BurmaNet News, April 29, 2008

[Editor]

April 29, 2008 Issue # 3454


INSIDE BURMA
DVB: ABFSU calls on students to monitor referendum
Mizzima News: 70 activists arrested in 3 days: AAPP
Mizzima News: Chevron's involvement connected to HR abuses in Burma: ERI

ON THE BORDER
Irrawaddy: Ceasefire groups asked to provide referendum security
DPA: Ethnic Karen in Myanmar fight for survival

BUSINESS / TRADE
Irrawaddy: Burmese PM arrives in Thailand to strengthen business ties
Xinhua: Myanmar airlines suspend some international flights again

HEALTH / AIDS
Mizzima News: Imprisoned Burmese activist paralyzed

REGIONAL
The Nation (Thailand): Burmese nationals have three-day extension to vote
on constitution

INTERNATIONAL
ITUC: European Union position on Burma just not good enough

OPINION / OTHER
Bangkok Post: Saffron Revolution renewed – Larry Jagan
Irrawaddy: A ‘no’ vote means ‘let’s have a dialogue’
DVB: Can Thailand face up to its responsibility?

PRESS RELEASE
BCUK: European Parliament calls for global arms embargo against Burma



____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

April 29, Democratic Voice of Burma
ABFSU calls on students to monitor referendum – Aye Nai

The All-Burma Federation of Students' Unions has called on students across
Burma to closely monitor the May referendum to prevent vote rigging by the
authorities.

In a statement released yesterday, the ABFSU said the group suspected the
ruling State Peace and Development Council would not allow a free and fair
vote.

The group accused the government of detaining ethnic and political leaders
and hundreds of activists “in order to achieve a situation where they can
easily cheat in the referendum”.

Ko Linn Htet Naing, a leader of the ABFSU, told DVB the group was calling
for the assistance of students as the government has refused to let
international observers into Burma to monitor the referendum.

"We need to prevent the government from rigging the vote and stopping the
people of Burma from expressing their true will," said Linn Htet Naing.

"We would like to urge the students of Burma to take on this historic
responsibility and closely monitor the ballot stations."

The national referendum on the draft constitution is due to be held on 10
May.

The Burmese government has been using incentives and intimidation to
persuade people to vote “Yes” in the upcoming vote.

Some civil servants have also said they were told by local officials that
“Yes” votes had already been cast on their behalf.

Activists campaigning against the constitution have faced harassment from
the authorities, and press freedom in reporting on the referendum inside
the country is severely restricted.

____________________________________

April 29, Mizzima News
70 activists arrested in 3 days: AAPP – Nay Thwin

The Thai-based Association for Assistance to Political Prisoners in Burma
(AAPP) says that over 70 activists have been arrested trying to stage
demonstrations in Burma over the last three days.

These fresh arrests include those of monks, AAPP commented, as they
continue to compile information on the latest crackdown of Burmese
activists.

"The junta arrested a lot yesterday, but we don't know the exact figure.
The protesters were arrested at Shwedagon and at their homes," Ko Teik
Naing, Secretary of AAPP told Mizzima.

Another activist, wishing to remain anonymous, confirmed this news and
said that more than a dozen people were arrested on Saturday and Sunday.

"About fourteen to fifteen people were arrested for launching a poster
campaign in the downtown area. Authorities didn't arrest them while they
were sticking up the posters, but at their homes," he said.

Activists and monks in recent days have tried to assemble at designated
rendezvous points such as Shwedagon, Sule and Kyaikasan Pagodas, but they
have been systematically dispersed by authorities.

Security had been tightened in Rangoon amid a rumor in circulation that
there would be fresh protests before the scheduled referendum date of May
10.

Meanwhile, the National League for Democracy (NLD) released a statement
that some it its party workers were arrested while launching their 'Vote
NO' campaign in Irrawaddy, Magwe and Rangoon Divisions, as well as Rakhine
State.

Additionally, since the junta's announcement in February on a scheduled
referendum date, six NLD party workers have been physically accosted by
unknown assailants.

Similarly the NLD issued a news release averring that 20 protesters in
Rakhine State who staged a protest against the junta's draft constitution
by wearing T-shirts with 'NO' printed on them, were beaten up.

According to United Nations statistics over 30 protesters were killed
during last September's crackdown on widespread unrest.

Also thousands of monks and lay-people were arrested last August and
September, with hundreds still missing, according to human rights
organizations.

Approximately 1,800 political prisoners remain behind bars throughout Burma.

____________________________________

April 29, Mizzima News
Chevron's involvement connected to HR abuses in Burma: ERI – Solomon

The US based Chevron Corp. should shoulder the responsibility of the
ongoing human rights abuse by Burmese soldiers, guarding Chevron's gas
pipeline, a report released on Tuesday by a human rights watchdog said.

The EarthRights International in its report draws on interviews with
villagers and Burmese refugees in Thailand. It accused Burma's military of
raping, extra-judicial killings and terrorizing villagers living along the
Yadana gas pipeline, in which Chevron has a share.

Katie Redford, US Director of EarthRights International told Mizzima that
they have found evidence that link Chevron's involvement in the pipeline
with the ongoing human rights violations perpetrated by the Burmese
military, which is responsible for guarding the pipeline.

"Our organization has harvested about Chevron's complicity and human
rights abuses by the Burma Army guarding the Yadana pipeline," Redford
told Mizzima over telephone after the press conference in Bangkok.

Redford said while Chevron is not directly involved in human rights abuses
along the Yadana pipeline project, the Burmese military which is guarding
the pipeline continues to violate the rights of the local people in the
name of safety of the pipeline.

Chevron became a co-owner of the pipeline, when in 2005 it bought Unocal,
one of the original partners in the Yadana project, and inherited a share
of the pipeline. Chevron, with its 28 percent share, now co-owns the
pipeline along with French oil giant Total and the Burmese junta-owned
Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprises (MOGE).

In 1996, EarthRights represented residents of nearby villages, who sued
Unocal over alleged forced labour on the pipeline. Unocal settled out of
court for an undisclosed amount in April 2005.

The new report argues that the Yadana pipeline is the junta's single
largest foreign income, fetching an estimated USD 969 million per year.
However, the report said that this income does not benefit the local
villagers but rather is used to strengthen the Burmese Army.

"Income from this project is not used for the people of Burma but is
rather used to strengthen the army by purchasing more weapons for killing
and abusing the Burmese people," said Ka Hsaw Wa, Executive Director of
ERI and one of the researchers for the report.

EarthRights also called on Chevron to withdraw from Burma and end its
involvement in the ongoing human rights violation.

Total and Chevron are a few large western companies who still have a stake
in Burma, which has economic sanctions imposed on it by the west for its
human rights violation and failure to implement democratic reforms.

The U.S. sanctions prevent most American companies from investing and
doing business in Burma. However, since the Yadana project – both the
pipeline and the offshore natural gas wells - were built before the
sanctions were imposed, it was exempted.

EarthRights said they have found evidence that it is the same abuses that
prompted the Unocal lawsuit. The group said Chevron could be sued unless
it withdraws from all business in Burma.

"We consider a lawsuit and legislation a large resource so if Chevron does
not make any changes in its business relationship and if human rights
abuses continue on the pipeline route than we do have the ability to file
a lawsuit against it," Reford said.

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

April 29, Irrawaddy
Ceasefire groups asked to provide referendum security – Saw Yan Naing and
LAwi Weng

Several ethnic ceasefire groups were recently asked by Burmese military
authorities to provide security during the constitutional referendum on
May 10, said sources close to the groups.

The ceasefire groups involved include the New Mon State Party (NMSP), the
Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA), the Karen Peace Front (KPF) and the
Pa-O National Organization (PNO).

According to sources, their participation was requested by officers of the
military government’s Referendum Commission last week at a meeting held in
Three Pagodas Pass on the Thai-Burmese border.

Commission officers informed each party’s officials that they should
provide security for referendum staff and ballot boxes to their respective
areas and to provide security during the voting process at polling
stations. It is unclear whether government officials expect to accompany
the ballot boxes into ceasefire areas due to security concerns.

However, sources said that many members of the ceasefire groups are
reluctant to help the regime monitor the referendum.

“This is the Burmese government’s job. It isn’t ours. Why should we be
responsible?” said an official of NMSP, who asked to remain anonymous.

According to a survey conducted by The Irrawaddy last week, many Mon
people are not interested in or are indifferent about the referendum. A
cafe owner in Wai Zin village in Mon State said that many people in his
area will not be going to the polling stations.

However, NMSP party officials say that they will allow polling boxes to be
brought into their area.

The ceasefire groups seem to have little choice, and one official who
attended the meeting reports that the Burmese officials would tolerate no
refusals.

Meanwhile, members of the DKBA were also asked to monitor ballot boxes,
provide security and lobby locals to vote “Yes” to the draft constitution,
according to a DKBA source in Myawaddy.

He said, “The Burmese authorities asked DKBA members to take care of the
voting processes in all the areas they controlled. Local people were asked
to vote ‘Yes’ too. The authorities said that if the public votes ‘No’ it
will take another 20 years for change to come to Burma.”

DKBA members were asked to take care of monitoring the referendum in areas
under their control in Karen state, including Pa-an District, Kawkareik
Township, Myawaddy Township and Shwe Koko Village, said the source. He
also said that security and patrols had already been organized by DKBA
soldiers along the Thai-Burmese border.

He added that villagers with little knowledge about the national
referendum would likely do as the authorities told them and vote “Yes.”

Another ceasefire group, the Pa-O National Organization, or PNO, was
similarly ordered to monitor the voting process in areas under their
control.

Speaking to The Irrawaddy by phone on Tuesday, a source said, “Two days
ago, PNO members were ordered to set up ballot boxes in their areas and
monitor the voting.”

The PNO signed a ceasefire agreement with the military government o¬n
April 11, 1991. The group controls Special Region-6, in southern Shan
State in eastern Burma.

Meanwhile, the ethnic Wa ceasefire group, the United Wa State Army (UWSA),
has allowed the military regime to set up polling stations in their
region, including the capital, Panghsang, according to a report by
Thailand-based Shan Herald Agency for News (SHAN).

Wa officials, however, are not really interested in participating in the
constitutional referendum, said sources close to the group.

A Wa official was quoted by SHAN as saying, “We are not telling the Wa
people whether to support or oppose the draft constitution. It is entirely
their choice.”

Aung Kyaw Zaw, a Burmese political analyst on the China-Burma border said,
“Wa leaders haven’t yet decided to what extent they will be involved in
the referendum. The Burmese authorities dare not to force UWSA to
participate in the referendum, because tension between the Wa and the
junta remains high because of previous incidents.”

He also said that members of another ethnic ceasefire group, the Kachin
Independence Organization, or KIO, would most likely not be involved in
the referendum process.

The KIO is the largest armed Kachin group and is based in Laiza o¬n the
China-Burma border. The group signed a ceasefire agreement with the junta
in February 1994.

Similarly, members of National Democratic Alliance Army-Eastern Shan State
(NDAA-ESS), better known as the “Mongla” group, will boycott the
constitutional referendum, while members of the Kokang Army have not
decided yet whether they will vote or not, said Aung Kyaw Zaw.

Since early March, Burmese authorities have been issuing temporary citizen
cards to families of members of certain ceasefire groups, including the
KIO, UWSA, DKBA and NMSP. A temporary citizen card allows a citizen to
vote in next month’s national referendum.

Meanwhile, a statement is due to be released tomorrow by leaders from 12
ethnic political parties in Burma, urging its supporters to cast a “No”
vote in the national referendum.

Rangoon-based Cin Sian Thang, chairman of Zomi National Congress, said,
“The regime knows that people don’t like their constitution. And if the
people who don’t like the constitution don’t participate in the
referendum, the junta will win and legitimize their constitution,” said
Cin Sian Thang.

 “If the constitution is approved, the situation in Burma will get worse,”
he added. “Therefore, instead of boycotting, it’s important that people
participate. I urge everyone to vote “No” in the referendum.”

____________________________________

April 29, Deutsche Presse-Agentur
Ethnic Karen in Myanmar fight for survival – Christiane Oelrich

Wah Wah Mu, 38, has dressed up her little daughter with a pink chiffon
dress, a rare sight in this jungle region of Myanmar (Burma).

But two-and-a-half-year-old Yaung Naing Oo doesn't smile. She has a high
fever and apathetically lies in her mother's arms.

'It has gotten worse since yesterday evening,' says Wah Wah Mu, who
trekked through the jungle for an hour to reach the clinic.

Tests show the girl has malaria. Treatment and medication is free at this
clinic, build with the help of the South Tyrol-based non-governmental
organization Help Without Borders.

Wah Wah Mu is a member of the Karen, an ethnic group that has refused to
submit to the Myanmar's military junta's yoke. So the regime has waged a
merciless war against the Karen.

Like all her neighbours, Wah Wah Mu fled to Myanmar's border area with
Thailand to escape government soldiers who regularly invade Karen
villages, demand money and food, burn down houses, force Karen males to
work as army porters and chase women and children across mined fields.

The good Samaritan of Kaw Poe Kee is Nana, who lives across the border in
Thailand and works for the Karen Department of Health and Welfare (KDHW)
run by the Karen government-in-exile.

The clinic consists of a single, large room with mosquito nets instead of
window panes. Some 16 wooden stretchers are lined up against the walls.

'We are seeing between 10 and 20 patients every day, up to 40 during the
rainy season,' says Nana.

That is the time of the year when mosquitoes proliferate while flooding
provides the perfect condition for all kinds of germs.

Before the clinic was build in 2007, patients had to travel in emergencies
into Myanmar's interior to seek treatment at government hospitals, but
most of them could not afford the high cost.

On a recent morning, the clinic was very busy.

Two mothers were breast-feeding their babies. Three of the stretchers were
occupied by men receiving infusions. They had just gone through
particularly violent malaria attacks. The infusion bottles hang on a nail
that has been driven into the wooden wall.

Nana has also implemented prophylactic programmes against tuberculosis and
malaria.

'When we started out last year, 60 out of 100 patients suffered from
malaria; today we are down to seven,' she says proudly.

The village of Kaw Poe Kee has only existed for the past seven or eight
years. All its 320 inhabitants are refugees in their own country, just
like another estimated 250,000 members of the 7-million-strong Karen
ethnic minority.

In addition, Thailand houses thousands of refugees in camps along the border.

One hour from Kaw Poe Kee lies Nya Pel Hta, which is even newer. This is
where Wah Wah Mu and her neighbour Ma Chit Tu, 39, live.

'Each time the soldiers arrived, they stole all our belongings. We just
couldn't live like this any longer,' recalls Ma Chit Tu. But we also
couldn't flee across the border into Thailand, because the Thai
authorities would have arrested us.'

That was when the families decided to leave their village and built a new
one in this jungle clearing. Today, the population of Nya Pel Hta already
includes 25 families.

Karen soldier Thaw Thee, 39, has been assigned to sentry duty in the
village. His uniform comprises rubber sandals, a t-shirt, camouflage pants
and a cap. His rifle dangles from his shoulder.

'The enemy lurks about 10 kilometres from here,' he says while pointing
into the jungle. The Karen rebels control a strip between 5 and 10
kilometres wide along the Thai-Myanmar border, but safety within this area
is never guaranteed.

'I will continue fighting until the Karen have gained their freedom,' he
asserts.

Thaw Thee's commander is Ner Dah, 41, who once studied liberal arts in
California.

'The Karen must become free and independent, only then can they decide if
they want a federation with Myanmar's other ethnic groups,' he says.

No-one here has any trust in the junta and its so-called roadmap to
democracy. No-one cares about the referendum in Myanmar on the new
constitution that is supposed to lead to elections in two years.

'We know that there will be no future for us as long as the junta holds on
to power,' says Chaung Khu, 24, a Karen refugee who works for Help Without
Borders.

Many Karen want to migrate abroad. Australia, Canada and New Zealand are
popular choices.

But this poses a problem for those who want to build a viable Karen state
one day. Education is a priority for the government-in-exile but often
people trained as teachers leave for third countries.

Help Without Borders currently supports schools for 6,000 pupils in the
Karen area and in Thailand.

Next to receive a school is Nya Pel Hta, to accommodate 25 pupils in the
near future. It is being paid for with donations from Europe.

One of the pupils is Mu La Thee, 6, who says he originally wanted to
become a soldier just like his father.

During a previous visit to Kaw Poe Kee he admired the colourful posters
pasted on the school walls there and was mightily impressed.

'If I'm good, perhaps I can become a teacher instead,' he says.


____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

April 29, Irrawaddy
Burmese PM arrives in Thailand to strengthen business ties – Wai Moe

Burmese Prime Minister Gen Thein Sein began an official three-day visit to
Thailand on Tuesday which will focus on business deals and closer ties
between the two neighboring countries, analysts say.

Thein Sein was scheduled to have dinner at Thai Prime Minister Samak
Sundaravej’s residence, cooked by the PM himself, said reports. Samak is
known for his love of food and cooking.

"First, he was scheduled to dine at his hotel so I invited him to have
dinner at my house, and he agreed," Samak told reporters on Tuesday.

Thein Sein is scheduled to talk with Samak officially on Wednesday
followed by an audience with King Bhumibol Adulyadej, according to a
Thailand Ministry of Foreign Affairs statement.

The two countries are scheduled to sign agreements on contract farming
projects that Thailand wants to set up in Burma for rubber and palm oil
plantations.

Analysts said the visit will focus on bilateral projects, business deals,
cross border drug trafficking and illegal migration as well as the May 10
constitutional referendum in Burma.

Samak said, "Initially Thailand offered assistance [in conducting the
referendum], but Myanmar [Burma] said they are ready to conduct the
referendum on their own.”

"I don't think I can comment more. I will be accused of being Burma’s
mouthpiece, but as far as I know, after the referendum is complete on May
10 and elections are held in the next two years, there will be three
parties to contest the election," he said. "Burma’s democracy is similar
to Thai democracy in the past 30 years, which began with a half-democratic
constitution.”

Thai foreign minister Noppadon Pattama said before Thein Sein’s arrival
the referendum will be credible. “It is regarded as a step toward
democracy in Myanmar [Burma],” he said.

Bo Kyi, the joint secretary of the Assistance Association for Political
Prisoners-Burma, a human rights group, said current Thai foreign policy on
Burma is based largely on business interests.

“There are a lot of Thailand business interests in Burma,” he said. “If
Thailand’s interests in Burma also included moral considerations, it would
be better.”

Thailand, one of Burma’s largest investment and trading partners, opposes
the economic sanctions favored by many Western and European countries,
arguing that putting pressure on the military government to change is
counterproductive.

Nyo Ohn Myint, the head of the foreign affairs office of the National
League for Democracy (Liberated Area), a Burmese opposition group in
exile, said, “To improve business relations between the two governments,
they need to show they have confidence in each other. I think the trip
part of that concept.”

After the People Power Party in Thailand won in the December elections,
the new government renewed warmer relations with Burma. During an official
trip to Burma this year, Samak said Burma was a peaceful country, and the
ruling generals were good Buddhist who practiced meditation.

A Burmese political analyst, Aung Naing Oo, said Thailand’s foreign policy
will focus on a “no-problem” diplomacy.

“Thailand is a business-based country,” he said. “If there are problems
between the two countries, the Burmese military government will close its
borders. Then Thai businesses will lose millions of dollars a day. This
kind of thinking drives the current foreign policy of Thailand.”

Burma’s political instability poses risks for Thailand, which has an
estimated two million Burmese migrant workers and hundreds of thousands of
refugees. Other problems include drug trafficking and the spread of
diseases.

Commenting on Thein Sein’s trip, a Thai historian at a university in
Bangkok who asked for anonymity, said current relations between Thailand
and Burma illustrates the backward foreign policy of each country, which
puts business interests above democratic principles.

The people in both countries are struggling for more democracy and better
governments that address the needs of the people, she said.

____________________________________

April 29, Xinhua
Myanmar airlines suspend some international flights again

The Myanmar Airways International (MAI) has temporarily suspended again
its international flights to Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur since its last
flights to the two destinations in the past week, the leading local news
journal Myanmar Times reported in this week's issue.

The suspension will last until the end of next month when the air routes
would probably be resumed with new aircraft to replace the old one, the
airline's marketing department was quoted as saying.

The MAI once stopped its flights to the two Southeast Asian capitals in
October last year allegedly out of insurance issues but resumed on Jan. 15
this year after the purchase of a 114-seat airbus A 319, according to the
report.

Flight between Yangon and Singapore will be continued to be run by the
MAI's code-sharing partner Jetstar, the report added.

MAI is a joint venture between the state-run Myanmar Airways and the
Region Air of Singapore set up in 1993 for sole international service
covering flight destinations of Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore.

Meanwhile, three other Myanmar private airlines -- Air Mandalay, Yangon
Airways and Air Bagan, in addition to their domestic flights, have
extended their services as regional flights to Chiangmai, Phuket, Bangkok,
Singapore and Incheon respectively.

However, the Air Bagan's Singapore flight had to be suspended since last
November 4 due to sanctions by the United States, the airline said, adding
that it will seek resumption of the flight by the peak tourist season of
September this year.


____________________________________
HEALTH / AIDS

April 29, Mizzima News
Imprisoned Burmese activist paralyzed – Maung Dee

A Burmese social welfare activist arrested during the September protests
has reportedly suffered paralysis over half of his face due to lack of
proper medical treatment inside Rangoon's notorious Insein prison, a
colleague said.

Than Naing, an activist committed to helping people living with HIV who
was arrested in September, reportedly suffered the partial paralysis on
April 21 as a result of the poor prison medical treatment, his colleague
elaborated.

"Half of his face is paralyzed. He cannot close his left eye and cannot
feel anything with his teeth and lip on the left side of his face. When he
eats he has to chew with the teeth on his right side," added the
colleague, who saw Than Naing at the prison.

Than Naing's wife was totally ignorant of his situation as authorities did
not inform her, only learning that Than Naing has been living for several
days in a critical state after she made a prison visit on Monday. Than
Naing, who is also a member of the organizing committee of the Thaung Dwin
Gyi Township National League for Democracy in central Burma, himself is
living with HIV.

His colleague, who worked with him in helping people with HIV, said a poor
diet for people with HIV can cause grave medical problems.

"Since he is paralyzed he cannot eat, and this will further deteriorate
his health as a person living with HIV. I am even worried that he might
die," added the colleague.

Than Naing was arrested on September 26 at Shwedagon Pagoda during the
peak of the protests, which were brutally suppressed by the ruling junta.
His wife and colleagues today appealed to the Ministry of Home Affairs to
allow Than Naing proper medical treatment and a free trial, also asking
the ministry to immediately take measures in the fight against HIV/AIDS in
Burma.


____________________________________
REGIONAL

April 29, The Nation (Thailand)
Burmese nationals have three-day extension to vote on constitution

Burmese nationals living in Singapore have until Friday to vote on their
country's draft constitution drawn up by the military regime, a notice at
the embassy said.

Voting started Friday and was originally scheduled to end Tuesday. The
notice of the three-day extension was posted on the embassy gates.

Nearly 2,000 people showed up to vote Sunday, many wearing red T- shirts
and baseball caps emblazoned with "No." Fewer than 100 got to vote.

The embassy refused to allow anyone wearing the shirts or caps inside.

The three-day extension was heartening to those who have repeatedly but
unsuccessfully tried to vote.

"This is the kind of flexible approach that we want the embassy to take,"
Moe Kyaw Thu, a 30-year-old administrative executive, told The Straits
Times.

Despite three previous failed attempts, he vowed: "I'll try again."

Other Burmese nationals said they were denied entrance to the embassy
because they did not have an invitation or were not on a list, but had
brought their passports.

Voting is being held in Singapore as well as Thailand, Malaysia, South
Korea and Japan ahead of a referendum on May 10, Myanmar's first in 18
years.

Burma's's military leaders say the new constitution will pave the way for
democratic elections in 2010, but pro-democracy groups and analysts
maintain it simply gives more power to the junta.

Most queried said they will vote no.

"It will only benefit the military, not the people," said Ja Naw, 32, an
engineer.

The Burmese community in Singapore numbers about 50,000 people.

Police have been standing guard outside the embassy, and there have been
no disturbances. Outdoor demonstrations are prohibited in Singapore
without a police permit.

International condemnation of Burma's 's regime has mounted since soldiers
were deployed in September to violently end anti-government protests.


____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

April 29, International Trade Union Confederation
European Union position on Burma just not good enough

The International Trade Union Confederation today released a damning
report on Burma that shows the limited European Union and international
sanctions against the country’s murderous regime are not enough. The
report makes the case for sanctions to be extended to finance and oil and
gas, the engines which help keep the military in power.

Yet today EU ministers meeting in Luxembourg plan to make minimal changes
to those timid sanctions.

Burma hit the world’s headlines in September 2007 as thousands of Buddhist
monks and ordinary people demonstrated against extreme poverty and
widespread starvation. The ruling military junta cracked down hard: at
least 110 were killed, thousands were injured, and people in detention
were tortured, or disappeared.

“Rich Pickings: how trade and investment keep the Burmese junta alive and
kicking” details how foreign governments, including the EU, have kept that
regime in the lap of luxury, and allowed it to expand the army and police
that keep it in power. Virtually all Burma’s big foreign business is
conducted via government-owned conglomerates, through contracts that
explicitly assure the generals and their families a cut of the cash.
Natural gas accounts for around half of this, with $2.16 billion worth of
exports and $472 million in foreign investment last year.

None of it reaches the people, says the report: 95 per cent of Burmese
live on less than a dollar a day. Fully a third of children are
malnourished, a third of those severely. Recent food price rises have made
starvation more widespread, yet government neglect of agriculture means
farmers in what was once “the rice bowl of Asia” grow far less than they
could. But the generals have doubled the size of the army, are buying
expensive new weapons and spend 28 times more on defense than health and
education combined.

Detained Burmese opposition leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and other
opposition figures have called on the country’s trading partners to slap
sanctions on Burma, to weaken the regime. Yet trade is booming with China,
India and Thailand. Rich countries including the US, the EU, Australia,
Canada and Japan have imposed a few sanctions, but not enough to make any
impact against the background of Burma’s booming trade with its
neighbours. After the protests last year the EU banned imports of Burmese
timber, metals and gems, arms sales to the country, and visas for leaders
and their families, and partially froze the junta’s assets in Europe. But,
argues the ITUC, these sanctions mean little as they do not touch the
regime’s main money-spinner: oil and gas. The French company Total, for
example, is a major player in Burmese gas development. Moreover, while the
US prohibits its banking sector from nearly all interaction with Burma,
the EU does not.

The renewed sanctions to be rubber-stamped by the General Affairs and
External Relations Council of EU ministers 28-29 April in Luxembourg makes
few changes to these timid, largely conscience-salving measures. In
particular, they do not affect EU investments in oil and gas.

Tougher sanctions on the gas industry and on financial services will hurt
the junta, not the people, argues the ITUC, as ordinary people get almost
nothing from those sectors. Most Burmese are subsistence farmers, outside
the formal, money economy. “The impact of sanctions targeted at the formal
economy, particularly oil and gas, would be minimal for the vast majority
of Burmese,” says the report.


____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

April 29, Bangkok Post
Saffron Revolution renewed – Larry Jagan

Sporadic street protests erupted in several Burmese cities over the
weekend. Says a Burmese businessman: "The country is a social volcano
ready to erupt."

Sporadic street protests erupted in several Burmese cities over the
weekend, as people prepare to go to the polls in May to vote on a new
constitution. More than 50 demonstrators, led by some 20 saffron-clad
monks, tried to make their way to the country's famous Shwegadon Pagoda in
Rangoon on Saturday. Police prevented them from entering the temple and
quickly herded them away.

The Burmese authorities have prohibited Buddhist monks from entering the
historic pagoda precincts since the massive protests last September. Many
other monks who planned to join the procession were detained while
traveling on buses from the suburbs and other neighbouring cities to the
protest.

There was another small protest at Rangoon 's Tamwe Bazaar. More than a
hundred protesters also took to the streets in Sittwe, the capital of the
predominantly Muslim province of Arakan in western Burma. There were also
unconfirmed reports of small demonstrations in several other cities over
the weekend.

Security forces are guarding most of Rangoon's monasteries, preventing
monks leaving or entering the buildings.

This is the first signs of unrest since last years' Saffron Revolution was
brutally suppressed. "More protests are expected in the coming days as the
anger against the regime is rising," said Khin Ohnmar, a Chiang Mai-based
activist with close links to the protest organisers.

The protests have been triggered in part by the government's planned
referendum on May 10, and are certain to grow in the coming days before
the poll.

The military regime is obviously nervous about the vote and is carefully
orchestrating the referendum results. It is certain to announce that an
overwhelming majority of the country has endorsed the charter, which will
effectively allow the army to retain political control of the country for
decades to come.

But there are growing signs that many in the electorate may in fact reject
the constitution, although the authorities will undoubtedly manipulate the
count.

What they cannot change, though, is the growing rage against the junta
that is welling up again in all sections of Burmese society, especially
among the country's clergy - who in fact have been banned from voting in
the forthcoming referendum.

Burma's monks may have been crushed by brute force last September, but in
the monasteries across the country there is simmering resentment and
anger. One senior abbot admitted privately that next time the monks may
need to take to arms if they are to overthrow the regime.

Hatred of the country's military rulers is also growing among the people
on the street, increasingly burdened by soaring inflation. Even the middle
classes in the main commercial cities of Mandalay, Moulmein and Rangoon
are progressively more disaffected by the army's heavy-handed tactics and
a collapsing economy.

Protests are ready to erupt again in the country's streets. "The country
is a social volcano ready to erupt," a Burmese businessman said. "All it
needs is a spark to ignite it."

But most diplomats in Rangoon are cautious about predicting fresh protests
anytime soon, though they admit the causes of last year's massive monk-led
demonstrations have not been addressed.

Prices are skyrocketing. Diesel and petrol costs, which sparked last
year's protests, have risen again recently; cooking oil has more than
doubled since the beginning of the year. Nearly 90% of Burma 's families
spend more than 80% of their income on food alone. Malnutrition and
poverty is growing alarmingly, as the military government spends massive
amounts on arms and military hardware.

Despite this, Burma's reclusive and secretive leader Senior General Than
Shwe is pressing on with his own plans to institutionalise military rule.
The new constitution took the army more than 14 years to draft. Most
details of the arrangements for the referendum are yet to be made known -
and the actual constitution was only revealed to the public two weeks ago.

It is not being distributed but sold at 1,000 kyat, or the equivalent of a
dollar, something an impoverished population, most of whom live on less
than $2 a day, cannot afford. There are restrictions on public debate and
criticism of the charter is banned, punishable by more than 10 years in
jail. The Burmese media has been silenced; they have been ordered not to
report anything about the "No" campaign.

But this has not deterred some from protesting already against the
constitution, with the inevitable result that they have been locked up.

The main pro-democracy party, Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for
Democracy, has announced its opposition to the new constitution - partly
as they were excluded from the drafting process but largely because it is
undemocratic.

The president must be a military man, a quarter of the parliamentary seats
will be nominated by the army chief, and the military reserves the right
to oust any civilian administration it deems to have jeopardised national
security.

The detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi is effectively barred from
political life because she was married to a foreigner, the eminent British
academic and scholar of Tibet and Buddhism, Michael Aris, who died of
prostate cancer in 1999.

"For the people who have the right to vote, we would like to encourage
again all voters to go to the polling booths and make an 'x' ['no'] mark
without fear," the NLD urged voters in statement released to the press
last Friday. But they conceded the whole process was a sham.

"An intimidating atmosphere for the people is created by physically
assaulting some of the members of the NLD," its statement said.

But while the odds seemed to be stacked against the pro-democracy
opposition, all is not lost. Gen Than Shwe, 74, is seriously ill and
losing his grip on the army. He reportedly suffers from chronic diabetes,
hypertension and has massive coronary problems. He often has diabetic
rages, and more recently has been showing signs of dementia and
absent-mindedness, including not remembering instances where he had sacked
officers, according to a Burmese medical source close to the family.

It now seems that Gen Than Shwe's days are numbered. His kidneys are
failing and he has to undergo dialysis every day. He spends more than six
hours a day resting, according to a military source inside the general's
staff. "He is effectively dead," according to one Asian diplomat close to
the old general.

To make matters worse, there are major rifts appearing within the army at
the very top. Gen Than Shwe's immediate subordinate, General Maung Aye, is
increasingly disaffected with his boss, feeling that he is allowing
rampant corruption to bankrupt the country. He is particularly concerned
about the use of an untrained and brutal paramilitary force, connected to
the community-based mass organisation, the Union Solidarity and
Development Association (USDA) that Gen Than Shwe personally created some
15 years ago to stir up public support for the military government.

It was thugs from this group which attacked Aung San Suu Kyi in northern
Burma in May 2003, in what many believe was a concerted assassination
attempt on her life. They also led the assaults on the monks last
September.

The USDA, lead by hardline supporters of Gen Than Shwe, has been give
responsibility for organising the May 10 referendum and will also to run
the elections, which are likely to be held in two years' time.

Gen Maung Aye fears this group is going to get stronger after the
referendum and effectively replace the army in running the country. He
understands that the USDA's conduct and brutal tactics have tarnished the
military's image. Many junior officers, the "Young Turks" as they call
themselves, feel the same way. They are looking to the four top generals
immediately below Gen Than Shwe to take action.

While there are no concrete signs yet of a possible "palace coup", there
is already a new wave of demonstrations in the streets against the
military government, which threatens to grow in the coming days before the
polls open for the referendum. Most Burmese people see this as their first
chance since the 1990 elections, which were overwhelmingly won by the NLD,
to express their outrage at military rule.

During these uncertain times for the army, there is the possibility for
things to change and to change rapidly. At the very least, there will be
more protests against the government next month.

____________________________________

April 29, Irrawaddy
A ‘no’ vote means ‘let’s have a dialogue’ – Kyaw Zwa Moe

The word “No” has become increasingly popular in Burma since February 9,
the day the ruling generals announced the constitutional referendum would
be held on May 10.

If the majority of the Burmese people cast a “No” vote—as expected—it
doesn’t really mean “no” in political terms: it means “let’s have a
dialogue” to resolve the country’s decades-long political impasse.

About 30 million enfranchised citizens—out of an estimated 55 million
population—are called on to vote on the draft constitution, clearly a
flawed document written by the junta’s handpicked delegates during a
14-year process.

In the past two decades, the regime itself has always responded with a
“no” to the people’s dreams of living in a truly democratic country as an
accepted member of the international community. The people are now in a
position on May 10 to respond with a “no” to the military regime.

Strategically, a “No” vote opens at least a possibility for positive
change. Maybe—just maybe—if the people’s vote of “No” is accepted, a real
dialogue between the military, opposition leaders and Aung San Suu Kyi
might occur. A “No” vote will also give more legitimacy to calls by the
international community for an inclusive dialogue, hopefully followed up
by more concrete pressure.

On the other hand, after the referendum, the junta—as many observers
predict—could manipulate the vote count, claim victory, and simply ignore
cries of foul play and the protests of opposition groups and the
international community.

Regardless of the actual outcome—a victory for the opposition or a rigged
“Yes” victory for the junta—the country will enter a dangerous period in
which anything could happen. Based on my experience with the junta, I
believe we are about to witness more civil strife and bloodshed.

Politically, economically and socially, the once proud Burmese people have
been beaten down by the 46-year rule of the military. People in the cities
are subjected to constant intimidation by the military government’s
intelligence units. Special security police and goon squads monitor daily
life. People in ethnic states along the borders have endured decades of
war and countless villages have been uprooted.

In 1988, when the military regime staged a bloody coup, thousands of
citizens, including monks and students, were gunned down by the junta’s
troops. The majority of the people’s representatives who were elected in
the 1990 general election were imprisoned, and the democratic vote was
thrown out by the generals.

Recent images from the 2007 civil uprising are still fresh in the world’s
memory, showing the military’s determination to hold on to power at all
costs. About 1,800 political prisoners currently languish in prisons
across the country. It is the tip of the iceberg of the generals’ gross
human rights violations.

The flaws of the junta’s draft constitution are legion. It guarantees the
military key leadership positions in the government. The constitution says
the president would be the head of the state, but the real power would lie
with the military commander in chief, instead of being derived from
citizens in line with democratic principles.

The commander in chief is given the power to appoint 25 percent of the
seats in both the upper and lower houses of parliament from among military
officials; the offices of president and two vice presidents are controlled
by the commander in chief; the commander in chief is granted a political
position on the same level as a vice president; and the commander in chief
is given authority to declare a “state of emergency” at any time and
assume all legislative, executive and judicial powers.

A special clause in the constitution was inserted to deny Suu Kyi, the
nation’s long-suffering democracy icon, the right to seek public office.
It bars anyone from contesting an election if they receive the benefits of
citizenship from another country or are spouses of foreigners. Suu Kyi was
married to a British citizen.

“If the draft constitution isn’t approved, the people of Burma will have
to struggle for some decades. But if it is approved, the people will have
to suffer for many generations,” said Nyan Win, a spokesperson for the
National League for Democracy, which Suu Kyi heads.

Recently, the UN special envoy to Burma, Ibrahim Gambari, told The
Irrawaddy, “I do not see an alternative to dialogue.” Unfortunately, we
see many alternatives to a dialogue—all of them bad for Burmese citizens.

The May 10 referendum may well be a springboard to more bloodshed, pain
and suffering. Or, it may offer some hope for positive change.

The real power to determine the country’s future remains in the hands of
the junta and the upper-level officer corps, which has remained loyal to
misguided dictators since 1988.

We are living in dangerous times, but a “No” vote is the best option for
Burmese citizens to bring about a dialogue.

This commentary will appear in The Irrawaddy’s May print magazine.

____________________________________

April 29, Democratic Voice of Burma
Commentary: Can Thailand face up to its responsibility? – Htet Aung Kyaw

While many are talking about the suffocation of 54 Burmese migrants in
southern Thailand, some lawyers and labour activists are asking the
authorities to allow the two million other Burmese migrants in Thailand to
vote in the 10 May Burmese referendum.

Burmese embassies around the globe invited local Burmese nationals to vote
from 25 to 29 April in advance of the 10 May referendum on their country's
future. But nearly two million Burmese migrants in Thailand were not
included in that invitation. Why? Are they not Burmese citizens?

According to the 2008 referendum law, people who have left the country and
are living abroad illegally do not have the right to vote.

But Aung Htoo, a senior legal officer in exile and secretary of the
Bangkok-based Burma Lawyers’ Council, claimed that migrants do have a
legal right to vote.

"According to Thai immigration law, those who hold Thai work permits are
living and working legally in Thailand. So they have right to vote just as
every citizen has," says Aung Htoo.

In fact, the Burmese authorities do not allow anyone to cross the border
checkpoint into Thailand. But everyone knows nearly two million people
currently on Thai soil have crossed at that check point in the last 20
years. However, their names are still listed as eligible to vote in Burma
in the May referendum even if they left the country a decade ago.

"That is one of many factors that could jeopardise the chance of a free
and fair referendum in May, as over one million people will be absent from
the vote. No doubt the authorities might count them as 'Yes' or absentee
votes rather than delete their names from the electoral roll on time,''
Aung Htoo added.

Htoo Chit, director of the Khao Lak-based Grassroots Human Right Education
and Development, agrees with Aung Htoo.

"Many workers in our areas have urged me to do something to enable them to
vote in the May referendum," Htoo Chit says.

"I also believe they have the right to vote as a basic human right which I
tell them every day. But I can do nothing without the authorities’
permission."

Khao Lak beach is near Phuket city where the 54 Burmese workers who
suffocated in transit were heading. The GHRE was set up there after the
2004 tsunami and opened some primary schools for the children of thousands
of Burmese migrants living along the coast.

Many of those who now work in the fishing industry, on rubber plantations,
in construction, or at beach tourism sites came to the country in the same
way as those 54 Burmese workers.

"In this situation, no one can go back Burma to vote. So what can we do
for them?" Htoo Chit asked.

Nobody can answer his question yet. But some observers urged the new Thai
prime minister Samak Sundaravej to help in this case, particularly as he
has suggested the Burmese generals study the Thai referendum.

Even he didn't give details of this suggestion during his one-day trip to
Naypyidaw in March, the Burmese opposition wants him to urge the junta to
allow free debate and international observers which were clearly seen in
the Thai referendum.

Two weeks ahead of the vote, there are clear differences between the
pre-referendum conditions in Thailand and Burma. Dozens of activists from
Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy have been arrested,
beaten and threatened for calling for a “No” vote and free debate while
senior ministers and senior officials from the USDA are travelling freely
around the country to campaign for a “Yes” vote.

The government-controlled media, TV, radio and newspapers are openly
urging the people to vote 'Yes' while the opposition has no access to the
media.

"That why we are calling again and again for international observers,"
says Thein Nyunt, spokesperson for legal affairs for the NLD.

"Teams from Thailand, ASEAN, China, India, Bangladesh or the United
Nations are all welcome," he said, although the junta rejected the UN
special envoy's proposal for election observers.

Given this scenario, the Thai prime minister Samak Sundaravej, who has
said that the Burmese generals meditate and claims the country lives in
peace, must again urge the general to learn the reasons for the success of
the Thai referendum when he meets his Burmese counterpart general Thein
Sein in Bangkok on Tuesday.

Otherwise, he will fall into the same role as Thabo Mbeki, the president
of South Africa who refused to recognize the result of Zimbabwe's election
which was lost by his counterpart Robert Mugabe.

Many observers compare the situation in Zimbabwe today to the likely
situation in Burma if the junta rejects the opposition's “No” vote in the
May referendum.

Like South Africa, Thailand neighbours one of the worst dictatorships in
the world, and just as South Africa has a duty to improve conditions in
Zimbabwe, Thailand has a responsibility to bring about a better situation
in Burma.

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


_______________________________
PRESS RELEASE

April 29, Burma Campaign UK
European Parliament calls for global arms embargo against Burma

The Burma Campaign UK today welcomed a European Parliament resolution
calling for the European Union to support a global arms embargo against
Burma. Burma Campaign groups in Europe have been lobbying members of the
European Parliament asking them to put pressure on EU governments to
support an embargo.

European Union Foreign Ministers meet on Monday and Tuesday next week and
will be discussing their common policy on Burma. Existing sanctions are
expected to be renewed for a further year, but no new sanctions are
expected at this time. However, for the first time ministers will be
discussing whether the European Union should work towards securing a
global arms embargo against the regime in Burma. The EU has itself had a
longstanding ban on the sale of military equipment to Burma.

“This is a significant step forward for our campaign for a global arms
embargo against Burma,” said Zoya Phan, International Coordinator of the
Burma Campaign UK. “EU Foreign Ministers are now under increased pressure
to come out in support of a global arms embargo when they meet next week.
The regime in Burma shoots monks on the streets and slaughters ethnic
people in the east of the country. Selling them arms is indefensible.”

The resolution also called for more targeted economic sanctions by the EU,
and, significantly, called for the European Commission –the secretariat of
the EU – to start funding cross-border aid to reach people in parts of
Burma where the regime blocks aid as part of its ethnic cleansing policy.

For more information contact Zoya Phan, International coordinator of the
Burma Campaign UK, on 020 7324 4710