BurmaNet News, February 6, 2008

[Editor]

February 6, 2008 Issue # 3396


INSIDE BURMA
Associated Press: NLD seeks talks with junta's ethnic allies
DVB: U Gambira’s hearing postponed
Irrawaddy: USDA enjoys favors from junta
Irrawaddy: Slow response by ethnic groups to NLD’s invitation

ON THE BORDER
IPS: 'How many monks must die before the UN moves?'
Irrawaddy: Mae La villagers fear attack
DVB: Activists call for release of jailed rebels in India
Narinjara News: Four bodies found in Naff River

BUSINESS / TRADE
The Nelson Mail: Doing business with Myanmar

DRUGS
Bangkok Post: Speed smuggler shot dead, 200,000 pills seized

INTERNATIONAL
DVB: UN rapporteur dismayed by ongoing rights abuses
Mizzima News: U.S. targets Burmese tycoon Tay Za
Mizzima News: Complainant threatened not to disclose truth to ILO

OPINION / OTHER
Irrawaddy: The trouble with number 8

PRESS RELEASE
National League for Democracy

____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

February 6, Associated Press
NLD seeks talks with junta's ethnic allies

The political party of detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi reached
out to its opponents among Burma's ethnic minority groups, inviting them
for discussions on their political differences.

The invitation was directed at political parties and other ethnic minority
organizations that back the ruling junta, which has been in power since
crushing pro-democracy demonstrations in 1988, the National League for
Democracy said Tuesday in a statement.

Suu Kyi's party won a 1990 general election but the military refused to
hand over power, putting the country into a long and bitter political
stalemate.

Many but not all of the country's fractious ethnic groups—which have for
decades sought autonomy from the central government—have signed cease-fire
pacts with the junta, implicitly accepting its legitimacy.

Others are in a de facto alliance with Suu Kyi's pro-democracy movement
but have little power to influence the junta.

"The NLD understands expressing one's opinions and dissenting freely are
the practice of democracy. We also understand that having discussions
among parties is also an essence of democracy," the party's statement
said.

 To that end the party invited "ethnic political parties and organizations
that have different views and opinions" to its headquarters in Rangoon,
the country's biggest city.

The unexpected appeal came less than a week after Suu Kyi, in remarks
released through her party, expressed dissatisfaction and pessimism about
the prospects for reconciliation talks with the military government.

Under international pressure after violently suppressing massive
pro-democracy protests in September last year, the junta appointed a
Minister for Relations to coordinate with Suu Kyi. But the minister, Aung
Kyi, has had just a handful of meetings with Suu Kyi, who has complained
that they seemed to be accomplishing very little.

In a statement last week, Suu Kyi said Burma's ethnic minorities must
participate in any reconciliation talks if there is to be progress in
restoring political stability.

Tuesday's entreaty from the NLD statement reiterated Suu Kyi's position,
stated prominently last November in a statement released through the UN,
supporting inclusion of the ethnic groups in seeking a solution for the
country's problems.

The state-controlled media at that time printed numerous statements from
the "cease-fire groups"—ethnic organizations backing the
government—rejecting her position as an unwanted attempt to speak on their
behalf and vowing allegiance to the junta's seven-step "road map to
democracy," which is supposed to lead to free elections.

____________________________________

February 6, Democratic Voice of Burma
U Gambira’s hearing postponed – Aye Nai

All-Burmese Monks Alliance leader U Gambira, who has been detained since 4
November for his role in instigating monk-led protests in September last
year, has had his court hearing postponed.

U Gambira was due to appear in court on Monday to face charges under
section 17/1 of the Unlawful Associations Act.

U Gambira’s older sister Ma Khin Thu Htay said she found out that his
hearing had been cancelled when she went to visit him in Insein prison on
Monday.

“It wasn’t clear whether they are going to extend his remand period, so I
asked the Insein prison special ward administration office, but they told
to ask the main prison authorities,” Khin Thu Htay explained.

“So I asked there, but they referred me to the central prison
administration department, and when I went there they told me that the
case is being handled by the special police, so I should go and ask them.”

U Gambira’s brother, Ko Aung Kyaw Kyaw, was also due to appear in court on
Monday on the same charges, and his hearing was also cancelled.

Ma Khin Thu Htay said that U Gambira looked thinner, but seemed otherwise
healthy, and was still practising his daily activities as a monk, despite
being made to wear prison regulation clothing rather than his robes.

“Both of them were fine – U Gambira looked a little thinner, but he said
it’s because he hasn’t been sleeping well at night; he said he has been
reading and meditating a lot.”

The lawyers U Nyi Nyi Lwin and U Pho Phyu will be defending U Gambira and
his brother when their case comes to court.

Under section 17/1 of the Unlawful Associations Act, they could each face
a three-year prison sentence.

____________________________________

February 6, Irrawaddy
USDA enjoys favors from junta – Violet Cho

Members of the Union Solidarity and Development Association’s (USDA) may
apply for cellular phone licenses as government officials, according to
sources.

The Myanmar Posts and Telecommunication (MPT) plans to issue 70,000 GMS
telephone licenses in Burma.

About 200 to 300 GSM sim cards are being licensed every day in Burma,
according to the Pyi Myanmar Journal.

An MPT official said the agency has issued about 10,000 GSM sim cards
since the beginning of the year.

According to a USDA member in Rangoon, the Burmese military authorities
will allow USDA members who are working at the township level in Rangoon
to apply for cell phone licenses. In Mandalay, the authorities will allow
city section organizers to apply for military-authorized phone licenses.

The process to apply for a cell phone license is becoming easier in Burma,
and even ordinary citizens can afford to  pay about 100,000 kyat can
receive a recommendation letter from local authorities to apply for a
license.

Most people who apply with a recommendation letter will receive a cell
phone license, he said.

GSM telephones prices in Burma have fallen recently after the government
decision to authorize more licenses. The official license fee for a GMS
cell phone from MPT is 1.55 million kyat (US $1,226).

Most government service workers can not afford the cost. The average daily
income in Burma is less than $1 per day.

Before the more liberal policy, a cell phone license cost about 2.8
million kyat ($2,289). Prices are now about 1.7 million kyat ($1,390),
according to Rangoon businessmen.

“Many USDA members apply for a phone license and sell it for extra
income,” said a USDA member.

The government is expanding  the telecommunication service in the country.
Two Chinese telecommunications companies, Alcatel Sanghai Bell Co and ZTE
(Zhong Xing Telecommunications Equipment Company Limited), are working on
GMS projects, constructing cell phone towers in Rangoon and Mandalay.

There were an estimated 200,000 mobile phones in Burma in 2006; in 2005,
the country had about 500,000 land line telephones.

The USDA, a paramilitary organization, was used to intimidate protesters
during the 2007 demonstrations.

____________________________________

February 6, Irrawaddy
Slow response by ethnic groups to NLD’s invitation – Wai Moe

A Chin ethnic leader, Cin Sian Thang, has welcomed the invitation extended
by the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) to opponents among
Burma's ethnic minority groups to discuss their political differences.

Cin Sian Thang said on Wednesday the invitation was a good step that was
long overdue. “It seems the NLD sometimes hesitated,” he said.

Cin Sian Thang is a member of the Committee Representing the People's
Parliament, an umbrella organization embracing the NLD and ethnic groups
and formed after the regime failed to recognize the results of the 1990
election.

Other ethnic groups have not yet reacted publicly to the NLD invitation.
Aung Kyaw Zaw, a Burmese analyst based on the Sino-Burmese border, said
that although ethnic groups in border areas were pleased by the NLD
invitation and by statements made by opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi
last November, they were reluctant to show their support publicly.

“The groups have a dilemma in dealing with the junta at the moment,” Aung
Kyaw Zaw said.

An Arakan leader, Aye Thar Aung, said leaders of ethnic armed groups
wouldn’t dare to come to the NLD office for talks on resolving their
differences because of their connections to the ruling generals and
businesses dealings with them.

NLD Spokesman Han Thar Myint told The Irrawaddy on Wednesday that the
invitation had been issued in the interests of achieving national
reconciliation.

He said that some ethnic groups had misunderstood Suu Kyi’s November
statement on relations between them and her party. She had declared: “In
this time of vital need for democratic solidarity and national unity, it
is my duty to give constant and serious considerations to the interests
and opinions of as broad a range of political organizations and forces as
possible, in particular those of our ethnic nationality races.”

In its coverage of Suu Kyi’s statement, issued through UN Special Envoy
Ibrahim Gambari, the government’s official daily, The New Light of
Myanmar, declared that Suu Kyi did not represent ethnic groups.

The Burmese regime coerced several ethnic ceasefire groups to sign a
written statement saying Suu Kyi had no leadership role among ethnic
nationalities. Leaders of the United Wa State Army, the Kachin Defense
Army, the Kokant Army and the Shan State Army (North) were summoned last
November to a meeting with government officials in Lashio, northern Shan
State, at which they were told to sign the statement.

The resulting coverage in the state-controlled press had led to
misunderstanding, Han Thar Myint said.

“We cannot learn what the ceasefire groups want from the pages of the
junta’s newspapers,” he added.

____________________________________

February 6, Asian Tribune
Karen state civilians appeals to international community to save them from
Burmese army before being decimated

Karen civilians facing continuing attacks from the Burma Army are urgently
appealing to the world for assistance, telling the Free Burma Rangers
(FBR) that “If the Burma Army is not stopped, or we do not get help, when
you come to Karen State in the future, there will no longer be Karen
people. Please tell the rest of the world to help us.”

According to a report from the FBR, a humanitarian aid organisation
working in the conflict zones of eastern Burma, “much of the population of
northern Karen State is now displaced”. Over 24,000 civilians are in
hiding close to their old villages, and at least 6,000 have fled to the
Thai-Burmese border. “For those remaining, continual attacks, patrols, and
the close proximity of new Burma Army camps has made returning to villages
and fields impossible,” the Free Burma Rangers report claims.

On 29 January, the Burma Army attacked a valley near Saw Wa Der, Toungoo
District, with mortars and machine-gun fire, causing internally displaced
people (IDPs) in the area to flee again.

Burma Army patrols “shoot on sight”, according to the Free Burma Rangers.
On 24 January, troops from Burma Army Infantry Battalion 231 arrested and
killed Maung Ga Shwey, the headman of Na Shwe Mo village, in Dooplaya
District, central Karen State.

On 1 January, soldiers from Light Infantry Battalion 704 shot and killed a
53 year-old man, Saw Bo La Gyi, and shot and wounded Saw Bo Wa, aged 32,
in Yaw Kee village in Nyaunglebin District. Yaw Kee has been attacked
multiple times in recent months, and was mortared and destroyed in
October.

“The displaced people here remain steadfast in their hope for a better
future and their struggle for freedom against Burma’s dictators,” the Free
Burma Rangers report states. “At the same time they ask us for help and
ask us to tell our friends around the world that they need help 
 The
dictators of Burma have no interest in stopping the oppression of the
ethnic peoples or relinquishing their power, and until the dictators are
stopped, no amount of food or medical relief is enough to solve the human
crisis now existing in northern Karen State, eastern Burma. The people
here need protection from the Burma Army.”

Christian Solidarity Worldwide’s Advocacy Director, Tina Lambert, said:
“The Karen people are struggling for their very survival. For too long
their cries have fallen on deaf ears around the world. It is time for that
to change. The world must act to bring an end to the dictators’ reign of
terror in Burma – before it is too late.”

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

February 6, Inter-Press Service
'How many monks must die before the UN moves?' – Marwaan Macan-Markar

For one Buddhist monk from Burma, the brutal crackdown of peaceful street
protests in the country last September was anything but a victory for the
military regime.

The force used by the junta exposed its true character to the world. "The
international community really got to know how oppressive the Burmese
military regime is," said the monk, leaning slightly forward on the chair
he was seated on as if to emphasise the point. "That is one of the
advantages of our struggle."

"There were many people who were killed—monks, students, the public—when
the military brutally attacked the people who were demonstrating," he went
on. "It also showed why the military regime is responsible for the way
Burmese Buddhism has been treated. The history is ugly."

But the junta is not the only body that comes to mind as he reflects on
what has happened over four months after the crackdown of street protests,
the likes of which have not been seen in nearly two decades in that
South-east Asian country. "I want to ask the UN Security Council how many
monks and people have to be sacrificed before the UN Security Council
intervenes," he continues.

And the Ven. Ashin Kovida is the ideal candidate to speak out against both
entities. He was in Rangoon when the junta ordered its heavily armed
troops to fire at the unarmed demonstrators. He was also the head of the
committee of monks that helped shape the march of thousands through the
streets of Rangoon during that brief September cry for economic relief and
political freedom.

The march that the 15-member Buddhist Monks’ Representative Committee led
had over 100,000 people on to the streets of Rangoon, a large number of
whom were monks from the former capital wearing deep maroon robes.
According to the United Nations, 31 people were killed and hundreds were
arrested during the crackdown. But opposition and human rights groups
place a much higher casualty rate, with over 100 deaths and over a
thousand protesters arrested.

The monks were among the victims, too, states one group, the All-Burma
Monks Alliance. Three monks were killed, one of whom was beaten to death,
while another died after being tortured, it revealed in late January. The
fate of 44 monks and nuns who were arrested when the military raided 53
monasteries across Burma, also known as Myanmar, still remain unknown, it
added.

Such oppression appears to have enraged an already beleaguered population.
"The people have continued to suffer as they did before September," Kovida
said through an interpreter during an interview with IPS. "The struggle
against the military regime will continue this year. There is a strong
desire among the people to do so."

Yet the likelihood of Kovida being in the forefront of new public protests
against the junta appears remote. For after the September protests, he had
to flee his country for the safety of Mae Sot, a Thai town on the
Thai-Burma border, to evade arrest.

It was a flight from oppression that took over three weeks. The thin,
24-year-old monk had to hide in a house some 40 miles out of Rangoon to
evade the Burmese forces searching for him, with copies of his photograph
in their hand. For his trip to the Thai border, Kovida had to let the hair
on his shaved head grow, then have it tinted gold, and to complete the
disguise of a hip teenager, he shed his robes for street clothes. He even
sported a bracelet for added affect during the bus-ride to the border.

Currently, there are 23 monks in this border town who have fled Burma
following the crackdown. They, like Kovida, are all young, in their 20s,
confirming a view that gained ground during the September protests that it
were the young angry monks from among the country’s 400,000-strong
Buddhist clergy who led the way to challenge the junta. And 10 of them,
including Kovida, have applied to the UN refugee agency to seek political
asylum.

But there is more to Kovida’s story than that of a young monk who dared to
take on one of this region’s brutal regimes. It is a tale of political
enlightenment of a Burmese who grew up in poverty in a small village of 20
houses in the western region of the country. When he arrived in Rangoon in
2003 to further his studies as a monk—his only route to education—he was
marginally aware of the military’s notorious record since grabbing power
in a 1962 coup.

"During my free time I began to learn English at the British Council and
at the American Centre, and through some friends I was able to see
videotapes of what happened in ’88," said Kovida, referring to the bloody
crackdown of a pro-democracy uprising in Burma in August 1988, where some
3,000 pro-democracy activists were killed by the military.

That political education beyond the walls of the monastery soon led to a
new train of thought. "I started to ask why there was such a big
difference between the poor people in my village and the rich in the
city," he said. "I wanted to know why there were so many poor people when
Burma has so much natural wealth."

Before long, his journey of inquiry had led him to the obvious answer. "I
realised that the fault was with our military government," he revealed. "I
felt very angry thereafter and felt I had to do something."

The junta’s decision to raise the price of oil by 500 percent overnight
with no warning, last August, added to Kovida’s growing rage. "We began to
see more people suffering, children who could not afford to go to school,
more children begging for food on the streets," he said. "Many monks could
not ignore this because these were the people who always gave the monks
food in the mornings."

Then came the trigger that saw the transformation of Kovida from a Rangoon
outsider to the protest leader in the city. In early September, Burmese
soldiers clashed with monks who were protesting against the spike in oil
prices in the central town of Pakokku. The soldiers dragged away 10 of the
300 monks who had been protesting and beat them with bamboo sticks.

"The military regime failed to apologise for what was done in Pakkoku by
the deadline the monks set, Sepember 17," said Kovida. "We then start to
organise for a protest in Rangoon but realised there was no leadership. A
new committee had to be set up."

It was out of such an atmosphere of rage and uncertainty that the Buddhist
Monks’ Representative Committee was born. And young Kovida stepped forward
when the monks in Rangoon called for a leader to head the committee. "Our
plan was for the monks to start marching and lead the crowds," he said.
"We agreed that we had to be systematic. And the march had to be
peaceful."

____________________________________

February 6, Irrawaddy
Mae La villagers fear attack – Saw Yan Naing

Villagers in Mae La refugee camp near Thailand’s Mae Sot border town fear
a potential attack by the newest Karen National Union (KNU) breakaway
army.

The breakaway group of ethnic Karen is led by Maj-Gen Htein Maung,
according to camp sources.

Fear increased recently after the assassination of Col Ler Moo, a
son-in-law of Maj-Gen Htain Maung, head of an armed group known as the
Karen National Union/Karen National Liberation Army Peace Council, which
split from the Karen National Union in February 2007.

Residents in the Mae La camp have been ordered by camp authorities not to
use lamps, candles or electronic lights after a 9 pm curfew.

“We are afraid of an attack,” said a student in the camp. “We were also
told to be on alert and to be ready to escape if are attacked.”

Some former KNU soldiers who live in the Mae La refugee camp have joined
with Thai soldiers to strengthen camp security, sources said.

Col Ler Moo was killed in a bomb explosion while he was sleeping on a bed
in the communications office near the group’s headquarters. Sources say he
may have been killed because of his timber business dealings.

Ler Moo once controlled illegal logging in the KNU Brigade 7 area near
Pa-an Township in Karen State, with the influential support of his
father-in-law.

Ler Moo was injured in an assassination attempt while he was crossing by
boat from Burma to Thailand in Tak Province in early April 2007.

Sources said the breakaway group believes the KNU was behind the
assassination attempt.

Maj Hla Ngwe, secretary of the KNU’s information department, said, “It is
difficult to guess weather they [the breakaway group] will attack the camp
or not, but such events have happened in the past.”

In 1997, the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army, a KNU breakaway faction
formed in 1995, attacked Mae La camp with support from the Burmese army.

More than 45,000 villagers live in the Mae La refugee camp in Thailand’s
Tak Province, according to a report by the Thailand Burma Border
Consortium.

____________________________________

February 6, Democratic Voice of Burma
Activists call for release of jailed rebels in India – Thet Naing

Feb 6, 2008 (DVB)–Burmese democracy activists living in exile in India
staged a demonstration in Kolkata on Monday to call for the release of 34
Burmese rebels who have been detained since 1998.


The National Unity Party of Arakan and Karen National Union rebels were
arrested for allegedly smuggling weapons by Indian security forces in the
notorious Operation Leech on the Andaman and Nicobar islands in February
1998.

They are currently being held in Kolkata prison, but have still not been
convicted of any offence.

One of Monday’s protestors, Arakan Human Rights Watch group director Khine
Aung Kyaw, said the rebels should be freed if they have not committed any
crime, but added that they would not be able to return to Burma.

“We would rather the court gave them sentences if they are guilty of any
violations, but the court is not doing that,” he said.

“These people can’t actually go back to Burma; if they did, they would be
murdered by the military junta.”

Because of the threats they would face in Burma, Khine Aung Kyaw said the
Indian government should give them refugee status if they are released.

“They are just young people; they are not terrorists, but political
activists and armed revolutionaries,” Khine Aung Kyaw said.

“They do have weapons, but these are not intended for any terrorist
activities inside [India]; they would only be used to revolt against the
military junta in Burma.”

The next court appointment for the group is on 8 February.


____________________________________

February 6, Narinjara News
Four bodies found in Naff River

Four unidentified bodies were found in the Naff River on Monday by
authorities from Burma and Bangladesh, according to a trader from the
area.
He said, "Burma's border authority Nasaka found three bodies in the Naff
River on the Burmese side while Bangladesh Rifles found a teenage girl's
body in the river on the same day."

Nasaka forces found the bodies in the river near Nasaka outpost one,
located at Maungdaw. The identity of the bodies remains unknown, but they
have been identified as Burmese Muslims.

Burmese authorities did not make any comments regarding the bodies found,
but did send the bodies to the hospital morgue.

Bangladesh officials confirmed they found a young woman's body in the Naff
River and said she had been killed when a boat sank in the river in the
early morning hours of Monday.

The three dead bodies found by Burmese authorities were also presumed to
have been victims of the boat sinking. The trader said a machine boat sank
on Monday as it was crossing the Naff River from Burma to Bangladesh.


____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

February 6, The Nelson Mail
Doing business with Myanmar

Most of the time, Myanmar is a tiny mole on the back of the world's
conscience: we're aware that the country formerly known as Burma exists,
but plenty of weightier issues clamour for attention, says the Nelson Mail
in an editorial.

Every now and then, however, something happens and the public gaze
returns. Five months ago, the country's biggest employer, the army,
ordered that heads be cracked to suppress an uprising led by Myanmar's
revered Buddhist monks. Condemnation was resolute and surprisingly
universal - even China expressed alarm.

New British Prime Minister Gordon Brown warned that the whole world was
watching the country's "illegitimate and repressive regime" and would hold
it to account. The age of impunity in neglecting and overriding human
rights was over, he declared. For the new leader of a country with a
lingering interest in the affairs of the former colony it administered
initially as a province of India, Mr Brown was talking tough. But, another
day, another crisis, and the preoccupation with Myanmar soon waned.

Now, it is back in focus, in a very small way - at least in this country -
after revelations that a state-owned business has enterprisingly landed a
deal helping to build cellphone towers. Government broadcast and
telecommunications business Kordia has almost completed an $80,000 deal
with the pariah state's military rulers.

National's foreign affairs spokesman Murray McCully suggests
inconsistencies, given the Government's "tantrum" over Air New Zealand
planes being chartered by Australia to carry Iraq-bound troops, and its
imposing of some sanctions on Fiji after the latest military crackdown
there.

However, business has no conscience, and Mr McCully would know well that
New Zealand has no economic or trade sanctions with either Fiji or
Myanmar. As someone who no doubt fancies his chances of becoming foreign
affairs minister this year, is that what he will be pressing for? Would he
draw up his own list of countries that New Zealand businesses, state-owned
or otherwise, will be barred from trading with, outside of any United
Nations hit-list?

Prime Minister Helen Clark says the contract is "probably" a positive
force for democracy in Myanmar, because communication with the outside
world can have an important role in ending repression. That assumes the
use of the cellphone towers will be generally available to the public,
which requires quite a stretch.

In last September's uprising, the military contained most of the damaging
coverage within its borders, although some notable exceptions seeped
through. In "normal" times, as Myanmar is supposed to be enjoying again
now, the technology is unlikely to be used for much more than furthering
communications among the military and its lackeys.

Backed as it is by China, Myanmar is cockily punching above its weight
among Asean nations and has reputedly been the sole blocker of efforts to
set up an European Union-style trading bloc among member states. There is
some value in a position of relative neutrality in international affairs,
even if this means dealing with some countries with abysmal human rights
records.

Like it or not, New Zealand is no longer the conscience of the world, and
its relationships with countries like Myanmar, North Korea and even China
are likely to continue to be driven by pragmatism, whatever the colour of
our next foreign affairs minister's tie.

____________________________________
DRUGS

February 6, Bangkok Post
Speed smuggler shot dead, 200,000 pills seized – Cheewin Sattha

A drug smuggler was killed and 200,000 methamphetamine pills were seized
after a gang of drug traffickers clashed with a task force at the
Thai-Burma border in Wiang Haeng district yesterday.

The 10-minute gunfight took place about a kilometre from the Thai border
when the Naresuan Task Force encountered an unidentified armed force.

After the clash, the authorities found the dead body of one of the drug
smugglers, said to be ethnic Wa, and 200,000 speed pills inside an
abandoned backpack, and an AK-47 assault rifle.

Maj-Gen Surachet Chaiwong, the task force chief, said the gang consisted
of 4-5 members.

Meanwhile, an anti-drug centre under the Third Army assigned to oversee
the northern border, has intensified security in Tak, Mae Hong Son, and
Wiang Haeng district in Chiang Mai along the 1,020-kilometre-long border.

The security beef-up was ordered following a sharp rise in the trafficking
of drugs into the country recently.

In a separate incident, police arrested two traffickers in a sting
operation in Chiang Mai yesterday.

Chatree Chantong, 46, a Mae Rim district resident, and Ja-ea Jalorbu, a
member of the ethnic Lisu tribe in Chiang Dao district, were detained
after they delivered 38,000 speed pills to undercover police posing as
drug purchasers on the Chiang Mai-Mae Taeng road.

Ja-ea confessed to being a member of a drug network controlled by a deputy
commander of the South Wa State and a supervisor of a drug storage
facility in Burma's Nakawngmu village opposite Chiang Dao district of
Chiang Mai.


____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

February 6, Democratic Voice of Burma
UN rapporteur dismayed by ongoing rights abuses – Sian Thomas

United Nations special rapporteur Paulo Sergio Pinheiro expressed his
“dismay” at the Burmese regime’s continued detention and sentencing of
activists, in a statement issued yesterday.

Pinheiro criticised the ongoing crackdown on demonstrators and political
activists, who continue to be arrested, detained and given long-term
prison sentences.

“[T]he ongoing prosecutions are a flagrant abuse of people's right to a
free and fair trial in accordance with international recognized standards
and the requirements of the due process of law,” the statement said.

The special rapporteur also expressed concern about the physical and
psychological health of those in detention, and urged the Burmese
government to ensure that detainees urgently receive any necessary medical
treatment.

Pinheiro visited Burma in November 2007 with a mandate from the Human
Rights Council to investigate the September public protests and the
Burmese regime’s violent response.

He presented a report to the Human Rights Council on 11 December in which
he said that at least 31 people had died and up to 4000 had been detained
in the crackdown.

The Burmese government rejected Pinheiro’s findings, claiming it “did not
reflect the true situation on the ground and lacked objectivity and
impartiality”.

The UN Security Council also criticised the Burmese government’s slow
progress towards genuine dialogue and democratic reform in a statement
released three weeks ago.

____________________________________

February 6, Mizzima News
U.S. targets Burmese tycoon Tay Za

Calling Burmese businessman Tay Za "an arms dealer and financial henchman
of Burma's repressive junta," the United States on Tuesday imposed further
sanctions against the tycoon and his business affiliates.

The Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control announced
yesterday that it is freezing assets and prohibiting financial
transactions of a number of Tay Za's associates, many of whom also share
ties with Burma's military leader Senior General Than Shwe.

Adam Szubin, director of the Office of Foreign Assets Control, told
reporters that the United States "will continue to take action against the
military junta and those who prop it up so long as human rights violations
continue and democracy is suppressed."

This most recent round of sanctions specifically targets the Htoo Group of
Companies, which are known to conduct business affairs on behalf of
Burma's generals, including the purchase of military equipment.

The companies named in the list are: Myanmar Avia Export Co. Limited, Ayer
Shwe Wah Co. Limited and Pavo Aircraft Leasing in Singapore.

According to the Treasure Department, Tay Za has purchased military
helicopters and aircraft for the junta through Myanmar Avia Export.

Several of the individuals singled out in this latest round of sanctions
are relatives of Burma's top generals. Those targeted with sanctions
include:

o Aung Thet Mann – a director of Htoo Group and son of General Thura Shwe
Mann
o Khin Lay Thet – wife of General Thura Shwe Mann
o Myint Myint Ko – wife of Construction Minister Saw Tun
o Tin Lin Myint – wife of Lieutenant General Ye Myint
o Myint Myint Soe – wife of Foreign Affairs Minister Nyan Win
o Thiha – brother of Tay Za
o U Kyaw Thein – a director of Tay Za's Singapore operations

"The actions of Than Shwe and his associates remain unacceptable to all
those who value freedom," White House press secretary Dana Perino added
from Washington. The Treasury Department's actions were authorized by an
Executive Order from President George Bush.

It is unclear how much of an impact these sanctions will have on the
business interests of the Htoo Group of Companies and named individuals,
as they rarely make use of American financial services.

In November 2007, Tay Za's Air Bagan was forced to desist from operating
its international service from Rangoon to Singapore following the
imposition of United States brokered sanctions.

However Air Bagan now says it is set to resume service in September of
this year.

Prior to the latest expanded list of targeted individuals, the United
States had imposed strict financial sanctions on 30 members of Burma's
ruling military and their associates, along with seven business entities
linked to the economic interests of Burma's ruling generals.

____________________________________


February 6, Mizzima News
Complainant threatened not to disclose truth to ILO – Htein Lin

New Delhi – Threats and strong arm tactics are being brought to bear by
the Burmese military junta on people who are being investigated by
International Labour Organisation (ILO) officials. Local authorities have
told them not to disclose the truth about the complaint lodged on forced
use of labour, local residents from Taungdwingyi.

A local resident Ko Bo Tun lodged a complaint to the ILO on forced labour
resorted to by the local authorities. ILO official Steven Marshall came to
Taungdwingyi on January 31. Before his arrival, the local authorities
threatened local residents not to disclose the truth to the investigating
ILO official regarding forced labour.

"The government backed USDA members Swanahshin and Township Peace and
Development Council (PDC) came to the place in anticipation of the arrival
of the ILO investigating official to meet Ko Bo Tun. The local authorities
told the ILO official to do his job freely but USDA members and Swanahshin
were deployed around the house where the ILO official and Ko Bo Tun met.
So he did not dare say anything," a local resident told Mizzima.

Ko Bo Tun and Ko Kyaw Myint sent their complaint on forced labour ordered
by the local authorities for building a road connecting Palin and Suu Tet
Gyi villages in Myothit Township along with an irrigation canal. Besides
they had to contribute money against their will.

"The local authorities then called them to their office and asked who
first lodged the complaint. Pressure was put on them indirectly in various
ways. The complainants felt cornered and did not dare say anything to the
ILO investigating official," a local resident close to Ko Bo Tun said.

Moreover the Township PDC Chairman did not let the complainants show the
places mentioned in their complaint to the visiting ILO official and also
did not let him meet local residents who had to perform forced labour
also, the local resident added.

____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

February 6, Irrawaddy
The trouble with number 8 – Aung Zaw

Twenty years ago, millions of Burmese took to the streets to defy the
dictatorial government led by Gen Ne Win. This year marks the 20th
anniversary of Burma's democracy uprising.

The uprising is known as the four 8s, or 8.8.88, because student activists
called for a nationwide uprising on August 8, 1988.

The number 8 brought bloodshed, tears and hope for democratic change in
Burma. The irony now is that the Beijing's Olympics will begin on August
8, 2008.

There have been calls for a boycott against the Beijing Olympics ever
since the bloody crackdown in September. But why target China?

The connection is simply that many people feel that Burma is China's
client state. China is a main source of diplomatic, military and economic
support that has prolonged the repressive rule in Burma.

China has repeatedly vetoed Burma resolutions at the United Nations
Security Council.

Beijing has also said the international community should engage the regime
and not to use sanctions to pressure the regime to change.

After the bloody crackdown in September, Beijing sent a number of mixed
signals to the international community. First, China asked the junta to
work toward national reconciliation and democratization. The Chinese also
played a positive role in encouraging the regime to issue a visa to UN
Special Envoy Ibrahim Gambari to enter Burma.

Since the crackdown, Burma has twice dispatched envoys to Beijing to give
special briefings on its “internal affairs.” China’s support to the regime
has been consistent. Critics say China’s policy on Burma is designed to
preserve the regime.

Aside from political backing, Beijing continues to provide military aid,
economic assistance and soft loans to the junta. China now has more than
700 development projects underway in Burma, including building roads, dams
and factories.

In return, Burma sells gas and natural resources to China and provides
overland routes to access the Indian Ocean. Diplomatically, it also
promotes the one-China policy.

But Burma’s internal troubles won't go away easily, and they are on
China's doorstep.

The Chinese are rightly worried about bad publicity surrounding the
Olympics Games in Beijing.

The world will be focusing on Communist China, and the buildup to the
Olympics could create bad press and calls for boycotts of Chinese-made
goods. The Chinese leaders are nervous, and their normal reaction is to
stifle dissent.

In December, Hu Jia, 34, was arrested by Chinese authorities for
disseminating information about human rights cases and peasant protests in
the country. Previously, he and his wife lived under de facto house
arrest. The upcoming games, he said, has led the Chinese authorities to
tighten their monitoring of dissidents.

True. A few months ago, a former factory worker in northeastern China was
arrested for collecting 10,000 signatures after posting an online petition
titled "We Want Human Rights, Not the Olympics."

Outside of China, bad Olympic publicity increased when American actress
Mia Farrow criticized China for contributing to the atrocities in the
Sudan through its economic deals with the Middle Eastern government that
human rights activists say is committing genocide.  In a Wall Street
Journal article, Farrow said China was getting ready to hold a “Genocide
Olympics.”

Beijing has gone on the defensive, saying sports and politics should be
separated.

Liu Jingmin, the vice mayor of Beijing and vice president of the Beijing
Olympics organizing committee, said it’s unfair to link China's policies
on Burma to boycotts.

"I believe that any political issue or issues that have nothing to do with
the Olympics should not be linked with the Olympic Games," he told
correspondents in Beijing late last year.

"The Chinese government has played a constructive and responsible part in
the Myanmar [Burma] issue," Liu said. "The constructive role by China has
been recognized by all. I think the attempt to use this issue as an excuse
to boycott the Beijing Olympics is both inappropriate and unpopular."

But many activists say everything is on the table in politics. China is
now a major player in world affairs, and, as such, it’s subject to
criticism.

China can arrest people for peaceful criticism in its own country, but it
can’t prevent dissent and criticism in democratic countries.

Beijing's diplomatic and military support to the repressive junta has
remained unchanged.

The anti-junta campaigns planned for the Beijing Olympics are gathering
momentum. In the near future, foreign and Burmese activists will stage
demonstrations and issue calls for the Chinese government to use its
influence to pressure the generals to engage in serious political reform.

Burma activists will not call for a boycott of the Beijing Olympics. Even
Western governments that are among the strongest critics of the junta are
cautious about such calls. The plain fact is that China is an economic
powerhouse.

The United States, a strong critic of the junta, is not going to sacrifice
its bilateral relations with Beijing over Burma or Aung San Suu Kyi.

US President George W Bush will attend the opening ceremonies in Beijing.
Washington’s and Beijing’s policies on Burma are diametrically opposed.
Indeed, it is a case of not mixing sports with politics.

We’ll see “Free Burma” leaflets and “Free Suu Kyi” banners unfurl starting
on August 8. The protests will occur, if not in China.

But in Burma, on the day when the Beijing Olympics begin, many Burmese
activists and monks who have been imprisoned will be commemorating the
20th anniversary of 8.8.88.

Burmese refugees and internally displaced people hiding in the jungles
from the junta’s soldiers who are equipped with Chinese-made automatic
rifles, trucks and jet fighters understand why Mia Farrow called for a
boycott of the "Genocide Olympics."

The Olympic’s inaugural ceremony on August 8, 2008, symbolizes the heavy
price the Burmese people have paid at the hands of a repressive
dictatorship.

____________________________
PRESS RELEASE

National League for Democracy

The National League for Democracy was founded with the objective of
achieving fundamental human rights and genuine democracy in the Union of
Burma.  Furthermore, since its inception, the party has stressed the
importance of and prioritized the issues of ethnic nationalities.  Hence,
when the National League for Democracy issued its Policies
(draft) in October 1988, the Chapter on Ethnic Nationalities unequivocally
stated:

"To achieve equal rights for all ethnic nationalities, the party will
strive to find the best solution on the bases of, sincerity, friendship,
mutual respect for each other's beliefs, observance of basic human rights,
and concurrence with the wish of the ethnic nationalities to promote their
literature, culture, and customs.  If a special emphasis is placed on the
factors mentioned above and a solution is found through cooperation and
joint action, the party believes that the objectives of achieving peace in
the Union and harmony among the ethnic nationalities will become a
reality.  We will strive to realize these objectives."

"Since we desire our Union to be economically strong and developed, we
look forward to enabling all states to have the freedom to carry out their
own economic development work.  While upholding the policy that all ethnic
nationalities shall fully enjoy their innate rights and the entire Union
achieve prosperity, we will strive to implement the right of
self-determination of all states."

During her travels throughout the country from 1988 and up to now,
whenever opportunities arose, General Secretary Daw Aung San Suu Kyi
frequently stressed the importance of ethnic nationality question based on
these policies.  In the statement about ethnic nationalities released on 8
November 2007, she said:

"x x x in this time of vital need for democratic solidarity and national
unity, it is my duty to give constant and serious consideration to the
interests and opinions of as broad a range of political organizations and
forces as possible, in particular those of our ethnic nationality races."

The general secretary of the National League for Democracy placed
importance on and was being responsible and loyal to the interests of the
ethnic nationalities and the entire Union.  However, we have come to learn
from the state-run newspapers in November 2007 that certain parties of
some ethnic nationalities protested to her statement and
expressed their opposition.

The National League for Democracy understands that expressing one's
beliefs, lodging protests, and speaking freely are democratic practices. 
In the same vein, bilateral talk is also an essence of democracy.

Hence, the National League for Democracy invites those ethnic nationality
parties, which have an opinion or belief that differs from the statement
made by the general secretary, to come to its headquarters in Rangoon to
discuss the matter.

As per the decision made at the meeting of the Central Executive Committee
on 4 February 2008, Central Executive Committee, Rangoon