BurmaNet News, June 21-23, 2008

[Editor]

June 21-23, 2008 Issue #3497


INSIDE BURMA
DVB: Voters reveal injustices in 10 May referendum
Jakarta Post: Residents say ordered to vote 'yes'
Irrawaddy: Reshuffle could signal changes at the top
Mizzima News: Burmese junta deports Korean journalist
DVB: Youth activist faces unlawful association charges
Sunday Telegraph (UK): Plague of rats devastates Burma villages
Reuters: More woes in Myanmar: Oxen won't plow
IHT: Myanmar's new capital: Remote, lavish, off-limits

ON THE BORDER
Irrawaddy: Restrictions tightened on cyclone refugees bound for Thailand
DVB: Kuki conference concludes on Burma-India border

BUSINESS / TRADE
AFP: SKorea-led consortium strikes Myanmar gas deal with China
IMNA: Border closed for residents, open for timber business

DRUGS
Irrawaddy: Than Shwe’s grandson in drug scandal

ASEAN
Mizzima News: Will assessment report bring in more aid for cyclone survivors?

INTERNATIONAL
DVB: Activists welcome UN pledge to end rape in conflict

OPINION / OTHER
Jakarta Post: Military junta ignores cyclone victims: Refugees
Irrawaddy: Burma’s bureaucratic abyss
Washington Post: Let us now praise coups



____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

June 23, Democratic Voice of Burma
Voters reveal injustices in 10 May referendum – Naw Say Phaw

Voters in Burma’s national referendum on 10 May testified about official
violations of referendum regulations at a hearing session held at the
National League for Democracy headquarters on Friday afternoon.

Khin Htun, the NLD youth leader for Lower Burma, told DVB that the
two-hour hearing was organised by the decision of the June 6 NLD youth
meeting.

“The military regime issued referendum rules and regulations and promised
that it would hold the referendum fairly,” said Khin Htun.

“However, when the referendum was held, officials at different levels
violated their own rules and rigged the votes,” he said.

“Voters came to us today to testify about who violated referendum rules
and regulations and what they had experienced when they cast their vote so
we will be able to appeal to the authorities to take action against those
responsible.”

The hearing was attended by about 60 township NLD youth members,
Organising Committee members and referendum voters.

Voters explained how lower-level regime authorities had used different
methods including persuasion, threats and intimidation and complicated
voting systems to manipulate ballots and gain support for the
constitutional referendum.

On 29 May, the regime’s leader senior general Than Shwe announced that the
state constitution had been adopted by 92.48 percent of eligible voters.

“We are going document the testimonies. When we take action against
violators in accordance with the law, we will hand over the documents to a
legal organisation,” added Khin Htun.

____________________________________

June 23, Jakarta Post
Residents say ordered to vote 'yes' – Abdul Khalik

According to some reports, military officers went to every house across
the country and ordered people to vote "yes" in the May 10 national
referendum to adopt the junta-drafted constitution.

People in several cities inside the tightly controlled country have said
the officers threatened to arrest them should they reject the newly
proposed constitution.

"It's a fake constitution. We never approved it, we were just afraid of
losing our lives," said Aun Naing, 25, a shop owner in the city of
Thanbyuzayat, more than 400 kilometers southeast of Yangon.

He said people were aware that if the constitution was adopted there was
little chance things in the country would get better in the foreseeable
future.

"It's like we live in fear and misery because everything is very difficult
these days," he said.

In an attempt to convince the international community of its commitment to
democratization, the military junta on May 10 held a referendum to ask
people whether they agreed with the new draft constitution.

As the country was dealing with the devastation caused by Cyclone Nargis,
which killed more than 130,000 people in Yangon and the Irawaddy Delta
region, Myanmar's ruling generals announced last month that a new
constitution viewed by critics as a pro-government sham had been
overwhelming approved by voters.

The commission in charge of the referendum said 92.4 percent of voters
approved the constitution.

The generals say the 194-page constitution is a key step toward democracy
and have promised multiparty elections in 2010.

But many people do not believe the military's promises.

"I don't believe in what the military has said. And we don't believe they
can bring prosperity to us. Look at what we have so far? Even basic
commodities are difficult to get," Nyi Lan, a fisherman in Myeik, 800
kilometers south of Yangon, said.

The pro-democracy opposition has rejected the new constitution, saying it
would only enshrine military rule.

Under the new constitution, the military will appoint one-fourth of the
members of both houses of parliament, ensuring that it will have veto
power over future constitutional changes. The military also will have a
leading role in choosing the president and two vice presidents.

The president would have the power to declare a state of emergency, in
which he or she would hand over power to the military to battle
insurgencies, and to combat the threat of "disintegration of national
solidarity". The military would be immune from prosecution for actions
taken under emergency rule.

The new constitution also bans pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi from
running for public office because she was married to a foreign national.
Many of her supporters also would be blocked from power because they have
criminal records for opposing the regime.

There are at least 1,890 political prisoners in the country, including
hundreds of people arrested after pro-democracy demonstrations last year.

"We know that even when we have elections to chose the president, he or
she will only be a puppet. The military will control everything," Yang, a
resident of Kawthoung, Myanmar's southernmost city, said.

The 24-year-old, who has a master's degree in international relations from
Yangon University, asked for international intervention to declare the
constitution a sham.

"People don't want it. It's just a tool for the military to rule as long
as possible. Please, people are tired of military rule. What we want is to
be able to earn a living normally without fear," he said.

____________________________________

June 23, Irrawaddy
Reshuffle could signal changes at the top – Min Lwin

Burma’s ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) has reshuffled
its military commanders following the replacement of the country’s navy
chief and two ministers last week.

Details of the latest reshuffle have yet to emerge, although it is
reported to have been planned as long ago as March. Observers believe many
senior officers have been allowed to retire.

According to exile dissidents and military observers who have close
connection with Burma’s armed forces, four Bureau of Special Operations
(BSO) heads were allowed to retire. Burma currently has six BSO
headquarters headed by senior ranking military officers and members of the
SPDC.

Four BSOs established in November 2001 run all thirteen regional commands
throughout Burma. Unconfirmed reports say BSO-5 was created in 2006 under
the command of a loyal Than Shwe officer, Lt Gen Myint Swe, previously
commander of the Rangoon division.

Observers see the recent reshuffle as an attempt by Than Shwe to inject
new blood in the military and to consolidate his power. With the exception
of Myint Swe who is in his late 50s, all BSO heads were nearing retirement
age and some are believed to be seriously ill.

The reshuffle is thought by some observers to have no connection to last
month’s cyclone disaster and rumors of rising tension among the top army
leaders. Nevertheless, navy chief Adm Soe Thein was suddenly removed from
his post and put in charge of the ministry of industry 2.

Meanwhile, rumors widely circulating in Rangoon and the exiled community
in Thailand suggest that Than Shwe is soon to give up his post as
commander-in-chief of the armed forces and hand over the top job to Gen
Shwe Mann, the number three man in the armed forces and currently army
chief-of-staff and coordinator of air force, navy and army operations. It
is also suggested that Vice Snr-Gen Maung Aye, deputy commander in chief
of the armed forces, will also leave office.

Shwe Mann and Lt Gen Myint Swe are rumored likely to take over two top
posts, although Than Shwe and Maung Aye will remain members of the SPDC,
considered to be the most powerful decision making body in Burma.

Some Burma watchers suggest that Than Shwe could create a Chinese-style
military commission and continue to call the shots. There has been no
independent confirmation of this information, however.

Political observers suggest that Than Shwe and his close associates are
preparing for the 2010 election and that reshuffles and changes of guard
at the top are occurring in view of the transition to a civilian
government controlled by the military.

____________________________________

June 23, Mizzima News
Burmese junta deports Korean journalist – Zarni

A Korean journalist was deported from Burma by the ruling military junta
on Sunday for visiting the office of opposition political party – the
National League for Democracy.

Ms. Lee Yu Kyong, a freelance journalist from Korea, was expelled to
Thailand after police searched for her at a guest house on Sunday morning
for visiting the NLD office.

 She was staying in Okinawa Guest Hose in 32nd Street in Kyauktadar
Township in downtown Rangoon from since June 16.

 "At about 7 am [Sunday], five guys from [police] Special Branch arrived.
They asked me, 'where I was on the 18th and 19th'," said Lee.

"[They] said you came here on a tourist visa. So it's illegal. And you
shouldn't have gone there with a tourist visa," Lee quoted the Burmese
officers as saying.

She insisted on meeting officers in the Korean embassy but the police
officers said, "No, you just have to leave this country," and an officer
arranged the air-ticket for her in the Thai Airways that left Burma at 10
am on Sunday.

However, Lee was able to contact the counselor of the Korean embassy in
Rangoon before leaving the country.

The Burmese officers took away four CDs that had pictures of the
devastation caused by Cyclone Nargis from her bag but her laptop and
cameras were untouched.

Lee said, the police team that included a plainclothes officer from the
Special Branch, three others and one in a police uniform did not offer any
reason for asking her to leave the country.

"He [the officer] just repeated that I shouldn't have gone to the NLD
office. He did not give me any reason or notice or an explanation," said
Lee.

The Korean counselor later told her that the Burmese officers had assumed
that she was trying to meet detained NLD leader Daw Aung San Su Kyi.

"I was [later] taken to the immigration office at the airport and on my
passport they stamped "Deportee" and a big star. And the special branch
guy, took a lot of photographs of me from various directions," Lee said.

Lee had tried to get an entry visa into Burma soon after Cyclone Nargis
lashed Burma but could not get permission as she applied with her old
passport that had journalistic visas to many countries she had visited.

Finally, she was able to get a new passport and was given permission to
enter Burma as a tourist.

She was trying to go to the Irrawaddy delta, which was the worst affected
to cover the devastation by the killer cyclone.

Lee said she had gone to the NLD office in Bahan Township in Rangoon on
June 18 to get information regarding cyclone victims.  And on June 19, she
attended the birthday celebration of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and witnessed
the arrest of several members of the NLD.

"I took some photographs of the incident and may be they [authorities]
noticed me at that time," Lee said.

Burma's military junta for the second time has deported foreign
journalists from the country since Cyclone Nargis struck.

Earlier in May, a British Broadcasting Corporation reporter was deported
from the Rangoon international airport when the journalist tried to enter
the country.

____________________________________

June 23, Democratic Voice of Burma
Youth activist faces unlawful association charges – Yee May Aung

Zayar Thaw, a member of the popular hip-hop group Acid and leader of the
youth activist group Generation Wave, was brought to court on Friday to
face charges under the Unlawful Association Act.

Zayar Thaw’s aunt said her nephew seemed to be in good spirits when he
appeared at Lanmadaw township court.

"He said he had done what he believed was right and that he wasn’t afraid
to be punished for it," she said.

"When he was first arrested, rumours were going round that he had been
detained on drugs charges and he was so sad to hear that. But now it's all
been cleared up."

Zayar Thaw is being tried along with five other people who face the same
charge, his aunt said.

U Aung Kyi and Daw Aye Aye  Naing will act as defence lawyers for Zayar
Thaw, Aung Zay Phyoe, Arkar Bo and Thiha Win Tin.

Wai Lwin Myoe and Yan Naing Thu will be defended respectively by U Myo
Myint and U Win Tin, resident lawyers at Lanmadaw court.

Zayar Thaw’s aunt said he had also been charged with another offence by
Bahan township court.

"Zayar Thaw is facing charges of possession of foreign currency at Bahan
township court as well. He was found in possession of 125 Thai baht, 10
Singaporean dollars and 25 Malaysian ringgits,” she said.

"The boys said they were beaten up during interrogation by government
officials after they were arrested."

The next court hearing is due to be held on 27 June.

____________________________________

June 23, Sunday Telegraph (UK)
Plague of rats devastates Burma villages – Nick Meo

After the fury of Cyclone Nargis, a new disaster looms in Burma: packs of
rats that swarm through the hills once every 50 years have consumed
everything in their path, reducing thousands of poor farmers to the verge
of starvation.

Villagers believe the bamboo seeds are a rodent aphrodisiac

Burma's latest human disaster is unfolding almost unseen by the outside
world in the jungle-covered mountains of Chin State, far to the north of
the Irrawaddy Delta where 134,000 people died last month.

The plague of rats happens twice a century when bamboo forests produce
flowers and seeds, then wither and die for five years in a phenomenom
locally known as mautam or bamboo death. Villagers believe the bamboo
seeds are a kind of aphrodisiac for the rodents, whose numbers explode
until all the seeds have been eaten. Then they turn on villagers' rice
stocks, stripping ripening corn and paddy in the fields and even digging
up seeds at night after farmers plant them.

The regime's generals will permit no food aid or humanitarian workers into
affected areas of the strategically important region in a repeat of their
callous refusal last month to permit emergency aid sitting in foreign
ships off Burma's coast to be distributed to cyclone survivors.

Exiled Chin leaders say that villagers who are too weak to flee over the
border with India have already begun to die. They fear that thousands more
now face a lingering death in the deep bamboo forests where most of the
state's million-strong population of Christian tribal people live far from
roads or towns.

The Chin, one of Burma's many minority ethnic groups, are under the brutal
rule of occupying soldiers from the Burma Army who terrorise civilians and
sporadically fight Chin guerrillas. The soldiers have made the food
shortage worse by stealing rice and forcing villagers to work as
conscripted labourers. Cheery Zahau, 27, from the Women's League of
Chinland, met William Hague and Gordon Brown in London this week to ask
for British help.

She said: "The reports that are trickling out to India are heartbreaking.
They tell of dehydrated children dying of diarrhoea and the poorest and
weakest being left behind as stronger villagers start to escape over the
border to where there is food. We don't really know what is happening deep
inside Chin State where there are no telephones or roads. We fear that
thousands will die if no help is made available."

Villagers roast rats they catch on sticks, but that food source rapidly
disappears when the rodents have eaten everything in the village and move
on.

In Mizoram State in India and the Chittagong Hill Tracts in Bangladesh,
similar rat plagues in the last few months have also stripped fields bare
after the flowering of the Melocanna Baccifera bamboo. Unlike Burma those
governments have put work and food programmes in place to aid villagers.

Benny Manser, 24, a photographer from Aylesbury, slipped across the
international border from Mizoram State last month to visit affected
villages.

He said: "We saw stick-thin children and old women who hardly had the
strength left to dig up roots to eat. Villagers were telling of vast packs
of rats, thousands strong, which would turn up overnight out of the bamboo
thickets and eat everything in sight."

____________________________________

June 23, Reuters
More woes in Myanmar: Oxen won't plow

Rice farmers in cyclone-shattered parts of the Irrawaddy Delta have come
up against yet another problem as they try to rebound from the storm -
donated oxen and water buffaloes are refusing to work because they are
stressed, and planting must be done soon to take advantage of the next
crop cycle.

"Thanks to donors and arrangements by the government, we are getting
buffaloes and oxen, and in some cases small tractors and tillers, almost
free of charge," said Ko Hla Soe, a farmer in Dedaye, 50 kilometers, or 30
miles, southwest of the city of Yangon.

"Now, to our surprise, the problem is that most of the buffaloes and oxen
will not work hard. They cannot immediately be used effectively."

Cyclone Nargis, which struck Myanmar on the night of May 2, killed around
200,000 farm animals, 120,000 of which were used by farmers to plow fields
in the delta, the country's fertile and economically vital rice-growing
area.

The military government and the United Nations' Food and Agriculture
Organization have said that replacing the draft animals is an urgent
priority in the devastated areas.

Unfortunately for the farmers, who mostly prefer buffaloes to mechanical
tillers due to a lack of fuel and its cost, time is not on their side.

"Unless our rice is planted by the end of this month, it will be too
late," Soe said. "And even if we get it in on time, we cannot expect as
big a crop as before."

The few animals that survived the storm were traumatized and reluctant to
work, delta farmers say, and those brought in as replacements are taking a
long time to settle in to their new surroundings.

"Animals can get stress too," said Ohn Kyaw, a senior official at the
Ministry of Livestock Breeding and Fisheries.

"The change of owners and environment is having a psychological impact on
them. They've had to travel for days by sea or by land, and they are bound
to suffer from stress," he said, adding that the animals should be able to
rebound soon.

The government, he said, had provided 1,971 draft animals and was working
on distributing an additional 600 donated by the FAO.

____________________________________

June 23, International Herald Tribune
Myanmar's new capital: Remote, lavish, off-limits

The bamboo forests and sugarcane fields that once covered the gently
sloping hills here have been replaced by hulking government buildings,
roads so long and straight they resemble runways and a vast construction
site marked by a sign that could be read as a metaphor for the entire
project: "Parliament zone. Do not enter."

Naypyidaw is Myanmar's new capital, built in secret by the ruling generals
and announced to the public two and a half years ago, when it was a fait
accompli.

A nine-hour drive north from the former capital, Yangon, it looks like
nothing else in this impoverished country, where one out of three children
is malnourished and travelers appreciate potholed pavement because many
roads are nothing more than dirt tracks.

Workers in Naypyidaw are building multi-tiered, flower-covered traffic
circles. In a country of persistent power shortages and blackouts, street
lamps brightly illuminate the night, like strings of pearls running up and
down scrub-covered hills. On the city's outskirts there is a modern and
tidy zoo complete with an air-conditioned penguin house.

Foreigners rarely travel here, and the police tried to stop a reporter
from taking pictures in the city, but the zoo is ready to receive them:
admission is $10 for foreigners and a tenth that for Myanmar citizens.

It would be easy to write off the move to Naypyidaw as a caprice of the
paranoid and secretive generals who have been in power for 46 years. But
the transfer of the entire bureaucracy to this relatively remote location,
where malaria is still endemic and cellular phones do not work, has
drained the country's finances and widened the gulf between the rulers and
the ruled.

Even the most charitable observers of Myanmar's junta portray them as out
of touch. Now they are literally out of sight: the generals live and work
in a guarded zone of Naypyidaw that is off limits to all but senior
officers.

When Cyclone Nargis swept through the Irrawaddy Delta last month with
winds up to 250 kilometers per hour, or 155 miles per hour, it killed
about 130,000 people and damaged many buildings in Yangon. But the
generals and civil servants ensconced in Naypyidaw felt only a zephyr, say
residents. The leader of the junta, Senior General Than Shwe, did not
visit the area devastated by the cyclone until May 18, more than two weeks
after the storm.

Isolation appears to be what the generals want. The main reason for the
move may have been that the junta felt unsafe in Yangon, which is near the
sea.

"They really believe, and they have believed for a long time, that we are
planning an invasion, which is nuts," said Shari Villarosa, the
highest-ranking U.S. diplomat in Yangon. "We are not," she added.

The military came to power in a coup four and a half decades ago, and the
prospect of being deposed by force may not be an irrational fear. People
in Myanmar regularly ask foreign visitors whether the United States has
plans to knock out the leadership. When British, French and U.S. warships
sailed to waters off of the Myanmar coast in May to offer assistance to
the victims of the cyclone, at least one Western embassy in Yangon
received phone calls from excited residents.

"You're coming to save us, aren't you?" a diplomat remembers the callers
saying.

Steve Marshall, the representative in Myanmar for the International Labor
Organization, says the army, too, feared invasion when the ships, which
have since left the coast, were stationed offshore. A colonel whom
Marshall described as a senior government official told him that the
military sent extra personnel to prepare for a possible landing.

"He said, 'We've had to withdraw army boys from humanitarian activities to
protect the coast in case the French, British and the Americans land,"'
Marshall said.

Perhaps owing to their military discipline, the generals organized
Naypyidaw like a living yellow pages. There is an avenue for hotels and an
area dedicated to restaurants. The government offices, built with
traditional Burmese influences and Soviet-style bulkiness, are in one
section. Housing for bureaucrats, partitioned and color-coded according to
ministry, is nearby.

It's difficult to judge the city's size, but it feels smaller than the
government's claim of one million inhabitants and 7,000 square kilometers
- 10 times bigger than Singapore.

A huge pagoda is being built atop a hill, matched in size only by the
Parliament complex. Myanmar's military dictatorship has no sitting
Parliament, so the building, once completed, may sit empty for a while.
The generals have vowed to hold "multi-party, democratic elections" by
2010, but opposition groups are skeptical that the elections, if they
occur at all, will be free and fair.

The junta ignored the results of the last election, held in 1990, in which
their proxy party was badly defeated by the party of Aung San Suu Kyi, the
democracy leader.

That is not to say Myanmar's masses are unrepresented in Naypyidaw.
Thousands of workers, many of them who look like teenagers, are helping
construct the place, hacking away at embankments, carrying huge stones and
shoveling dirt.

Naypyidaw, which means royal capital in Burmese, is far from the country's
main population centers, but it is not totally isolated. It is 16
kilometers from the small city of Pyinmana and is near the main road and
railway line between Yangon and Mandalay, the former royal capital farther
to the north. But it is remote enough that most people in the country were
unaware that it was being built until it was officially unveiled in
November 2005.

"They built in secret," said a doctor who lives in Pyinmana. Six years ago
he and other residents noticed Chinese engineers in Pyinmana's coffee
shops. "Only when they started coming did we know the government was
building something," the doctor said. "It was never in the papers."

Engineers from China, which has a relatively close relationship with
Myanmar's leadership, are also helping build a giant hydroelectric dam on
the Paunglaung River that will offer a steady supply of electricity to the
new capital.

The government is widely assumed to have built Naypyidaw with revenue from
the sale of timber, gems and natural gas. Last year Myanmar received $2.7
billion from Thailand for natural gas, which is piped from the Andaman Sea
and keeps the lights on in Bangkok.

The total cost of building Naypyidaw remains a mystery, but Sean Turnell,
an expert on the Burmese economy with Macquarie University in Sydney, says
the consensus estimate is around $4 billion to $5 billion.

In a country where per capita annual income is $280 - less than 80 cents a
day - opposition groups say the money could have been better spent.

The contrast between the grandiose architecture of Naypyidaw's buildings
and the poverty of the surrounding countryside is jarring. Civil servants
have two golf courses at their disposal, and the large zoo, which would
not look out of place in Singapore or Sacramento and features dozens of
animals from white tigers to zebras and kangaroos.

On a recent afternoon, the animals greatly outnumbered the visitors.

Outside the zoo's gates, farmers live in flimsy thatched huts and till
rice paddies with water buffaloes. From this vantage point the zoos seem
as appropriate as penguins in the tropics.

The penguins, which were donated by zoos in Thailand and China, require
constant air-conditioning, and they eat fish shipped in from Thailand
because they could not stomach the local river fish.

"This zoo is a government fantasy," said a woman selling souvenirs and
soft drinks near the empty ticket counter.

"Business is terrible," she said. "The people around here are villagers.
They don't have money to spend."


____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

June 23, Irrawaddy
Restrictions tightened on cyclone refugees bound for Thailand – Violet Cho

Burmese authorities are stepping up their restrictions on cyclone
survivors trying to flee to neighboring Thailand, according to Burmese
social organizations helping victims of the disaster.

Mahn Mahn, of the Back Pack Health Worker Teams, said the authorities were
sending back to their home towns and villages anybody they found bearing
documents identifying them as residents of the cyclone-devastated region.

One survivor who reached the Burmese border town of Myawaddy, opposite
Thailand’s Tak Province, confirmed that troops and police were closely
checking travelers’ identity documents and arresting some refugees.

A Myawaddy resident said the town’s Buddhist monasteries, which
traditionally provide refuge for the poor and homeless, had been
instructed to refuse shelter to anybody from the cyclone region.

Monks and monastery authorities caught giving shelter to refugees would be
punished, he said. Deprived of anywhere to stay, refugees were camping out
on Myawaddy streets.

Military checkpoints have reportedly been strengthened at bridges over the
Sittang and Salween rivers to prevent refugees reaching Thailand.

Refugees are also trying to reach Thailand by boat from the Irrawaddy
Delta and southern Burma, via the Gulf of Martaban.

A Burmese pro-democracy group, the Network for Democracy and Development,
reported that the Burmese navy had arrested refugees from Bogalay Township
near Zardatgyi Island, west of Kawthaung, which is a popular route for
people trying to reach Thailand.

Thousands of refugees set out for Thailand in the wake of Cyclone Nargis,
and some have succeeded in reaching the Thai border town of Mae Sot, where
Burmese social organizations based in Thailand take care of them.

____________________________________

June 23, Democratic Voice of Burma
Kuki conference concludes on Burma-India border – Khin Maung Soe Min

The first ever Kuki national unity conference drew to a close on 19 June
in the Indian town of Moreh on the border with Burma, according to Baik Pu
Lon Lon, one of the event’s organisers.

The three-day conference was attended by Kuki ethnic nationals from
Sagaing division's Kabaw valley.

Baik Pu Lon Lon, one of the leaders of the Kuki Students’ Democratic
Front, said the conference aimed to preserve the unique Kuki heritage.

"Kuki is a distinct ethnic group which is not like any of the other ethnic
groups in Burma, and we have our own culture and traditions,” he said.

"Our land is our heritage from our ancestors and we will continue with our
fight, after Burma has achieved democracy, to claim our own Kuki state.”

The conference also agreed on the need to protect their ancestral lands,
prevent lumbering and promote education among Kuki women.

About 150 Kuki representatives and tribal leaders attended the conference
and brainstormed ideas for archiving Kuki history and making future plans
for the Kuki.

They also discussed plans for documenting human right abuses against the
Kuki people.

Kuki people living in Manipur state in India also assisted in organising
the conference.

The Kuki were driven out of Burma from their homes in the Kabaw valley by
general Ne Win's Burma Socialist Programme Party government in 1967.

Many have since resettled with descendants of common ancestors in India's
Manipur mountains.

____________________________________

June 23, Narinjara News
Large haul of illegal medicine seized at border

Bangladesh authorities seized a haul of medicine from Burma worth an
estimated 1,870,400 taka and arrested a smuggler on Friday in Teknaf on
Cox's Bazar highway near the Burmese border, according to a local official
report.
The medicine that was seized includes Piriktin Tablets and Sakarin, which
are made in Burma. The arrested smuggler was identified as Narul Along, a
Burmese national.

The authority source said a BDR force from Battalion 42 seized the
medicine while the smuggler was transporting them in a car with the number
Dhaka 7959, traveling from Teknaf to Cox's Bazar, both of which are on the
border with Burma.

An official said the medicine is not allowed to be imported to Bangladesh
and is blacklisted like yaba and other stimulant tablets.

On the border between Burma and Bangladesh many smuggling syndicates are
involved in smuggling drugs and medicine. Some syndicates are sending
Bangladesh-made medicine to Burma, while others are smuggling Burmese-made
drugs into Bangladesh.

Most of the Burmese-made medicine, however, is traditional and is also
used by Bangladeshi people in the border area.


____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

June 23, Agence France Presse
SKorea-led consortium strikes Myanmar gas deal with China

A South Korean-led international consortium said Monday it has reached a
deal to sell natural gas from Myanmar to China.

The consortium led by Daewoo International, operator of two natural
gasfields in waters off Myanmar, said it signed a memorandum of
understanding with China National Petroleum Corp last week.

Daewoo said in a statement it expects more than 10 billion dollars in
profit in the next 25 years starting 2012, when the production of natural
gas is expected to begin.

Daewoo has a 51 percent stake in the consortium, followed by India's Oil
and Natural Gas Corp with 17 percent; Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise with
15 percent; India's GAIL with 8.5 percent; and South Korea's Korea Gas
Corp with a 8.5 percent.

Daewoo said it is also exploring four more gasfields off the country.

Myanmar has attracted relatively little investment from the West, with
Western governments denouncing the ruling junta for its poor human rights
record.

____________________________________

June 23, Independent Mon News Agency
Border closed for residents, open for timber business

The Three Pagodas Pass TPP township authorities in Karen State are
allowing vehicles carrying timber after being bribed to cross the main
gate. Local residents and passengers are not being allowed the same
facility.

The Thai-Burma border gate has been closed since May 2005 after the
Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) abducted two Thai border policemen
on May 22 from Sangkhlaburi District Kanchanburi Province. They were
released on May 26. But the military regime continued to keep the border
closed although local businessmen from both countries repeatedly requested
the Burmese junta to reopen the gate.

According to a resident from TPP Town in Karen State, "the authorities
allow vehicles carrying teak after being bribed." Businessmen pay at least
70,000 Baht in bribes for each ten wheeler truck carrying timber to pass
once. The rate for vehicle carrying fuel is 10,000 Baht, while it is about
8,000 Baht for those carrying cassava plants (tapioca) -- Pulo Pinang in
Burmese language.

But residents and vehicles carrying vegetables from the Thai side is not
allowed. They have to use cross roads to cross the border paying small
amount of bribes to soldiers and policemen.

The Burmese authorities opened the main gate for 37 vehicles carrying
Parkay timber on Saturday to enter Thailand even as it stopped people to
cross the main gate, an IMNA source said.

There were 30 four-wheeled vehicles, four six-wheeled and three
ten-wheeled vehicles carrying parquet (patterned flooring). Drivers bribed
about 70,000 Baht for ten-wheeled vehicles, 50,000 Baht for six-wheeled
vehicles, and 5,000 Baht for four-wheeled vehicles.

A TPP resident said that people are using the road from Gubowl and
Japanese well villages (Palaing Japan village) from TPP to Sangkhlaburi.
Closure of the gates makes it difficult for students who attend Thai
schools. Students from the Burmese side use the cross ways beside the main
gate.

Last month, about 60 timber laden vehicles were allowed to pass through
the main gate after the Thai-Burma border committee, the Burmese battalion
and the township authorities were bribed.

The Thai border committee, a Lieutenant-Colonel, and the TPP chairman have
a nexus and are involved in allowing vehicles carrying timber crossing
into Thailand, said the businessman.

The timber businessman said all vehicles paid taxes for crossing the
check-point. The charges are about 30,000 Kyat per vehicle. Most of them
were six-wheeled and ten-wheeled vehicles. At least 1.2 million Baht was
paid to the Lieutenant- Colonel.


____________________________________
DRUGS

June 23, Irrawaddy
Than Shwe’s grandson in drug scandal – Wai Moe

Nay Shwe Thway Aung, until now the favorite grandson of Burmese head of
state Snr-Gen Than Shwe, is reportedly at the center of a drug scandal in
Rangoon.

A source close to the military elite told The Irrawaddy on Monday that two
men close to Than Shwe’s grandson were arrested by police on suspicion of
procuring ecstasy pills for him.

“I heard the family found some ecstasy pills on Nay Shwe Thway Aung last
month,” the source said. “Then Aung Zaw Ye Myint [the son of Lt-Gen Ye
Myint, a high-ranking general] and Maung Waik [a well-known business
crony] were arrested in connection with the drugs.”

While rumors of the scandal began circulating the former capital, there
were no birthday celebrations for Than Shwe’s grandson on May 22, the day
he turned 17.

“Normally they have a big birthday party for the grandson every year,”
said the source. “But this year, there was not even a small party among
relatives.”

Last year, a birthday party was reportedly held in honor of Nay Shwe Thway
Aung at Rangoon’s exclusive Sedona Hotel. Among the party guests were the
wives of top junta leaders Vice Snr-Gen Maung Aye and Gen Shwe Mann, as
well as Zaw Zaw, a well-known business crony and director of Max Co, and
popular rock musician Zaw Win Htut.

Two weeks ago, sources told The Irrawaddy, a family religious ceremony was
held at one of Than Shwe’s houses in Rangoon, but Nay Shwe Thway Aung was
conspicuously absent.

Nay Shwe Thway Aung is a familiar face in Burma because he usually
accompanies his grandfather on inspection tours throughout the country and
enjoys red-carpet treatment wherever he goes.

Aung Zaw Ye Myint and Maung Waik were detained in May accused of selling
drugs to Rangoon’s elite. At that time, several Burmese celebrities and
businessmen were reportedly interrogated by a special drugs task force.

Last year, a famous actor, Dwe, died of heart failure caused by a drugs
overdose, according to various sources.

But Rangoon residents have been surprised by the amount of rumors and
gossip surrounding the recent drug scandal and a crackdown which appears
related to the military elite and their cronies.

Some observers in Burma have suggested the drugs arrests were a
smokescreen for a fresh power struggle within the military hierarchy. They
claimed that Maung Waik is close to Gen Shwe Mann, the number 3 man in the
junta.

Drug use among high-society families and celebrities has been an open
secret for years in Burma. Late dictator Gen Ne Win’s three favorite
grandsons—Aye Ne Win, Kyaw Ne Win and Zwe Ne Win— also enjoyed
considerable family perks and were constantly rumored to be addicted to
ecstasy pills.


____________________________________
ASEAN

June 23, Mizzima News
Will assessment report bring in more aid for cyclone survivors? – Solomon

The report of the Post-Nargis Joint Assessment team will be used to seek
more funds to help victims of Cyclone Nargis in Burma, a United Nations
spokesperson said on Monday.

Laksmita Noviera, spokesperson of the UN Coordination Office in Burma said
they are hopeful that the report of the assessment conducted by PONJA will
clearly show the actual situation after the cyclone and reflect the amount
of aid needed to help victims.
"The result of the assessment will be used to feed the revised appeal so
that we can solicit more funds from donors," Noviera said.

The Tripartite Core Group, formed with members of the UN, Burmese
government representatives and experts from the Association of Southeast
Asian Nations (Asean), had sent a 250-member team of Post-Nargis Joint
Assessment to conduct a survey of the extent of devastation caused by
Cyclone Nargis where 133,000 were people killed and went missing.

The PONJA which begun work on June 9, joined by technical experts from the
World Bank and the Asia Development Bank, announced on June 20 that it had
completed an initial assessment in Burma's Irrawaddy and Rangoon division,
which were the worst affected by the cyclone.

"The most important thing is that, from this assessment we hope that we
can get a clearer picture of the situation," said Noviera, adding that the
assessment will also be used to ask for more funds.

While the assessment might carry a certain degree of reliability in the
aftermath of the cyclone, receiving more funds or attracting donor
countries would largely depend on how the gap is being bridged between the
Burmese junta and the international community, a Burmese researcher said.

"Their [assessment team] job could be reliable but it is difficult to say
and guess whether donors will give funds or not depending on the
assessment result," said Zaw Oo a researcher based in Washington.

Zaw Oo told Mizzima that the TCG's assessment could bring excellent
results but attracting more funds from donors would require proper
mediation.

"Proper mediation is required between the donors and the Burmese
government," Zaw Oo said.

According to the United Nations, so far only 45 per cent of the estimated
US $ 69.5 million required to help cyclone victims have been received.

But Debbie Stothard, coordinator of Alternative ASEAN network on Burma, an
advocacy group, said the behaviour of the Burmese junta confused
international donors over their willingness to support cyclone victims.

"Many fear that no matter how much money they (donors) give it will not
reach the people who are in need," Stothard said.

Stothard blamed the slow and reluctant response of the Burmese military
junta in accepting international aid which showed that it was not
genuinely interested in helping the victims.

"This time it is very clear that the State Peace and Development Council,
is interested in using the cyclone as a money making opportunity," added
Stothard referring to Burma's ruling junta as the SPDC, the name of the
council it has formed to rule the country.

She added that the post cyclone period has been worsened by the Burmese
junta.

"After the cyclone and before the cyclone, the biggest problem is still
the SPDC," Stothard said.


____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

June 23, Democratic Voice of Burma
Activists welcome UN pledge to end rape in conflict

Following the adoption last week of a United Nations Security Council
resolution on sexual violence as a weapon of war, women’s rights activists
hope it can afford some protection to women in Burma.

In adopting the resolution unanimously on 19 June, members of the Council
condemned the use of sexual violence in conflict “as a tactic of war to
humiliate, dominate, instil fear in, disperse and/or forcible relocate
civilian members of a community or ethnic group”.

The resolution called on all parties to armed conflicts to bring an
immediate end to sexual violence and introduce positive measures to
protect women and girls, including training troops and strengthening
judicial procedures to bring an end to impunity for perpetrators of sexual
violence.

UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon said the problem of sexual violence
during armed conflict had reached “unspeakable and pandemic proportions”
in some countries, and announced that he would appoint a UN envoy on the
issue of violence against women.

Thin Thin Aung, joint general secretary of the Women's League for Burma,
welcomed the resolution.

"This is a huge support and an encouragement for women across the world
who have been victims of sexual violations," she said.

Thin Thin Aung said her organisation hope that the Security Council
resolution would result in stronger action against sexual violence by the
military in Burma.

"The WLB hopes this resolution will also take full effect in Burma as a
number of reports have emerged on Burma saying that the military
government was using systematic rape as a tactic of war – these reports
have been on the desk of the UNSC for a while,” Thin Thin Aung said.

“But the issue has never been brought to a conclusion as the member
countries of the UNSC never managed to come up with an agreement," she
went on.

"But now the UNSC has adopted this resolution it will make it difficult
for other UN member countries to disobey the regulations.

“We will collect strong evidence of the rape crimes committed against
ethnic women across Burma in order to bring the culprits before the
criminal courts."


____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

June 23, Jakarta Post
Military junta ignores cyclone victims: Refugees – Abdul Khalik

More than six weeks after Cyclone Nargis hit Myanmar's Irrawaddy Delta and
the southern parts of Yangon and Bago, killing more than 130,000 people,
the junta continues to restrict aid access to some 2.4 million survivors,
creating the possibility of a second round of deaths from post-disaster
diseases such as dengue fever, malaria and diarrhea. Apart from this
tragedy, the people of Myanmar in general face a bleak future under
military rule, with few hopes for civil rights, democracy or economic
prosperity. The Jakarta Post's Abdul Khalik visited several cities inside
the reclusive country last week. The following is his report:

Fifty-year-old Saw Win can no longer cry. He has run out of tears since
Cyclone Nargis destroyed his home and took away his two small children
almost two months ago.

Speaking through an interpreter, he said all he wanted now was to find
medical help for his pregnant wife, who is due in several weeks.

"I've traveled hundreds of kilometers not to lose anymore children.
They're the only family I have left," Saw Win said while helping his wife
walk out of a small clinic in Myanmar's Thanbyuzayat city, more than 400
kilometers southeast of Yangon.

The May 2 and 3 cyclone wiped out his village, near Twante, about 80
kilometers southwest of Yangon, and one of the areas hit hardest by the
cyclone. Most village residents died in the storm, and almost all the
houses, buildings and boats were destroyed.
Beside Saw Win and his wife, only about a dozen other village residents
survived Nargis.

"The dead bodies were everywhere, and as far as I could see, only several
buildings remained standing. We made camps out of the destroyed buildings,
and tried to stay on without knowing what to eat for the next day. We only
hoped the government could provide whatever help as soon as possible," he
said.

But the help never came, and it was getting more and more difficult to
find food and clean water.

Survivors scrambled to find whatever food they could, as some of the
people began dying from disease.

"No single official came to look for us. We were just left to die there,"
Saw Win said.

"Each night, I saw more and more people shivering from the cold, malaria
and starvation, and the next day we would find fresh dead bodies."

Knowing they would eventually die if they waited in the village, Saw Win
and his wife decided two weeks after the cyclone to find help in other
towns where they thought they still had relatives left.

But it was not easy even to travel to neighboring towns, let alone
undergoing a journey of hundreds of kilometers, with little food
available, heavy rains and the road blocked by debris and military
personnel.

"The military barricaded all exit and entrance roads of every town to keep
the survivors in their respective villages. When we tried to pass them
they told us to go back to our village, if not they would beat or shoot
us," Saw Win said.

At last they decided to use traditional paths that crossed through the
forest to avoid the military checkpoints.

After passing through village after village and several towns, Saw Win
realized the extent of the disaster.

"We ate any food we found in the villages we passed or in the forest. We
didn't know how long or how far we had traveled, but at last we arrived in
this city. Fortunately, we have some relatives here, and they were willing
to help us," he said.

Saw Win and his wife are among millions of cyclone survivors who have been
left with no or little help from the government.

The United Nations estimated recently that some 2.4 million survivors were
in urgent need of food and healthcare, to prevent a massive outbreak of
post-disaster diseases.

Local reports have claimed that some survivors have eaten the bodies of
the dead to avoid starvation. The UN and several non-governmental
organizations have warned that one million people could die in the
post-cyclone period if immediate action is not taken to get them necessary
assistance.
____________________________________

June 23, Irrawaddy
Burma’s bureaucratic abyss – Yeni

The Burmese military government’s recent moves to seal off access to the
cyclone survivors in the Irrawaddy delta has proved, once again, how far
Burma continues to sink into the sad image of a failed state.

On June 9 the Burmese generals imposed higher bureaucratic hurdles to
prevent aid reaching cyclone victims, issuing strict new guidelines that
instruct UN agencies and all other relief groups to first seek permission
for travel and aid distribution from three separate government offices.

Foreigners working with relief agencies must now acquire official permits
from each of the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and
the Ministry of Social Welfare.

Burmese groups must also deal with local authorities, police and army
checkpoints, and frequent requests for backhanded payments.

The Light Infantry Division 66 and Southwest Command have been handed the
task of enforcing regulations and movement at ground level in the delta.

Meanwhile, soldiers continue to detain individuals "without permits" who
brave taking aid to survivors of the May 2-3 storm. Prominent entertainer
and political activist Zarganar, who became personally involved in leading
relief operations in the delta, was arrested and imprisoned on June 4.

Likewise, Zaw Thet Hwe, a former sports journal editor, who was
distributing aid to cyclone survivors, was arrested on June 14 and, on the
same day, seven volunteer aid workers, members of a team known as “The
Group that Buries the Dead,” were also arrested after being caught burying
victims of Cyclone Nargis.

To date, the Burmese authorities have not confirmed where the detainees
are being held and their respective families have expressed concern about
their disappearances.

Observers have suggested that their arrests are linked to a continuing
trend by overseas Burmese and international supporters to send their
donations to grassroots organizations led by respected, trusted persons
inside Burma, such as Zarganar, and not to state-run charities.

The government mouthpiece New Light of Myanmar announced on June 16 that
all local donations should be made through the Rehabilitation and
Reconstruction Subcommittee of the National Disaster Preparedness Central
Committee and its district and township offices.

Many private donors said they are now discouraged from being involved in
relief efforts due to the obstacles created by the military authorities.

As a result, Buddhist monks again find themselves playing a key role in
civil society¬by acting as a conduit between private donors and those in
need. Buddhist monasteries have been serving as places of refuge and care
ever since the cyclone struck on May 2-3. Neglected by state agencies,
cyclone survivors were usually able to find shelter, food, medical care
and compassion in local monasteries.

As a further concern, it is widely feared that Burma's food security will
be at risk if farmers in the delta can’t resume growing rice this year.
The rice-planting season should have started by early June, when farmers
in Burma typically plow their fields with water buffalo and prepare to
plant new seeds for the October harvest. But time is running out, experts
warn.

The Burmese regime’s incessant foot-dragging and bureaucratic obstacles
are blocking the capacity for people in the delta to recover. Now there
are real fears that a fresh stream of refugees will start seeking a better
life in Thailand in the near future.

The regime's imprudent actions are leading an already impoverished country
downhill into a socio-economic abyss.

____________________________________

June 23, Washington Post
Let us now praise coups – Paul Collier

The government of Zimbabwe recently ordered foreign aid groups to halt
their operations within its borders, thereby blocking the food aid that
the United Nations funnels through such organizations from getting to the
country's starving people. Last month, the government of Burma issued a
similar ban. Of course, when we say "the government of Zimbabwe," what we
really mean is President Robert Mugabe, just as "the government of Burma"
these days means Senior Gen. Than Shwe, the leader of the ruling junta. In
justifying the bans, each ruler harrumphed that outsiders should not be
allowed to tell his nation what to do. But the real obstacle blocking
international food aid is not the principle of national sovereignty; it is
the insistence of dictators on being left to call their own shots. Mugabe
decided that his citizens were better dead than fed; his nation had no
part in the decision.

This murderous outrage reminds us of a central problem in trying to help
ease the misery of the developing world, especially the "bottom billion"
inhabitants of countries being left behind by global prosperity: Leaders
in such sad little states as Zimbabwe and Burma are quite ridiculously
powerful. They have turned parliament, the news media and the judiciary
into mere implementers of their strangling systems of control. But the
extraordinary lack of external restraints on these dictators is poorly
understood.

Many people are still trapped in a politically correct mindset that sees a
strong rich world bullying a weak poor world. The disastrous U.S. invasion
of Iraq in 2003 played straight into this mentality of seeing wealthy
countries as bullies. Yet the planet's key power imbalance is not between
rich and poor; it is between confident, open governments willing to pool
sovereignty to help their publics and crabbed, defensive governments
determined not to give up a scrap of sovereignty. The former produce
prosperity; the latter manufacture misery.

Compare the powers of Germany's government to those of Zimbabwe's. The
German economy is around 400 times larger than the Zimbabwean. But it is
the Zimbabwean government, not the German, that has independent monetary,
fiscal, trade and migration policies, an independent currency and courts
from which one cannot file international appeals. Like virtually all rich
countries, Germany has learned that there are real advantages to limiting
its own sovereignty and pooling it with neighbors and allies. But the
governments of failing states such as Zimbabwe and Burma have refused to
share any sovereignty with anyone. And remember, in these countries,
"government" means the president or other head of state: Mugabe and Shwe
have powers that eclipse those of President Bush, let alone those of
German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

So how can the grossly excessive powers of the Mugabes and Shwes of the
world be curtailed? After Iraq, there is no international appetite for
using the threat of military force to pressure thugs. But only military
pressure is likely to be effective; tyrants can almost always shield
themselves from economic sanctions. So there is only one credible counter
to dictatorial power: the country's own army.

Realistically, Mugabe and Shwe can be toppled only by a military coup. Of
course, they are fully aware of this danger, and thus have appointed their
cronies as generals and kept a watchful eye on any potentially restless
junior officers. Such tactics reduce the risk of a coup, but they cannot
eliminate it: On average, there have been two successful coups per year in
the developing world in recent decades. A truly bad government in a
developing country is more likely to be replaced by a coup than by an
election: Mugabe will presumably rig the runoff vote scheduled for Friday
by intimidation. Or he could follow the example of the last Burmese
dictator, who held an election, lost and simply ignored the result.

I find it a little awkward to be writing in praise, however faint, of
coups. They are unguided missiles, as likely to topple a democracy as a
dictatorship. But there is still something to be said for them.

Since the fall of the Soviet Union, the international community has taken
the rather simplistic position that armies should stay out of politics.
That view is understandable but premature. Rather than trying to freeze
coups out of the international system, we should try to provide them with
a guidance system. In contexts such as Zimbabwe and Burma, coups should be
encouraged because they are likely to lead to improved governance. (It's
hard to imagine things getting much worse.) The question then becomes how
to provide encouragement for some potentially helpful coups while staying
within the bounds of proper international conduct.

In fact, some basic principles are not that hard to draw. For starters,
governments that have crossed the red line of banning U.N. food aid -- a
ghastly breach of any basic contract between the governors and the
governed -- should temporarily lose international recognition of their
legitimacy. Ideally, such moves should come from the United Nations
itself; surely banning U.N. help constitutes a breach of rudimentary
global obligations. But realistically, other dictators, worried that they
might wind up in the same boat, would rally to block action at the United
Nations, so we must look elsewhere.

Which brings us to the obvious locus of international action: Europe. The
European Union has a long tradition of setting minimum standards of
political decency for its members, who must protect their minorities and
defend basic rights. A collective E.U. withdrawal of recognition from the
Mugabe or Shwe regimes would be an obvious and modest extension of the
values that underpin the European project. Making any such suspension of
recognition temporary -- say, for three months -- would present potential
coup plotters within an army with a brief window of legitimacy. They would
know that it was now or never, which could spur them to act. And even if
the loss of recognition did not induce a quick coup, E.U. recognition
would be restored after the three months were up. This would spare the
world the gradual accumulation of a club of unrecognized regimes,
something both problematic and unrealistic.

The scope of the torment in Burma and Zimbabwe should be more than enough
of a goad to action. We need to move away from impotent political protest,
but we must also face the severe limitations on our own power. The real
might lies with a dictator's own forces of repression. Our best hope --
and the best hope of suffering citizens -- is to turn those very forces
against the men they now protect.

paul.collier at economics.ox.ac.uk

Paul Collier, a professor of economics at Oxford University, is the author
of"The Bottom Billion: Why the Poorest Countries Are Failing and What Can
Be Done About It."