatropha, whose
seeds are crushed and processed to produce oil.

In the quest for cash to fill its coffers, the regime is aiming to
cultivate 8m acres of jatropha – still largely unproven as a suitable crop
for biofuel – by 2009. An official recently proclaimed that Burma wished
to export large quantities of biofuel from jatropha.

While state newspapers are filled with photos of generals enthusiastically
planting and inspecting jatropha seedlings and plantations, UN officials
and human rights groups have serious concerns about the push.

Rights groups say many farmers are being ordered by local military
authorities to grow the crop regardless of the climate’s suitability,
while others are apparently having land confiscated for use in large-scale
jatropha plantations.

“This is ‘Great Leap Forward’ kind of mentality,” says David Mathieson, a
researcher with Human Rights Watch. “It’s an idea that is being forced on
the population, without [regard to] any kind of adequate environmental
impact or social consultation.”

A Rangoon-based UN official – who asked not to be identified – says
jatropha could be a useful crop for arid areas, but there is concern over
the impact on rural dwellers’ already precarious food security.

“The biggest weakness is the way it is being undertaken,” the official
says. “A lot of latitude is being given to the military to deploy for
jatropha production, with little understanding of its impact in other
areas such as basic community food security.”

The Food and Agriculture Organisation, which conducted a quick assessment
of Burma’s jatropha programme, says it has urged the government to study
the suitability of the plant for Burma’s diverse agri-environments.

In its state-driven approach, the jatropha programme echoes the regime’s
one-time requirement that all farmers grow rice – regardless of the
suitability of their land for cultivation – and sell it at a discount to
the military.

While the regime technically lifted those rules in 2003, the years of
tight state controls on agriculture so deeply impoverished Burma’s farmers
that today most lack sufficient cash even to buy fertiliser.

____________________________________
HEALTH / AIDS

November 23, Taipei Times
Clinic founder to receive award - Flora Wang

The Taiwan Foundation for Democracy announced yesterday that its 2007 Asia
Democracy and Human Rights Award will go to Cynthia Maung, founder of the
Mae Tao Clinic located close to the Thai-Burmese border, for her long-term
dedication to helping Burmese refugees.

Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平), who is also
chairman of the foundation, said Maung, or "Dr. Cynthia" as her patients
call her, stood out from the five finalists with an excellent review from
the foundation's Final Review Board.
The finalists included Sima Samar, chairwoman of the Afghan Independent
Human Rights Commission; People in Need, a Czech non-profit organization
providing relief around the world; exiled Chinese democracy activist Wang
Dan (王丹); and Human Rights Without Frontiers, Int, a
non-profit organization based in Brussels, Belgium, that advocates human
rights worldwide.

Wang said the consensus to choose Maung was reached by the review board:
Robert Menard, founder of Reporters Sans Frontieres, which fights for
freedom of speech worldwide; Asma Jahangir, chairwoman of Human Rights of
Pakistan; Nisuke Ando, a member of UN Human Rights Committee; Alexander
Boraine, chairman of the International Center for Transitional Justice;
and Carl Gershman, president of the National Endowment for Democracy in
the US.

"Dr. Cynthia is going beyond her mandate as a physician by turning a
refugee population into a community based on shared values and respect for
human rights, as well as by linking her cause to the international
community," Wang said during a press conference.

The foundation will invite Maung to visit Taiwan on Dec. 13 to receive the
award and a grant of US$100,000 to support her relief work, Wang said.

Maung, who was born in Yangon in 1959, was also a refugee herself after
she fled across the border to Mae Sot, Thailand, where she lived in the
Huay Kaloke refugee camp.

She established a makeshift clinic in Mae Sot in 1989 to provide medical
treatment for victims of wars and job training and HIV prevention
education to refugees free of charge.

She has been internationally recognized over the past few decades,
including being chosen by Time magazine as one of its Asian heroes in
2003, being nominated for the 1,000 Women Nobel Peace Prize, and being
awarded the 2005 Chou Ta-Kuan Foundation's Global Concern for Human Life
Award.

"Giving the award to her means we have formed a broader definition of
democracy and human rights," said the foundation's standing supervisor,
Hsiao Hsin-huang (蕭新煌).

"Last year, we awarded the prize to Reporters Sans Frontieres," Hsiao
said. "This year's winner provides direct services to victims ... from
reporters to doctors, everyone can fight for democracy and human rights."

Hsiao said the timing of Maung's award was crucial because it represented
an immediate concern from Taiwan for the refugees from Myanmar.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2007/11/20/2003388685

____________________________________

November 22, Khonumthung News
UNDP’s health training for Chin people

A health related training programme for Chin people from remote areas of
the state in Burma was conducted recently by the United Nation Development
Programme (UNDP).

UNDP staff members held a week long training session on how to combat
malaria and diarrhea in its office in Thangtlang town, Chin state from
November 13 to 20. One person each from 28 villages in Thangtlang was told
to attend the training programme.

“They (UNDP staff) during the training lectured trainees on preventive
measures for malaria and diarrhea,” a local in Thangtlang said.

The UNDP staff also distributed about 100 malaria and diarrhea preventive
capsules to each trainee.

It was learnt that the UNDP is planning to continue health related
training for the trainees for the rest of the villages in Thangtlang.
There are 85 villages in Thangtlang.

Activities related to health training by UNDP in other townships in Chin
state has not been reported yet.

Last month, Merlin, the international charity group from UK had also
distributed anti-mosquito pills and mosquito net to locals in Thangtlang
town, Chin state.

____________________________________
ASEAN

November 22, Mizzima News
ASEAN forges ahead with economic integration

While questions abound as to the efficacy of ASEAN's proposed Charter and
continuing concerns regarding Burma dog the summit's attendees, ASEAN and
regional governments are pushing ahead with measures aimed at enhancing
economic integration throughout the region.

Free trade negotiations have been successfully concluded between ASEAN and
both Japan and South Korea during this week's 13th ASEAN summit,
culminating today in Singapore.

The agreement with Japan, the ASEAN-Japan Comprehensive Economic
Partnership (AJCEP), covers sectors such as services and tariffs and comes
despite Japan being under considerable pressure to make recent events in
Burma a cornerstone of its ASEAN policy. On September 27, at the height of
the military's violent crackdown, Japanese journalist Kenji Nagai was shot
dead in the streets of Rangoon.

Following the culmination yesterday of negotiations with Japan, ASEAN also
saw to fruition negotiations of a free trade agreement with South Korea.

The agreement with Korea provides companies with enhanced access to
financial systems and infrastructure. Such an arrangement for Burmese
companies is exactly what numerous opposition voices and groups, together
with the United States, Australia and Europe, have been vociferously
campaigning to have banned, arguing that the financial sector is one of
the principle areas in which "smart sanctions" against the junta and its
supporters can most effectively be applied.

ASEAN also looks to have comprehensive free trade agreements in place with
neighboring giants China and India before the end of the decade.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, in proclaiming his country's desire to enhance
ties with ASEAN, stated the relationship would be founded upon three
pillars: economics, security and the building of a social-cultural
community. Predictably, human rights and democracy are denied a position
at the front.

With respect to the European Union itself, ASEAN still looks to have a
free trade agreement signed with the EU within the next two years, though
the issue of Burma will likely need to be assuaged prior to any
understanding.

European and American representatives in Singapore this week have tried to
sway ASEAN to a less accommodating and more confrontational role
concerning Burma, however their attempts look to have been largely in
vain.

Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, in May of this year, provided
a stark rebuff to the United States insistence that ASEAN deal with Burma
more stringently.

Speaking in Washington D.C., Lee described United States unilateral
policies in the Middle East as at least partly responsible for that
region's turmoil, saying that those problems then have negative
repercussions for ASEAN countries. Lee warned the United States that a
one-sided approach to Burma would only follow the same path, providing
more, not fewer, problems for the region.

Six months later, and following the mass protests and violent crackdown
inside Burma less than two months ago, the Prime Minister's position seems
to have changed little. Lee, speaking yesterday in reference to the
ongoing Burmese crisis, said that it is essential for ASEAN to steer clear
of "obstructing efforts" and maintain a commitment "to deepen integration
and build an ASEAN Community."

United Nations Special Envoy to Burma, Ibrahim Gambari, seemed to go some
way in accepting ASEAN's position of constructive engagement when speaking
Wednesday in Singapore about the positive role that can be played by
outside voices in encouraging the Burmese junta to engage with the United
Nations facilitative mission.

ASEAN can positively affect the ongoing dialogue process in Burma "in
concrete terms by encouraging the government of Myanmar to cooperate
fully, regularly and substantively with the United Nations good offices
role."

The latest free trade agreements came as the 3rd East Asia Summit also
congregated. The event witnessed more pledges to enmesh the greater region
in a web of interdependent economic ties.

The East Asia group, in addition to ASEAN countries, includes China,
Japan, South Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand, with Russia as a
proposed candidate.

Lee, in addressing the East Asia Summit as a part of this week's ASEAN
summit, remarked that: "Powered by the rapid emergence of China and India,
the region is on the move and surging ahead."

The question of Burma was left undiscussed, with the group instead
choosing to commit its time to the matters of climate change and free
trade.

Increasingly, those calling for stricter action against Burma, inclusive
of sanctions, may find it difficult to address ASEAN's constituent members
independently or as a single bloc; with the economic influence of Western
countries and groups possibly set to wane in the future in the face of
deepening regional integration.

According to Lee, while the East Asia region still relies on North
American and European markets as a key component of it own economic
livelihood, the region is increasingly becoming more self-sustaining.

Events this past week have made it clear that there exists a deep divide
on how best to address the situation in Burma, while ASEAN appears intent
on furthering its economic integration and interests, regardless of
whether or not there is progress on the Burma front.

____________________________________
REGIONAL

November 23, Financial Times
Asian neighbours 'must back UN efforts in Burma' - Amy Kazmin

Asian countries must push for democratic reform in military-ruled Burma,
even though the Association of South East Asian Nations opted not to take
direct actionduring this week's regional summit, the bloc's incoming
secretary-general said yesterday.

Surin Pitsuwan, a former Thai foreign minister, said countries should
support the efforts of Ibrahim Gambari, the United Nations' special envoy
to Burma, to nudge the junta into dialogue with the democratic opposition
after suppression of anti-government protests in September.

"The region, as a neighbourhood, is still very much hoping that we can
help," Mr Surin, who takes over at Asean in January, told the Financial
Times. "But the region as an organisation, as Asean, may have to be a bit
more circumspect."

Asean leaders - who have consistently rejected calls for sanctions against
Burma - bowed this week to the junta's demands and abruptly withdrew an
invitation for Mr Gambari to discuss the situation in Burma, which is also
known as Myanmar.

"Asean had hoped it could contribute and play an active role in the
process, but Myanmar has made it clear it wants to deal with the UN
special envoy on its own," said Mr Surin. "We would respect the wish of
Myanmar, but stand ready to extend our support to the process . . . Asean
has been asked to step aside, but as neighbours we have to find out ways
to support the process."

The Asean summit that concluded yesterday was touted as a landmark event,
but the signing of a new regional charter was overshadowed by questions
over the bloc's weak response to the Burmese junta's use of force to quell
protests.

While the new charter commits member countries to democracy, the
protection of human rights and market integration, Gloria
Macapagal-Arroyo, president of the Philippines, cast doubt over whether it
would take effect, suggesting Manila would not ratify it without
meaningful reforms in Burma.

Several Asean leaders concurred with the Burmese generals' insistence that
the recent protests, crackdown and UN-mediated process are out of bounds
for Asean.

____________________________________

November 23, Jakarta Post
SBY declares 'soft power' approach to Myanmar - Abdul Khalik and Kornelius
Purba

Claiming he has support from world leaders including those from the UN and
China, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono announced Thursday his "soft
power approach" to help bring democracy to Myanmar.

At the end of his stay here for the ASEAN Summit, the President said his
initiative is complimentary to the other main approaches toward the
association's problematic member.

"On several occasions with various world leaders, including the UN
secretary general (Ban Ki Moon), I've been asked to play an active role in
resolving problems in Myanmar," Yudhoyono said.

He said other approaches included one which involved the United Nations,
through the UN secretary general's special envoy on Myanmar, Ibrahim
Gambari.

Gambari was invited to Singapore to brief leaders of the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations on Myanmar, but the briefing was canceled owing to
objections from the Myanmar government.

The second approach involves ASEAN itself including Myanmar, one of the 10
member states.

The third involves China, who has refrained from confronting the junta on
its treatment of opponents and protesters.

"Indonesia will play a role to strengthen all three approaches so (efforts
to restore democracy and reconciliation in) Myanmar can become more
effective," Yudhoyono said.

He was accompanied by presidential adviser Ali Alatas at the media briefing.

The President, a retired general, said he was sure of Indonesia's role
given the country's similar experience "under a semi-authoritarian regime"
for 32 years and growing opposition, followed by a painful, ongoing
transition to democracy.

He said junta chief Gen. Than Shwe, whom he met on Monday, responded
positively to his suggestion the junta leadership agree to further
mediation by Gambari and continue to build direct contact with opposition
leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Yudhoyono said Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao fully supported his
initiative plan.

"Indonesia and China have a similar position and we hope the Myanmar
government will have 'self restraint' in facing political upheaval ...
Indonesia and China also share the view that penalties are not effective
in the resolution of Myanmar's problems," the President said in a
statement distributed to journalists.

Like Indonesia, he said, Myanmar is also facing threats of national
disintegration, where minority tribes are fighting for separation.

"I'm confident the world's expectation (that Myanmar will return to
democracy) will be realized, because a democratic transition will also
occur in Myanmar. That is my understanding," the President said.

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

November 23, Reuters
U.N.'s Myanmar envoy failed to meet China, India PM - paper

United Nations special envoy Ibrahim Gambari did not meet Chinese and
Indian leaders at a summit of Southeast Asian nations as he prepares for a
trip to Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam, a local newspaper reported on Friday.

Singapore's Straits Times quoted U.N. envoy Ibrahim Gambari as saying in
an interview that he had one-on-one meetings with five heads of state and
17 foreign ministers this week on the sidelines of a summit of the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations to discuss the situation in
military-ruled Myanmar.

Gambari said that his failure to meet Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh cast a shadow over an otherwise
satisfying mission because the two countries had by far the greatest
influence on Myanmar military junta.
Gambari was this week barred from jointly briefing leaders at a summit of
ASEAN on developments in Myanmar, after an objection by Myanmar's military
prime minister Thein Sein.

The newspaper quoted him as saying that the meeting with other leaders had
been "a very good use of time", adding that "the kind of frankness could
not have been possible in an open session".

Asked what could hinder the talks with the junta, Gambari said: "I think
we should just get on with it and remain positive and remain positive and
pro-active. Ultimately, the future of Myanmar belongs to the government
and its people. All we can do is help them."

____________________________________

November 23, BBC News
Burma activist wins exile fight

A Burmese dissident who faced deportation to his troubled homeland has won
his battle to stay in Britain.

Lay Naing and his family fled Burma last year after being imprisoned and
beaten for distributing literature critical of the military junta.

His asylum claim was thrown out and three appeals rejected. But the Prime
Minister ordered a review of the case after being challenged in the
Commons.

Mr Naing, who lives in Wakefield, West Yorks, has now been told he can stay.

The 34-year-old, who works as a volunteer for the Refugee Council in
Leeds, received a letter from Gordon Brown to say he would be given
humanitarian protection status.

Living in fear

Mr Brown ordered a review of the case after he was challenged in the
Commons last month by the Tory immigration spokesman Damian Green.

Mr Naing said: "When I opened the letter from the House of Commons I was
shocked. I was not expecting it.

"I felt a lot of relief, after two years of waiting. But at the same time
I felt very sad.

"There are still so many people in my country who fear for their lives.
What about their human rights?

"I really thank Gordon Brown for giving me humanitarian protection but I
wish he could do more for them."

Mr Naing, an IT lecturer in his native Rangoon, said he now wanted to look
for a job, carry on his voluntary work and continue to campaign for
democracy in his homeland.

"Some people still don't know where Burma is so I have a chance to educate
people about what the situation is there and what they can do to change
it," he said.

"I want to raise awareness of the situation in my country, talk about why
people are suffering back home, and how people they can help by taking
part in demonstrations."

A spokesman for the Refugee Council, said: "We are delighted for Lay
because we know how much of a worry this has been for him.

"He's been living with the fear of being returned to Burma where his life
would potentially be in danger.

"He's not been able to move on with his life, to get a job and have the
opportunity to support himself.

"We hope the response to Lay's case shows that the government recognises
that Burma is not safe and that they are now ensuring that those who have
sought sanctuary in the UK from Burma are fully protected."

____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

November 22, Boston Globe
Rubbing elbows with tyrants at Asean

The presence of Burma's military junta at the summit of the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) earlier this week caused no end of
humiliation for the group's members.

Although it includes democracies, communists, and monarchies, Asean
harbors an ambition to emulate the European Union's transformational
mission to mold a community not only of free-market economies but also of
democracies that respect the human and civil rights of their citizens. The
brutal behavior of Burma's ruling junta is making a mockery of that
aspiration.

The heads of state and foreign ministers in Singapore had to decide how to
respond to September's spectacle of peacefully protesting Buddhist monks
and other citizens of Burma being beaten and killed by the junta's
security forces. At the time, Asean called the regime's assaults on their
people "repulsive." But in Singapore, with junta officials in their midst,
member states reverted to their timorous habit of declining to interfere
in each other's internal affairs.

They made a last-minute decision to revoke an invitation that Singapore
had extended to the United Nations' special envoy for Burma, Ibrahim
Gambari, to give a briefing on his recent visit there. At the summit, the
regime's prime minister insisted that Gambari was entitled to address only
the United Nations, not Asean. And Asean shamefully caved to the junta.

Another symptom of the group's backsliding was apparent in the charter the
members signed on Tuesday. Originally intended as a rule book for
enlightened democracy, similar to the treaties that bind together the
countries of the EU, the charter's preamble commits Asean members "to
strengthen democracy, enhance good governance and the rule of law, and to
promote and protect human rights and fundamental freedoms." But the
charter includes no enforcement mechanism.

At least President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo of the Philippines insisted
that the charter be enforceable. She released a statement warning that if
Burma "signs the charter, it is committed to returning to the path of
democracy and releasing Aung San Suu Kyi," the Nobel Peace Prize laureate
who has been under house arrest for 12 of the past 18 years. Arroyo said
the Philippine Congress "would have extreme difficulty in ratifying the
Asean charter" until the junta undertook such a transition to democracy.

The generals who rule Burma are like an occupying army that has laid waste
to their own country. Even China has been more forthright than Asean in
calling for democratic reform in Burma. Instead of Asean's hands-off
approach, the nations of the world need to maintain unrelenting political
and economic pressure on the ruling generals to release political
prisoners and permit a peaceful transition to democracy.

____________________________________
PRESS RELEASE

November 23, Women’s league of Burma
Women around the world launch campaign to free women human rights
defenders in Burma

International women’s networks are today launching a campaign to free
women human rights defenders in Burma, highlighting activists detained
during the recent crackdown.

Beginning on November 25, the International Day for the Elimination of
Violence Against Women, women’s networks will be calling for the release
of all detainees by December 10. Out of those arrested during last
September’s violent crackdown on peaceful protests led by monks, 106 women
remain in detention, including six nuns.

The Women’s League of Burma will launch the campaign in Bangkok with the
release of a report “Courage to Resist” detailing how women activists have
been hunted down, assaulted, tortured and framed with false charges, and
their family members threatened and held hostage.

Breastfeeding mothers, pregnant women and elderly grandmothers have been
the target of the regime’s paramilitary forces and secret police. Women
have also been used by the regime in their smear campaigns against
activists, and forced to admit on camera to having sexual affairs with
monks.

“We are gravely concerned about the safety and well-being of activists on
the run and all political prisoners in prisons and detention centres
throughout Burma,” said WLB spokesperson Paw Hset Hser. “We are
particularly concerned that the women, including nuns, recently detained
are facing gender and sexual violence in addition to the other
deprivations and unacceptable conditions in the prisons.”

The WLB is urging governments around the world to call for the immediate
and unconditional release of all women human rights defenders and other
political prisoners in Burma, including Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, and to
guarantee women activists on the run a safe return home and reunion with
their families. WLB is also calling for the UN Special Rapporteur on
Violence Against Women to conduct a mission of inquiry to Burma.

Media Contacts:
WLB Lway Aye Nang + 66 89 434 3841
Nang Hseng Noung + 66 81 884 4963
THAILAND Sugarnta Sookpaita   +66 81 314 8599
BURMA/THAILAND Charm Tong +66 81 603 6655
MALAYSIA Pranom Somwong (Bee) +60 19 2371 300
INDONESIA Ti Ti Soentoro +62 813 8598 6014
PHILIPPINES Judy Pasimo +63 906 256 8341
SINGAPORE Cindy +65 9380 5464
HONG KONG Reiko +85 2 9369 2244
JAPAN Cho Cho Aye +81 492 540 188
INDIA Sahana Basavapatna +91 996 8296 202
BANGLADESH Saw San Nyeing Thu +880 1727 200 198
UK Zoya Phan + 44 20 7324 4712
IRELAND Eileen Seymour +353 87 618 0321
USA Nang San +1 917 519 3771
Czech Republic Sabe Soe +42 060 393 2140
(Burma Center Prauge ) info at burma-center.org

P.O Box 413 G P O Chiang Mai 50000 Thailand wlb at womenofburma.org
www.womenofburma.org