BurmaNet News, March 6, 2008

[Editor]

March 6, 2008 Issue # 3416

INSIDE BURMA
The Times (UK): UN envoy in third attempt to put Burma junta on road to
democracy
Agence-France Press: Myanmar youth use hip-hop music to speak their minds
DVB: Security presence stepped up in Rangoon
DVB: NLD hopes envoy’s visit can spur dialogue
Mizzima News: Murder bullets manufactured by Defense Industry
Irrawaddy: Black market crackdown driving up fuel prices
Irrawaddy: Arakan residents petition ILO on forced labor issues

BUSINESS / TRADE
Reuters: Myanmar-China pipelines yet to be approved
AFP: Belgium drops Myanmar rights case against Total

REGIONAL
Bangkok Post: Burma stonewall
Xinhua: Sri Lanka detains 71 Myanmar, Bangladeshi nationals

INTERNATIONAL
AP: Myanmar Monk tells story of killings

OPINION / OTHER
DVB: Will Burma's referendum spark civil unrest?

____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

March 6, The Times (UK)
UN envoy in third attempt to put Burma junta on road to democracy – Leo Lewis

A special envoy of the United Nations landed in Burma today for what is
widely viewed as a doomed attempt to open discussions between the military
junta and the incarcerated opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

The visit is Ibrahim Gambari’s third since the country’s military shocked
the world with a bloody crackdown on Buddhist monks and other
anti-government protestors in September.

His two previous trips have yielded little in the way of credible evidence
that the junta is truly committed to its own “roadmap to democracy”.

Human rights groups, diplomats and other observers believe instead that
the Government is now more deeply entrenched and decreasingly troubled by
the rest of the world’s outrage.

There remains widespread disgust at the way in which the junta responded
to last autumn’s protests, which began as demonstrations against an
increase in fuel prices. Its decision to send in troops to break up the
crowds left an official death toll of ten, but dissidents and other
sources say that the figure is probably ten times that.

Since Mr Gambari’s last visit, the junta has surprised many observers by
promising a May referendum on a proposed new constitution and even a
general election in two years’ time. Many view it as an entirely empty
pledge and analysts say that it remains doubtful that the great majority
of Burmese will be properly enfranchised by the gambit.

With less than three months to go before the public is to vote on the
constitution, nobody beyond the tight inner circle of General Than Shwe’s
Government has clapped eyes on any of its content.

“Without input from the public and opposition parties, the process fails
to be a real step toward democracy,” said Brad Adams, Asia director of
Human Rights Watch. “Gambari should tell the generals that marching a
fearful population through a stage-managed referendum will not advance
democracy or reconciliation in Burma.”

Many recall the last time elections were held in Burma — a 1990 poll that
produced a resounding triumph for Ms Suu Kyi and her party, the National
League for Democracy. Despite the massive margin of victory, the junta —
in power since the early 1960s — ignored the result and the Nobel laureate
was condemned to more than a decade of house arrest.

Ms Suu Kyi’s political future is at the heart of Mr Gambari’s mission: a
visit that he said would stretch for “as long as necessary” as he
struggles to meet a wide variety of groups.

The UN envoy is expected to push the junta on the draft of the new
constitution — a document prepared without the input of substantial ethnic
groups, of the NLD or of Ms Suu Kyi herself. That exclusion was itself a
feature of junta-imposed rules for how the constitution was prepared —
rules that banned Ms Suu Kyi from high office because her late husband was
British.

The first post-crackdown visit by the US envoy generated some hope of a
breakthrough but Mr Gambari, along with other senior foreign diplomats in
Burma, has grown visibly irritated with the regime’s failure to deliver on
its promises. There have been few signs that General Shwe is interested in
talks with Ms Suu Kyi, and previous suggestions that he might engage
directly with her quickly fizzled-out.

____________________________________

March 6, Agence-France Press
Myanmar youth use hip-hop music to speak their minds

Not many luxury cars ply the roads of impoverished Myanmar, so when Ye
first saw one gliding along a Yangon street, he immediately starting
dreaming of the day he would have his own.

Keenly aware that his dream might never come true, the 23-year-old
musician decided to write about his feelings instead.

The result was a rap song called "Money".

"Colourful cars passing through my sight, it spotlights unequal lives,"
read his lyrics. "I look at back my life. There is no rice. I look at my
pocket. There is only 500 kyats left. I want to have more than that."

Myanmar's urban youth live in a country where censors for the ruling
military strictly limit their access to international television, music
and the Internet.

But even in this most isolated of nations, American hip-hop culture is
influencing young people, who have adopted the music and style as their
own.

"Except for breakdancing, I'm crazy about everything hip-hop -- rapping,
DJ-ing, graffiti art and fashion as well," said Ye, who goes by just one
name and performs as YE2.

With half his face hidden beneath a blue baseball cap, and big earrings
held in place by screws, Ye says he likes to write songs about "money,
social prejudice and youth".

He started out performing with two rapper friends, and they scratched
together some money to put together an album on their own and came up with
a compact disc with four tracks, which they released in 2005.

"We didn't have any spare money. We split the fees for the music
arrangement. That was so expensive for us," he said.

Ye said he and his friends spent about 220,000 kyats, or 180 dollars to
produce their four songs -- a fortune in a country where many workers earn
less than one dollar a day.

Even in a city where electricity runs for as few as six hours a day, Ye
and other hip-hop artists say they rely on computers to create sounds that
have never been heard here.

"Combining technology and creativity, we try to create something new. To
find a beat for a song, sometimes we stay up all night working on it,"
said 21-year-old DJ Kavas.

"Our musical sense is not limited by theory or notes. Depending on the
mood of the music, we can explore many forms of music," he said. "We have
found freedom and originality in this music."

Freedom is rare in anyone's life in Myanmar. The military has ruled here
since 1962, maintaining its grip by deploying legions of secret police and
informers to keep watch over the population.

The ruling junta beats down any dissent with a brutality that erupted into
the international spotlight last September, when soldiers opened fire on
peaceful anti-government protests led by Buddhist monks.

In such a repressive environment, 24-year-old rapper Thuta said hip-hop
was the only way for him to express himself without fear.

"We can talk freely in our music. We can just sing by knocking a beat on a
desk, while just sitting there. This way we can communicate directly with
people in the streets," he said.

"Hip-hop is a spoken music," said another musician, 23-year-old Chan Duu.
"It is like an outlet for us. We can open up our hearts through music."

They may feel free when they perform, but it's another story all together
when they record their music. Censors comb through their lyrics for any
possible offence and often require changes before allowing them to sell
their albums.

Thuta said the censors did not like the word "shout" in one of his songs
-- they ordered him to replace it with the word "happy".

"Then my song sounded crazy! Sometimes I sing the song and just mute out
the censored words" so fans will know where the censors have ordered cuts,
he said.

Censors also keep tight control over radio stations, forcing young artists
to find other ways to reach listeners. So rather than hope for radio time,
hip-hop musicians give free CDs to Yangon's ubiquitous teashops to play on
their small stereos.

If their music becomes popular in teashops, the musicians might win a slot
at a music festival, which is the gateway to finding a professional
producer and tapping into a bigger audience.

Ye succeeded in doing just that, playing at a festival where he won an
award, which in turn led to a producer putting some of his music on a new
compilation album.

With his newfound success, Ye said he no longer dreams of buying a luxury
car.

"I want to buy some walls, and I want to write everything I feel on the
walls, with words or with images, to practise hip-hop culture through
graffiti," he said.

"I want to be free to tell people what I feel through my words and images."

____________________________________

March 6, Democratic Voice of Burma
Security presence stepped up in Rangoon – Htet Aung Kyaw

Rangoon residents said that government security forces have been seen at
busy junctions in the city, having been out of public view since the
crackdown on last year’s September protests.

Residents have seen fully-equipped soldiers deployed in the Sule Pagoda
area and near the busy Shwegondine intersection.

The reason for the security increase is not clear, but locals have
speculated it may be intended to maintain stability during the visit of
United Nations special envoy Ibrahim Gambari, who arrived in Burma today.

Other residents have suggested the presence of security forces could be
linked to the recent shooting of a family of four and their housemaid near
detained National League for Democracy leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s
house.

The five were shot dead in their home on Monday by an unknown person or
persons who remain at large.

NLD spokesperson U Nyan Win said the party had been worried for Daw Aung
San Suu Kyi's safety since they found out about the crime.

"We don't know why there is heavy security in Rangoon now," said Nyan Win.

“The area around Daw Suu's house in particular has always been under heavy
security and yet a serious crime was committed there recently. We are
worried for our leader.”

____________________________________

March 6, Democratic Voice of Burma
NLD hopes envoy’s visit can spur dialogue – Htet Aung Kyaw

A spokesperson for the National League for Democracy has said the party is
hopeful some progress will be made during the visit of United Nations
special envoy Ibrahim Gambari to Burma.

Gambari arrived today to begin his third visit to the country since the
military regime cracked down on mass public demonstrations in September
last year.

NLD spokesperson U Nyan Win said that the party hopes the special envoy
can facilitate genuine dialogue.

"We are only concentrating on making progress with the dialogue as there
has not been much progress on it so far," he said.

"We expect things will progress when Mr Gambari arrives. We believe the
factors, decisions and agreements made in the dialogue will overcome other
issues."

The UN Security Council criticised the slow rate of progress made by the
Burmese government in a statement released in January, and called for
further steps to be taken towards dialogue and national reconciliation.

____________________________________

March 6, Mizzima News
Murder bullets manufactured by Defense Industry

Bullets used in the recent Rangoon murder case which killed five are the
product of the Defense Industry, according to sources close to government.

"They erased the serial numbers but they are with certainty DI (Defense
Industry) products," said one source.

On March 3, four family members and a housemaid at a residence under tight
security, near to the home of Burma's opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi,
were shot dead in broad daylight.

Burma under military rule strictly controls the possession of firearms by
ordinary civilians and there is rarely an incident involving civilian use
of a gun.

Businessman Charlie (Saw Kyipha), aged 60, and his wife San San Myint, 58,
along with their two daughters, Mya Sanda, 36, and Hnin Pwint Aye, 27, and
their housemaid Alphaw, 15, were all shot in the head inside the residence
at No.126 Seinlaekanthar Street, Kamaryut Township.

The culprit, or culprits, is still at large and a police source says cash
totaling at least $90,000 was missing from the victim's home.

Mizzima has learnt that Charlie sold a villa on Thanlwin Street of Bahan
Township for approximately $1.3 million just a couple days before the
murders took place, for which he had reportedly received an initial
installment of $365,000.

The incident apparently came as a shock to the military government, as the
police chief visited the crime scene the following day.

____________________________________

March 6, Irrawaddy
Black market crackdown driving up fuel prices – Wai Moe

Fuel prices in Burma are rising again, as authorities in the
military-ruled country try to reign in a black market that many rely on to
meet their basic energy needs. According to business sources in Rangoon,
prices have gone up by more than 13 percent in the past week, since the
beginning of a crackdown on illegal fuel trading that started on February
27.

The sources said that many businesses, particularly factories which use
heavy machinery, are struggling to keep up with the rising cost of fuel,
which has gone from 4,400 kyat (US $4) to 5,000 kyat ($4.50) for a gallon
of gasoline, and from 4,600 kyat ($4.20) to 5,200 kyat ($4.70) for a
gallon of diesel.

A state-owned gas station in Rangoon (Photo: clkr)
Prices have also increased for trading companies, which must now pay the
semi-official rate of $4.00 a gallon for diesel, up from $3.52 last
Wednesday. This rate is only available to businesses which hold foreign
currency accounts at the Myanmar Foreign Trading Bank.

Although oil prices have been rising rapidly worldwide, the recent price
hikes in Burma have been outstripping global price increases, mainly due
to government efforts to control the sale of fuel. The world market price
for oil hit a high of nearly $105 per barrel today, up from around $100
one week ago.

Earlier this year, The Myanmar Times, a semi-official weekly, reported
that the government had undertaken a partial liberalization of Burma’s
energy market by allowing Myanmar Economic Holding, Ltd and Htoo Trading
Co, Ltd to import fuel.
However, economic analysts dismissed the move as “fake liberalization,”
noting that Myanmar Holding, Ltd is owned by the military, while Htoo
Trading Co, Ltd belongs to Tay Za, a close associate of leading figures in
the ruling junta.

Businessmen in Rangoon say that the recent rise in fuel prices is hitting
smaller businesses the hardest, since large companies—most of them owned
by the military or by cronies of top generals—are able to stockpile
supplies.

Last August, the regime raised official fuel prices from 1,500 kyat (then
worth $1.16) to 2,500 kyat ($1.94) per gallon of gasoline, and from 1,500
kyat ($1.16) to 3,000 kyat ($2.33) kyat per gallon of diesel. The sudden,
unannounced skyrocketing of fuel prices ignited Burma’s largest mass
protests in nearly twenty years.

Although official rates have remained unchanged since last August,
quantities are strictly limited to two gallons per day, and fuels
purchased at these rates can only be used to operate privately owned
vehicles.

The doubling of official diesel prices, which led to a dramatic rise in
black market prices, was particularly hard on Burmese businesses and
consumers. A lack of energy infrastructure in Burma, particularly a
notoriously unreliable supply of electricity, forces many to use diesel
generators to meet their everyday energy needs.

“The government can’t even manage to provide electricity for 24 hours, so
we need to use a generator,” complained the operator of a photocopy shop
in Rangoon. “We need to buy fuel to run the generator, but now the
government has cracked down on our energy sources. How are we supposed to
survive?”

The rising cost of fuel is affecting a variety of businesses. The owner of
an Internet café in Rangoon said he was forced to charge more for Internet
access, because his business, like many others, relies on a diesel
generator. “There’s been a diesel price hike, so now we have to increase
Internet user fees at our shop,” he said.

The owner of a small cooking-oil factory in Mandalay complained that the
crackdown had completely cut off his normal supply of diesel, forcing him
to travel outside the city to a government-run gas station. He noted that
the gas station charged the black market price, not the cheaper official
rate

Another business owner in Mandalay said that the latest price hikes were
putting severe pressure on her ability to do business. “Prices have gone
up 400 or 500 kyat per gallon in the past week. To run my factory, I need
about 200 gallon of diesel a day. So I’m not sure how much longer I can
stay in business.”

Meanwhile, a police official in Mandalay, who asked to remain anonymous,
said that the recent crackdown on illegal fuel trading was at least partly
driven by concerns about safety. Several major fires have hit Rangoon and
Mandalay in recent weeks, some of them possibly caused by privately owned
generators.

Electricity shortages are expected to worsen in the coming months, as
Burma enters the dry season and power from the country’s aging
hydroelectric plants becomes even more unreliable.

Most factories in Burma’s nineteen designated industrial zones use
privately owned generators, and most are run on diesel bought on the black
market, because supplies at government stations are strictly rationed.

According to official data, there are 42,707 private factories, 8, 500
home industrial businesses and 833 state-owned factories in Burma.

A Rangoon correspondent, Kyi Wai, contributed to this story.

____________________________________

March 6, Irrawaddy
Arakan residents petition ILO on forced labor issues – Saw Yan Naing

More than 70 residents in Arakan State, western Burma, were questioned on
Wednesday by officers of the Military Affairs Security department and
Labor Ministry after reporting human rights abuses and incidents of forced
labor to the International Labor Organization (ILO), according to local
sources.

More than 70 citizens of Taunggok Township had signed a petition, claiming
local authorities had committed acts of forced labor and extortion.

According to the Taunggok residents, in January, local authorities forced
residents in the township to work as security guards. The authorities
forcibly extorted between 3,000 and 10,000 kyat (US $2.74 to $9.13) from
each person who refused to follow the order.

Speaking to The Irrawaddy on Thursday, Than Pe, one of the petitioners’
leaders, said, “The authorities told us to report any anti-junta
activities, such as distribution of leaflets and protests against the
military government. It was not a security issue. We were not satisfied
with that, so we reported it.”

After questioning by the Military Affairs Security personnel, the
residents who had signed the petition were forced to sign a counter
document claiming that they had been coerced into petitioning the ILO,
said Than Pe.

Last month, Burma’s military regime agreed to extend a “supplementary
understanding” with the ILO one year after the agreement was signed to
create a complaints mechanism to address the issue of forced labor.

____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

March 6, Reuters
Myanmar-China pipelines yet to be approved – Ben Blanchard

China is still considering a plan to build gas and oil pipelines from
army-ruled Myanmar to its southwestern province of Yunnan, a senior
provincial official said on Thursday, defending economic ties with the
former Burma.

"There is this idea, this suggestion, and each side is studying it," said
Yunnan's Communist Party boss Bai Enpei who, in the Chinese hierarchy,
outranks the provincial governor.

"But whether or not it will happen, when it will happen and how it will
happen have yet to be finally confirmed," Bai told Reuters in a rare
interview.

The official Xinhua agency had reported that China's top economic planner
last April approved construction of a pipeline to carry crude from the
port of Sittwe in Myanmar to Kunming, Yunnan's provincial capital.

China is also expected to lay a pipeline to transport natural gas from
Myanmar, after winning last year a deal to buy the output from two major
blocks operated by South Korea's Daewoo International Corp.

But Bai said that neither plan had been sealed.

"The building of both the oil and gas pipelines is still being
considered," Bai said on the sidelines of China's annual meeting of
parliament.

"What has been approved is a study on building the pipelines, rather than
the building of them," he added.

The oil pipeline would not, at least initially, carry Myanmar's own output
as it is currently a tiny crude producer.

Instead, oil shipped to Sittwe, probably from the Middle East, would be
sent north, allowing China to bypass the packed and strategically
sensitive Malacca Strait.

It would also provide cheaper crude for a possible new refinery in an area
that currently has to ship in all its fuel.

"This is a very important project for Yunnan. We are proactively pushing
it," Bai said. "We have neither gas nor oil. It will be good for our
economy. But there's still a lot of work to be done before this project
can happen."

Lots of questions remained to be answered, he added, though talks were
ongoing.

"Will there be enough gas? What demands will the Myanmar government make?"
Bai said.

Few Western companies will invest in the former Burma because of its poor
human rights record and continued detention of Nobel Peace Prize laureate
Aung San Suu Kyi, which has led to a broad range of U.S. and European
sanctions.

China, typically wary of supporting or imposing sanctions and is one of
Myanmar's few diplomatic allies, has shown no qualms about investing in
its southwestern neighbour, coveting its natural gas, oil, minerals and
timber.

China's growing economic presence in Southeast Asia, particularly in poor
and undeveloped Myanmar and Laos, as led to resentment and even violence
in some cases, as Chinese migrants flood in.

Bai said China's presence in Myanmar was a good thing, and that it helped
the country develop.

"We have built a road to Myanmar. The people there support it, as does the
government," he said. "Of course, we ensure that Chinese companies operate
legally in Myanmar."

(Editing by David Fogarty)

____________________________________

March 6, Agence-France Press
Belgium drops Myanmar rights case against Total

Belgian authorities dropped Wednesday a legal case brought by refugees
from Myanmar targetting the French oil group Total, which they accused of
crimes against humanity, their lawyer said.

Investigators looking in to the matter "declared the case closed," lawyer
Xavier Deswaef told AFP, describing the decision as "surreal".

Although his clients could lodge one final appeal against the decision,
they would "think twice before" pursuing further action, Deswaef said.

Last October, Belgian authorities reopened the long-running case in which
the refugees accused Total of having used forced labour provided by the
military regime to build a gas pipeline.

The four refugees accuse Total of having provided logistic and financial
support in the 1990s to the military junta, which they hold responsable
for forced labour, deportations, murder, arbitrary executions and torture.

Total has also faced legal action in France against its labour practices
in Myanmar, where it has operated since 1992.

But last year the group was cleared of charges in France that it relied on
forced labour to build the 1.2-billion-dollar (785-billion-euro) gas
pipeline after an out-of-court settlement with the alleged victims.

The Belgian case has run for six years, during which changes to the law
have muddied the judicial waters.

However, the court ruled that the defendants should benefit from a 2005
decision in their favour, even though the relevant legislation had
subsequently been toughened up.

____________________________________
REGIONAL

March 6, Bangkok Post
Burma stonewall – Larry Jagan

As the United Nations envoy heads for Burma on Thursday, it is clear that
the military regime has no intention of introducing democratic reform.
However, the failing health of Senior General Than Shwe may force others
to move.

The UN envoy Ibrahim Gambari is due to arrive in Burma today on his latest
mission to try to encourage the military government to involve Aung San
Suu Kyi in the country's political future.

But Burma's top general Than Shwe has no intentions of including Aung San
Suu Kyi in his plans for political change. In fact, Mr Gambari is unlikely
to even meet the senior general.

"Mr Gambari is only being allowed in to endorse the 'road map' [the new
constitution, referendum and elections] and nothing else," according to
the Burmese academic Win Min, who is based at Chiang Mai University.

The Chinese urged Mr Gambari to accept the road map as it is when he
visited Beijing last month, according to a UN insider.

"The road map has now become Than Shwe's main strategic tool to hold on to
power," Win Min added.

"It's a pre-emptive strike against the UN envoy, Ibrahim Gambari and the
international community as well as a death blow to Maung Aye's aspirations
to be number one."


The announcement last month that the new constitution was drafted and
there was a timetable for the referendum and elections are all part of the
senior general's game plan to keep a firm grip on power and preserve his
family's interests in the future.

It was also a clear message to his subordinates that he intends to keep
the reins of power as the country moves from military to civilian
government.

It came after months of total inertia within the military hierarchy, as
Than Shwe was primarily preoccupied with sidelining his deputy, Maung Aye.

The number two in the military hierarchy woke to hear the announcement on
the radio and was not informed beforehand, according to reliable sources
in the capital Naypidaw.

This is a clear sign that a major rift exists between the top two generals.

Mr Gambari, Than Shwe hopes, will provide the final seal of approval on
that part of the strategy and allow him to turn his attention to other
pressing internal matters - the growing frustration within the army over
the lack of promotions and career development, and the loud clamouring
from the country's businessmen for economic change.

"The top generals have not met [for the quarterly meeting] for more than
nine months, since before the August and September protests, so during
that time, apart from the appointment of three regional commanders, there
have been no promotions," said Win Min.

"The impact of this will certainly add to the growing frustration amongst
some of the commanders who should have already been promoted," he said.

While sorting out these promotions may be the first order of the day, it
is by no means easy for the senior general, as he realises that most of
the top ranking generals now actually owe their personal allegiance to his
two chief subordinates, General Maung Aye and General Thura Shwe Mann, and
not him. This is beginning to trouble him as he fears that his immediate
subordinates may be planning a putsch against him.

"For the past twelve months, Than Shwe has been preoccupied with
sidelining Maung Aye," a senior military source told the Asia Times.

"He has in effect promoted the army commander, Thura Shwe Mann, over Maung
Aye," he said.

The turning point came more than nine months ago, when Maung Aye was
replaced as head of the junta's powerful Trade Council, before the
beginning of the August unrest.

He was also effectively replaced as military chief during the protests,
when Thura Shwe Mann took charge of security arrangements during the
demonstrations and started to chair the National Security Council meetings
on Than Shwe's orders.

For more than a year now there has been almost total inertia in the
Burmese capital as the senior general is pre-occupied with his own
personal concerns, his power and ensuring the dominant position of his
family in the future.

Than Shwe has an elaborate game plan, but he is constantly re-examining
all the options and revising his various scenarios, according to Burmese
government sources.

"Than Shwe continues to follow his trusted approach - divide and rule,"
said Win Min. "He did this successfully before, preserving his position by
pitting Maung Aye against the then military intelligence chief, Khin
Nyunt."

But this time Than Shwe's divide-and-rule policy is becoming much more
intricate.

"While Thura Shwe Mann has been elevated to the key position below him,
Than Shwe has developed a chess board of counterbalancing influences, both
inside the cabinet and the military hierarchy, to maintain an equilibrium
that keeps Thura Shwe Mann in check and Maung Aye sidelined," a senior
military source said.

But Than Shwe's position is becoming increasingly perilous, despite his
carefully planned schemes, according to many specialists on Burma's
military.

"We cannot rule out the possibility of a mutiny or purges within the
army," said the independent Burmese analyst Aung Naing Oo, based in Chiang
Mai.

"Than Shwe is standing in the way of change, but so far no one has the
guts to tell him he is the main obstacle," he said. "But if the situation
gets worse, especially the economy, the possibility of a palace coup to
oust Than Shwe is more likely," he concluded.

For the time being, at least, there are no signs that the factions and
divisions within the army will lead to a move to get rid of Than Shwe in
the immediate future.

But the senior general's failing health may in the end force the others to
make their move.

____________________________________

March 6, Xinhua
Sri Lanka detains 71 Myanmar, Bangladeshi nationals

Sri Lankan officials said Thursday that 71 Myanmar and Bangladeshi
nationals have been detained at an immigration detention center in the
capital Colombo pending action by the respective authorities to take
charge of them.

The 71 suspected illegal immigrants heading for Thailand and Malaysia were
rescued by the Sri Lankan Navy in a distressed trawler off the seas off
the island's northeastern coast on Monday.

A Colombo foreign ministry spokesman said that both the Mynamarand
Bangladeshi diplomatic missions had been informed and until the
formalities were concluded, the 71 people will remain in the detention
center at Mirihana, a Colombo eastern suburb.

The distressed vessel was spotted by fishermen 150 nautical miles (about
278 km) east off Mullaitivu in the northeastern coast on Sunday.

The Navy brought them over to the eastern port of Trincomalee late on Monday.

According to officials here, the trawler was said to have set sailed from
a port in Myanmar on Feb. 9 with 67 Myanmar nationals and 24 Bangladeshis
aboard.


>From Feb. 20, the trawler had developed technical difficulties and had

been drifting. During the period, 20 people aboard had died of sickness
and starvation.

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

March 6, Associated Press
Myanmar Monk tells story of killings – Anthony Deutsch

A Myanmar monk called for a global weapons embargo on his country, telling
human rights activists and foreign governments Thursday the junta's
military leaders must not be allowed to use guns against his people again.

U Awbata said he struggles to shake memories of Myanmar soldiers opening
fire on fellow monks, stomping on their heads and pummeling them with
batons during protests last September.

"It doesn't matter how many tears I shed," U Awbata said, speaking on
behalf of dozens of monks who fled after the military crackdown and live
in exile. "I cannot erase these images from my mind."

Monks initially took to the streets of Myanmar's largest city, Yangon, to
oppose a state-imposed fuel price hike, but their protests quickly
escalated into the biggest anti-government rallies in two decades, with
tens of thousands turning out.

The United Nations estimated at least 31 people were killed and thousands
more were detained after troops were deployed to restore order. Hundreds
remain in detention.

"The military generals have used their guns to crush and kill their own
people," U Awbata said.

He called on the international community "to work together and urge those
countries selling arms to Burma to stop doing so." Myanmar is also known
as Burma.

The United States, which like the European Union had a weapons embargo and
financial sanctions in place before the 2007 unrest, broadened
restrictions after the crackdown.

U Awbata was speaking in Indonesia's capital, Jakarta, at a three-day
gathering bringing together activists, Myanmar exiles, and embassy
officials seeking ways to increase the role of Southeast Asian countries
in improving human rights in Myanmar.

Regional neighbors have condemned the Myanmar government's use of
excessive force, but have a policy of engagement with the country and have
shunned sanctions.

"Violence and repression is still rampant in Burma but is no longer making
media headlines," conference organizer and rights group Kontras said in a
statement. The world must increase pressure on the regime "to democratize
and put an end to its mass abuses."

____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

March 6, Democratic Voice of Burma
Will Burma's referendum spark civil unrest? – Htet Aung Kyaw

When the Burmese military regime announced plans for a referendum and
general election, some diplomats said it was a step towards democracy. But
it could also spark civil unrest.

There were mixed reactions from Burma's democratic forces when the ruling
junta announced plans to hold a constitutional referendum in May followed
by an election in 2010, without any discussion with opposition groups or
the international community.

Some leading activists in Rangoon called for a boycott of the vote, while
some exile groups urged people to go to the polling station to vote "No".

But the main opposition party, Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for
Democracy, has not yet given any clear message on whether to boycott or to
vote "No", but has urged political and legal reform.

"We will declare our tactical plan when the authorities announce the date
of the referendum," says Thein Nyunt, NLD spokesperson for constitutional
affairs.

"If we announce our plan before that time comes, it is like debating the
name of a child who is not yet born."

Legal challenges

A day after this comment, NLD chairman Aung Shwe tried to sue the junta at
the Rangoon high court for breaking the promise they made in the 1990
election.

"According to the electoral law of 1989 and decree 1/90, the junta has a
responsibility to call a people's parliamentary meeting with the elected
representatives from the 1990 general election," another spokesperson,
Nyan Win, told DVB.

However, the court rejected their lawsuit under pressure from Naypyidaw.

In fact, this is the first time NLD has filed a lawsuit on the election
result, although the court has rejected many other cases brought by the
NLD.

"International law institutes and the UN legal experts should seriously
consider this legal dispute," Nyan Win said.

Just before this lawsuit, the NLD issued a strongly-worded policy statement.

"The one-sided text prepared by the authorities could not only harm the
national reconciliation process but also cannot be accepted by the
people," the party said.

"It is against the advice and demands of international organisations,
including the United Nations. All relevant persons should be included in
the process of drafting the state constitution and the transformation of
the nation."

Fomenting unrest

While the NLD has focused on legal issues, many youth organizations have
threatened to hold a mass protest against the referendum, including
Generation Wave, a youth group which was founded during September’s
saffron revolution.

"We urge the authorities to bring about a free and fair situation before
the end of March. Otherwise, we must lead people to protest as we did in
last September," says Kyaw Kyaw of Generation Wave.

Generation Wave is part of an alliance, with the 88 Generation Student
Group, which played a leading role in the September protests.

The group has called on the government to release Aung San Suu Kyi and
other key political prisoners, to allow UN-led independent observer groups
and international media into the country and to withdraw the law which
mandates 20 years in jail for criticising the National Convention.

The threat comes not only from idealistic youths in Rangoon but also from
armed ethnic groups in the border areas.

"We have boycotted the national convention since they rejected our
proposals. Therefore, we cannot now accept this one sided convention,"
says Aung Ma-nge, spokesperson of the New Mon State Party, which has
signed a ceasefire agreement with the junta.

Khun Myint Htun, a leading member of the Thai border-based Member of
Parliament Union, agreed with Aung Ma-nge.

“We must fight against this one-sided referendum every step of the way.
We, the people in the border area, must boycott while the people in the
cities are voting ‘No’,” he said.

It is not easy to protest against the referendum. The junta issued a new
referendum law last week which provides for a three-year jail term for
anyone who distributes leaflets or makes speeches against the referendum.

The junta's mob, the 27 million-strong Union Solidarity Development
Association, is ready to beat those who protest.

Can the international community have any influence?

In this scenario, who can help to avoid another bloody crackdown in this
country of political turmoil? Could it be UN special envoy Ibrahim
Gambari, who is visiting Burma this week? There is no 100% guarantee but
there is a 50-50% chance of some progress.
"We hope during my next visit to discuss with [junta officials] and ...
try to persuade them to reconsider so that this constitution would be
broader," Gambari told the Kyodo news after he met the Japanese foreign
minister on the final stop of his regional tour.

The US and EU have also pressed the junta to reconsider their one-sided plan.

"A credible political transition in Burma must be inclusive and
transparent. It must involve universal suffrage, secrecy and security of
the ballot, and freedom of speech and association, among other
internationally accepted standards," the US State Department said in a
statement.

"It needs to involve the National League for Democracy, and be a process
which can genuinely lead to democracy," said Meg Munn, a British foreign
office minister.

Gambari met this weekend with UN chief Ban Ki-Moon in New York prior to
his return to Burma. During his last two trips, the junta agreed to his
proposal for discussions with Aung San Suu Kyi, but no significant
progress has been made in the five months since then.

Can Gambari make any significant progress in his final mission? That
depends on how strongly the UN Security Council backs his mission.

It also depends on the NLD and activists having the strength and
organisation to protest against the referendum.

Htet Aung Kyaw is a senior journalist for the Oslo-Based Democratic Voice
of Burma radio and TV station.