BurmaNet News, July 16, 2008

[Editor]

July 16, 2008 Issue #3512


INSIDE BURMA
Mizzima News: “Free Daw Suu' campaigners charged with instigating public
unrest
DVB: Monks continue regime boycott
Irrawaddy: Nargis refugees offered low-cost housing
Khonumthung News: Rats on the rampage in western Burma
Xinhua: Myanmar to regrow mangrove in cyclone-hit area

ON THE BORDER
Mizzima News: Eleven ethnic Padaungs still missing
DVB: Russian specialists inspect Tenasserim outposts
IMNA: Migrants find it difficult to work in Thailand

BUSINESS / TRADE
Irrawaddy: Corruption scandal prevents timber trade in muse
AFP: US lawmakers ease pressure on Chevron in Myanmar

ASEAN
The Jakarta Post: ASEAN meet to highlight Myanmar, North Korea

INTERNATIONAL
AP: House votes to punish ruling junta in Myanmar
Irrawaddy: Regime’s right to represent Burma challenged

OPINION / OTHER
DVB: Let’s hope the UN gets it right this time – Bo Kyi
Embassy Magazine (Canada): 'The most vulnerable were swept away, killed' –
Jeff Davis



____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

July 16, Mizzima News
'Free Daw Suu' campaigners charged with instigating public unrest – Phanida

Fourteen members of Burma's opposition party – National League for
Democracy – who were arrested for protesting on their leader Daw Aung San
Suu Kyi's birthday on Wednesday were charged with disturbing public
tranquility.

The NLD members, who had been in custody for about a month, were produced
on Wednesday in Bahan Township Court in Rangoon, where charges against
them were pressed by Bahan Township Station House Officer SIP Khai Win
Aung under Criminal Code section 505(b), inducing people to break public
tranquility and under section 143, unlawful assembly.

"The prosecutor charged them with unlawful assembly in front of the NLD
office and chanting slogans to release Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and holding
aloft placards which amounted to undermining public tranquility," said
lawyer Khin Maung Shein, who was present at the court on Wednesday.

May Nweh, wife of one of the accused, Chit Khin, who was present at the
court, said "He [Chit Khin] just attended Daw Suu's birthday party without
chanting any slogans, I feel very sad. He's old and suffers severe
headaches. Moreover we are not allowed to send him food parcels. I have to
come again next week and meet him."

Two of the accused - Tin Ohn and Soe Ohn from Shwepyithar Township - are
currently being treated in hospital and could not be present at the court
hearing today.

On June 19, the NLD youth members marched to the residence of Daw Aung San
Suu Kyi, who is currently under house arrest in University Avenue, as a
commemoration of her 63rd birthday.

Members of the Junta-backed civil organizations – Swan Arrshin and Union
Solidarity and Development Association - arrested them from the street
while they were chanting slogans – 'Free Aung Suu Kyi' and 'Long Live Aung
San Suu Kyi'.

Khin Maung Shein said, "It is not a crime to demand for the release of Daw
Aung San Suu Kyi. She has actually completed her house arrest term and is
due to be freed. Demanding and shouting for her release is not instigating
public unrest."

He added that the NLD members will defend charges against them and argue
at the court proceedings in accordance with the law. The court has fixed
July 25 for the next hearing.

____________________________________

July 16, Democratic Voice of Burma
Monks continue regime boycott – Naw Say Phaw

Buddhist monks across Burma have said they are continuing their boycott
against government officials by refusing to accept donations or passing
them on to needy people.

A monk taking part in the boycott from Kaw Thaung, Tenasserim division,
said his monastery had not been able to refuse donations outright.

"Our Pattaneikkuzana act against government members is still ongoing – we
have been giving away donation items we received from government members
to other people,” he said.

“We had to accept these items because they will pressure us if we refuse
them."

The monk said some monasteries in Kaw Thaung which had refused donation
from government officials had been put under close watch by the military
and the monks were also told to inform the authorities when they wanted to
travel to other areas.

A monk from one of the lecturing monasteries in Pakokku and another monk
from Masoeyein monastery in Mandalay said that they and their fellow monks
were also continuing the boycott.

"There is no way we can communicate with these people with loving kindness
[metta] according to Buddhist teachings,” the Masoeyein monk said.

“We each have different opinions in our hearts and they cannot be
reconciled."

____________________________________

July 16, Irrawaddy
Nargis refugees offered low-cost housing – Saw Yan Naing

Sixteen private companies in Burma will build more than 6,000 low-cost
homes for refugees in seven cyclone-hit regions in the Irrawaddy delta and
Rangoon division, according to Flower News, a Rangoon-based weekly.

The paper reported on Monday that 16 construction companies including Asia
World, Htoo Trading Company, FMI, MAX and Shwe Thanlwin will build 5,700
low-cost houses for 500,000 to 600,000 kyats (US $420 to $500) each for
cyclone refugees in 23 villages in six townships in the Irrawaddy delta
and 350 houses in Kungyangon Township in Rangoon Division.

The six townships in the Irrawaddy delta included Laputta, Bogalay, Dedaye
and Pyapon, the paper said.

Whether the houses will be provided to refugees free or some form of
payment will be required is unclear.

Sources in Bogalay Township said that cyclone victims in Kyae Chaung Gyi
village said they were asked by authorities to pay 1.5 million kyat (about
US $1,265) for the houses built there.

Sources who work with cyclone refugees said those who want to buy the
homes must pay 300,000 kyat (about $253) a year for five years.

“They [authorities] first promised refugees they would receive houses for
free,” he said. “But, in fact, refugees have to buy the house. It is
impossible for refugees who lost everything in the cyclone disaster to buy
a house.”

“No refugees have bought a house so far. Most are staying in temporary
shelters they built themselves. It is not suitable. They [the authorities]
should aid the victims,” he said.

Houses have already been built in Kyae Chaung Gyi village by Htoo Trading
Company, owned by Burmese tycoon Tay Za, a business crony of junta chief
Snr-Gen Than Shwe, said the source.

Another source in Bogalay Township reportedly said that 120 houses have
been built in Kyae Chaung Gyi village by Tay Za’s company, and the houses
will be given to refugees free of charge. Some refugees are already living
in about 20 houses in Kyae Chaung Gyi village, said the source, who is
close to Htoo Trading Company. .

The state-own daily The New Light of Myanmar reported on June 30 that Htoo
Trading Company planned to build more than 116 houses in Kyae Chaung Gyi
village in Bogalay Township.

____________________________________

July 16, Khonumthung News
Rats on the rampage in western Burma

Rats multiplying after devouring bamboo flowers are attacking hillside
farms and destroying crops in Chin state in western Burma.

"Since June this year, rats have been attacking farms in our village. We
sow paddy seeds in the day and the rats eat them at night.  The rodents
have not spared maize either. It is a problem we are facing daily," a
farmer in Falam Township, northern Chin state complained.

The most affected villages are Weibula, Mualzawl, Thlawrzawm, Ralum and
Kawlfang in Falam Township.

Most of the farmers are frustrated and depressed while dealing with the
rats that have destroyed almost all the crops such as paddy and maize in
farms on hillsides. The people in the five villages are in a hopeless
situation in terms of cultivation this year.

A farmer in Falam Township said "The situation is now out of control
though the villagers kill around one hundred rats a night".

The rats destroying crops in this areas follows the famine like situation
caused by rats in the other areas of Chin state leaving the people staring
at starvation.

According to the Chin Human Rights Organization, there are no less than
100,000 Chin people who are directly affected by shortage of food in Chin
state.

The proliferation of rats is in the farms near dense bamboo forests.

Meanwhile, the villagers have lambasted the Burmese military regime in
Chin state saying that the local authorities had not adopted any measures
to check multiplication of rats.

The regime turned a blind eye to the grave problem that its people are
facing but have instead imposed restrictions on religious organisations
and other Non Governmental Organisations which have been assisting with
relief materials in the  affected areas.

Bamboo flowers bloom once in around 50 years when the life cycle of the
bamboo comes to an end. The flowers which the rats eat leads to increased
fertility in rats and they begin to multiply and eat crops leading to a
famine in Chin state.

Bamboos, which grow naturally along the Indo-Burma border areas, started
blooming in 2006.

____________________________________

July 16, Xinhua
Myanmar to regrow mangrove in cyclone-hit area

Myanmar will regrow 50,000 acres (20,250 hectares) of mangrove in
Meinmahlagyun village, the country's Ayeyawaddy division, to resist
cyclone attack in the future, the local weekly 7-Day reported Wednesday.

Meinmahlagyun had about 100,000 acres (40,500 hectares) of mangrove before
being hit by a severe cyclone in early May, of which 30 percent were
destroyed during the disaster, the report said.

Other reports also said that no one was killed in the Meinmahlagyun
village in the division's Bogalay exceptionally.

Myanmar has stressed the preservation of mangrove to mitigate the impact
of cyclone storm, calling on people to regrow the plantation after
disaster.

Despite destruction of some mangrove in the delta region duringthe May
cyclone storm, it had been able to prevent some villages from inflicting
casualties, said other local media, citing donors, who visited a village
called Thantheik in Dedaye township in the same division, as saying that
although the 1,300-population village lies at a point where rivers meet,
no one died in the cyclone.

The mangrove had been able to bring down the speed of the tidal wave,
enabling villagers there to escape from deaths, it said.

Deadly tropical cyclone Nargis, which occurred over the Bay of Bengal, hit
five divisions and states on last May 2 and 3, of which Ayeyawaddy and
Yangon inflicted the heaviest casualties and massive infrastructural
damage.

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

July 16, Mizzima News
Eleven ethnic Padaungs still missing – Than Htike Oo

Eleven ethnic Padaungs from Mae Hong Song district, Northern Thailand are
still missing.

The 11 Padaung or Kayan ethnic tribes living in Huay Pu Ke and Huay Suu
Htauk villages in this district have been missing since July 3. Local Thai
authorities are searching for them but in vain.

"We don't have any information on the missing Padaungs yet. The Mae Hong
Song mayor called a meeting this morning to discuss the missing persons.
And the township administrator is going to Chiang Mai in this regard," an
official from Mae Hong Song Mayor's office told Mizzima.

"I don't know much about the missing Padaungs. The local people, village
elders and relatives of the missing persons asked Thai authorities to help
find them," Phe Du, a local resident in Mae Hong Song said.

Thai authorities have formed a committee to find the missing Padaungs and
the Mae Hong Song township administrator Thongchai Wunyaung Thaung has a
clue to their whereabouts. The missing persons were reportedly taken away
by a Thai woman called Nan Sao Mali in a police car from their village.

Though the missing persons hold the official Thai tribal document, they
need special travel permits from the township administrator when they want
to go outside their area.

Township administrator speculated that they might have been taken to the
Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Chun Puri and Phuket which are tourist spots.

Local Thai villagers believe that the missing persons ran away from this
place because they were earning less in this area as the number of
tourists visiting their village has declined.

Ethnic Padaung people were settled in Karenni State and Phekhong Township,
Southern Shan State and migrated to Thailand two decades ago after
suffering forced relocation, arbitrary arrests by the Burmese Army and
following military operations launched in their areas.

____________________________________

July 16, Democratic Voice of Burma
Russian specialists inspect Tenasserim outposts – Moe Aye

Four Russian defence specialists have reportedly arrived in Tenasserim
division to inspect the Burmese government’s air defence and artillery
outposts along the Thai-Burmese border.

The four specialists began their inspection of air defence outposts near
Sin Phyu Taung, Htee Htar and Maw Htar villages on Monday.

Lieutenant-colonel Win Thu Aung, battalion commander of the air defence
base in Kyauk Kanyar village, Yay Phyu township, was responsible for
providing security for the Russian visitors.

Military analysts have speculated that the Russian experts have come to
advise on the expansion of government outposts in the area.

The Burmese military currently has 14 air defence and artillery support
outposts along the Thai-Burma border equipped with surface-to-air and
surface-to-surface missiles.

Russian, Chinese and South African experts also visited Tenasserim
division in January, ostensibly to inspect palm oil plantations, though
the Karen National Union and a military analyst speculated that the visit
was in fact linked to military cooperation.

___________________________________

July 16, Independent Mon News Agency
Migrants find it difficult to work in Thailand

Migrant workers are facing difficulties in getting jobs at rubber
plantations in Thailand after rubber prices soared twice in the last year.
The current price is 120 Baht.

Nai Thu, living in Thailand for three years said that migrant workers
faced more and more difficulties finding work in rubber plantations, but
they are still entering Thailand looking for jobs.

"Currently some plantations shore up to three families though one family
works in a cultivated area," Mi Chan Aye, who is working in a rubber
plantation for 10 years, said.

Some new workers wanting to work in rubber plantations in Surat Thani
Province southern Thailand have to bribe the owners to get jobs.

Due to the large amount of workers seeking jobs in plantation, the income
levels have were decreased by over 30% from last year, said Nai Thu who
made about 5 million Kyat. His relative made about 10 million Kyat per
year in previous years.

According to him, if workers worked hard they can earn more money in
Thailand. But they have to accept about 0.5 million Kyat per year if they
work in Burma.

Mi Chan Aye said that the numbers of people seeking to work in rubber
plantations are rising and migrant workers from Burma have been
increasing.

The workers start at 10 pm to shred the surface of rubber plants and work
till midnight and sleep while waiting for the liquid. And they begin to
work again at 5 am for collecting the liquid and go through the whole
process until they get rubber flats.

For the same work in Thailand and Burma, they can make much more money in
Thailand because of the difference in currency.

"People are going to Malaysia and Thailand. If we don't go to Thailand, we
cannot buy property," said Nai Thu.

While working in Thailand, workers especially from Mon State are
apprehensive about their security because the gangs loot things and money
from them.

In the first week of this month, Nai Myat Soe was killed by an
unidentified Thai gang when he and his son went to the rubber plantation.

Migrant Assistance Program based in Chaing Mai estimated over 2 million
migrant from Burma are working in Thailand illegally.

____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

July 16, Irrawaddy
Corruption scandal prevents timber trade in muse – Min Lwin

Tons of timber dumped in a football ground in Muse Township several months
ago are still waiting to be exported to China, residents of the town said.

A local man at the Burma-China border told The Irrawaddy on Wednesday that
hundreds of logs marked with the logo of the military government’s Burmese
Timber Enterprise had been brought in from forests in Lashio and dumped at
the park.

“Government trucks unloaded the timber on the football ground several
months ago,” he said. “Burmese officials are currently unable to export
the timber to the Chinese side because of a corruption scandal, so the
trees are just lying around.”

China is Burma’s largest customer for timber. The London-based watchdog
Global Witness says more than 1 million cubic meters of timber, about 95
percent of Burma’s total timber exports to China, were illegally exported
from northern Burma to Yunnan province in 2004.

Chinese companies have engaged in widespread logging in Burma’s forests.
In 2005, more than 1.5 million cubic meters of Burmese timber were
imported by China—a dominant player in the global timber market—worth an
estimated US $350 million. Much of the logging was illegal, done either by
the Burmese military or ethnic groups, according to a report by Global
Witness.

Members of the business community in Muse said that the authorities from
the na sa ka (Department of Border Trade) had not given clear instructions
on what was to be done with the timber.

“The timber trade is controlled by the local military regional command,”
said one resident. “Ethnic ceasefire groups, the junta and its militias
are selling everything of value to China, including raw wood, processed
timber, natural rubber and cane products.”

According to sources close to a timber logging company, the Chinese
increased their imports of timber last year in preparation for the
Olympics in August.

Meanwhile, several officials from the customs department and the na sa ka
at the 105-mile Burma-China border were interrogated on July 2 on
suspicion of corruption and facilitating illegal trade, local sources
said.

“They were accused of corruption, illegal trading and stealing from trucks
containing assistance meant for victims of Cyclone Nargis,” a source said.

The source said that traders at the border had collected donations for the
cyclone survivors. However, some of the trucks carrying relief supplies
were commandeered by the officials.

The Burma-China border crossing at Muse was officially opened for trade in
December 1988.

After a ceasefire agreement between the Burmese military and local ethnic
opposition groups in the early 1990s, officials at the Burma-China border
played a key role in facilitating the illegal trade in timber on behalf of
local military commanders and ethnic armed groups, according to local
businessmen.

____________________________________

July 16, Agence France Presse
US lawmakers ease pressure on Chevron in Myanmar

US lawmakers have dropped plans to impose sanctions that would have
pressured US energy giant Chevron to pull out from a gas project in
military-ruled Myanmar, congressional aides said on Tuesday.

Sanctions that would end tax write-offs enjoyed by Chevron were part of a
package of new US measures passed by the House of Representatives last
year aimed at punishing the military junta for its deadly crackdown on
pro-democracy protests.

But in a compromise this week, legislators from the House of
Representatives and Senate removed the provision after Chevron argued that
other firms from nations such as China and India could easily take over
its stake if divested, congressional aides said.

"One of the things it does is it removes the part about tax incentives
that affect US companies who might do business in Burma (Myanmar)," a
congressional aide told AFP in describing the compromise resolution that
was unanimously passed by the House of Representatives on Tuesday.

The new legislation, which is also expected to be cleared by the Senate,
merely urged "investors" in the gas project "to consider voluntary
divestment over time" if the junta did not embrace reforms.

The legislation's main focus was to block the import of Myanmar gems into
the United States and to extend financial sanctions, moves that could take
hundreds of millions of dollars out of the pockets of the regime each
year.

Despite a longstanding ban on imports from Myanmar, gems from the country
have entered the United States via third nations such as Thailand, China,
Taiwan, Malaysia and Singapore, rights groups have said.

"The amendments to this bipartisan bill provided for in this resolution,
which have been carefully negotiated with the Senate, promote a
coordinated, multilateral approach to sanctions against Burma," said
Howard Berman, the Democratic chairman of the House committee on foreign
affairs.

The European Union has similarly banned the import of Myanmar gems, as
have the Canadians, he said.

Under the previous plan, "no deduction or credit against tax shall be
allowed" for Chevron on revenues from the Yadana gas project.

Chevron could also have been barred from making any payments to the junta
from its joint venture with French oil giant Total, Thailand's PTT
Exploration and Production, and Myanmar's Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise
operating the lucrative Yadana gas fields.
Chevron is one of biggest Western companies in Myanmar, holding a 28
percent minority share in the Yadana natural gas project following its
acquisition of another US energy giant, Unocal, in 2005.

The United States has already imposed substantial trade, investment and
diplomatic sanctions on Myanmar, but Chevron's operations predate an
enhanced 2003 US trade embargo.

Under Myanmar law, if Chevron sold its stake, it might have to pay the
military junta much of the company's capital gains on the project --
estimated to be around 500 million dollars.

Chevron's vice-chairman Peter Robertson defended Chevron's investment in
Myanmar at a congressional hearing in May, saying the company had helped
victims of a recent deadly cyclone that ravaged Myanmar.

"Our plan is to stay in Burma ... If we sell our interest, we would pay a
large capital gains tax to them (military junta)," he said.

"Any way of extracting us would be a benefit -- a windfall benefit to the
Burmese government."

____________________________________
ASEAN

July 16, The Jakarta Post
ASEAN meet to highlight Myanmar, North Korea – Tony Hotland

Relief work in Myanmar and North Korea's accession to the ASEAN peace
treaty are expected to be the main topics addressed at the 41st ASEAN
Ministerial Meeting in Singapore, a Foreign Ministry official said.

I Gede Ngurah Swajaya, ASEAN director of political and security affairs,
said last week the July 17-23 meeting would focus heavily on the report by
the group overseeing the relief process in Myanmar after the Cyclone
Nargis disaster in which more than 100,000 people died.

The group, comprised of representatives from Myanmar, ASEAN and the United
Nations, was created as a political compromise in the wake of
international condemnation over the military junta's refusal to admit
foreign aid workers.

"We will be hearing their report of the complete damage assessment. They
will then seek guidance from the foreign ministers on the next steps for
rehabilitation and reconstruction," he said.

ASEAN was embarrassed it did not manage to convince its youngest and most
obstinate member to open up to foreign aid workers until more than two
weeks after the cyclone struck.

The junta was also criticized for going ahead with its referendum days
after the disaster and for allegedly forcing voters to agree to a draft
Constitution that will pave the way for elections in 2010.

The Constitution is also said to automatically allocate a proportion of
seats in parliament to the military and to permanently bar Nobel laureate
Aung San Suu Kyi from running for office because she married a foreign
national.

Suu Kyi's party, the National League for Democracy, won the 1990 elections
but was denied office by the military regime.

Western donors have pledged millions of dollars in relief aid, but have
sought more transparency from the reclusive government.

The meeting will also address the ASEAN Charter ratification process.
ASEAN leaders signed the charter, which is the first binding treaty for
the organization, in December last year.

Complete ratification is set for December this year. Indonesia, Thailand,
the Philippines and Myanmar have yet to ratify the treaty.

North Korea's plan to sign up to the ASEAN Treaty of Amity and
Cooperation, said Ngurah, was also to be a key point of discussion in the
meeting because the plan reflected Pyongyang's willingness to resolve its
nuclear-centered dispute amicably.

"They have expressed their intention to be included in a regional scheme
that abides by a principle of living and resolving conflicts peacefully,"
Ngurah said.

The treaty automatically covers ASEAN's 10 member countries and has been
signed by some of the major powers involved in the ASEAN Regional Forum
(ARF), which will hold its 15th annual meeting on July 24.

Ngurah said that meeting would focus on a comprehensive review of the
security forum's work over the past 15 years and on ways for it to play a
more practical role, particularly in disaster management.

The ARF is still in the confidence-building phase, he added, and members
would examine whether it was ready to enter the preventive diplomacy
phase.

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

July 16, Associated Press
House votes to punish ruling junta in Myanmar

The House has voted to to punish Myanmar's brutal ruling regime "where it
hurts - in the wallet," as one lawmaker said.

The unanimous vote sent back to the Senate a bill that bars rubies and
jade from Myanmar from being imported into the U.S. The Senate bill, which
passed in December, also sought to bar timber from Myanmar, called Burma
by some.

House Foreign Affairs Committee Howard Berman said the legislation will
put financial pressure on the ruling regime, which brutally cracked down
on monks in the so-called Saffron Revolution last year. He said the
11,000-store Jewelers of America supports a ban on Burmese gem imports.
Berman said that retailers like Tiffany's and Bulgari have also
voluntarily made the ban their policy.

____________________________________

July 16, Irrawaddy
Regime’s right to represent Burma challenged – Violet Cho

An umbrella opposition group in exile, the National Council of the Union
of Burma (NCUB), has objected to the claims of the ruling military regime
to represent the country in the United Nations General Assembly.

Myint Thein, the NCUB’s joint secretary, said it was important for the
nations of the world to cooperate and extend their active support to the
people of Burma, who live under the repressive military junta.

“We want the UN to stand up for the principles of democracy and human
rights and reject the credentials of the State Peace and Development
Council’s delegation to the United Nations during the upcoming session of
the General Assembly.”

Besides campaigning to challenge the regime’s right to represent Burma in
the UN, the group confirmed that it would also push to put Burmese human
rights issues on the UN Security Council’s agenda and urge the world body
to arraign Burma’s junta before the International Criminal Court for its
crimes against humanity.

The NCUB has repeatedly engaged in similar campaigns over the past decade,
but with no success.

Myint Thein said that the UN should not provide a seat for the Burmese
regime, which is one of the world’s most repressive and secretive
governments, because of its human rights abuses and its refusal to honor
the results of legitimate elections held in 1990, when Nobel Peace Prize
laureate Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) won 80
percent of parliamentary seats.

“We used to only focus our campaign against them [on the basis that] they
are not a legal government, but the situation is different now. We want
the UN to reject them based on the very recent human rights violations in
combination with the junta’s past atrocities,” said Myint Thein.

In a statement released on Monday, the NCUB detailed significant human
rights abuses perpetrated by the regime. Among other offenses, the
statement described the junta’s ruthless crackdown on peaceful protests by
monks and citizens calling for democratic reforms during last year’s
“Saffron Revolution.”

The statement also pointed to the regime’s refusal to accept international
assistance following Cyclone Nargis as evidence of its failure to provide
good governance, and slammed the junta’s decision to go ahead with a
discredited constitutional referendum a week after the storm. It also
mentioned the illegal extension of Aung San Suu Kyi’s confinement in late
May.

Past injustices described in the statement include the killing of
protesters during the 1988 national uprising, the regime’s refusal to
honor the 1990 elections, its murder of NLD members in the 2003 Depayin
massacre, and the ongoing practice of rape, forced labor and killing in
ethnic areas.

____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

July 16, Democratic Voice of Burma
Let’s hope the UN gets it right this time – Bo Kyi

The basic strategy of the United Nations special envoy so far appears to
have been to yield to the regime. How far will aspirations and demands
slip in his future dealings with the Burmese military? The envoy's next
visit to the country will be a test.

Mr Ibrahim Gambari, UN special envoy to Burma, has been invited to return
to Burma in mid-August to continue his mediation efforts. The question is:
what will his mission be this time?

Many sources close to the UN told me that the envoy is likely to continue
pinning his hopes on the regime's seven-step road map, which the UN once
viewed as a potential process for democratization in Burma.

In late 2007, Mr Gambari also said, "[The UN] Secretary-General did not
reject the seven-step Road Map and what he would like to suggest were
inclusiveness and a time frame."

Many key opposition groups, especially the election-winning National
League for Democracy and ethnic political parties, might come to agree
with the UN that the junta's seven-step road map could still be a viable
option for Burma's transition if it was modified to become inclusive and
time-bound.

In August 2001, 92 elected members of parliament from inside Burma called
for this change in the road map in their public statement. They demanded
that the regime modify the road map. The elected MPs said that if the
regime made it inclusive, they would like to cooperate and find a
political solution within the road map framework.

On 12 November last year, in the wake of September’s Saffron Revolution,
UN secretary-general Ban Ki-Moon said that “a return to the status quo
that existed before the crisis is not sustainable,” and that he
“encourages the government and all relevant parties to redouble their
efforts towards achieving national reconciliation, democracy and full
respect for human rights”.

The UN made two proposals to the junta, namely that Burma should set up a
broad-based constitutional revision commission in order to ensure an
inclusive political process and that a poverty alleviation commission
should be established. The regime's supreme leader Than Shwe rejected them
and finalized the constitution draft. Then the UN suggested that the junta
invite international observers to the referendum. That suggestion fell on
deaf ears too.

The regime has now declared that they have completed four of the seven
steps of the road map. Step one, the National Convention process, took
more than 14 years to finish and excluded legitimate political parties
such as the NLD, whose leaders are imprisoned.

Instead the military’s handpicked delegations took part in the convention
and drew up a draft constitution which simply provides for the
continuation and consolidation of military rule. The impunity for members
of the State Peace and Development Council and its predecessor the State
Law and Order Restoration Council enshrined in the constitution paves the
way for further human rights violations against Burma’s people.

In May the junta held a national referendum to approve the draft
constitution, despite Ban Ki-moon and the international community’s calls
for them to postpone the referendum in order to focus on the massive
cyclone relief operation. Moreover, the referendum took place in a climate
of harassment, intimidation and fraud to secure the result the junta
wanted, much like the run-off presidential election in Zimbabwe. At the
time, people in Burma were in mourning because of Cyclone Nargis, which
killed over 140,000 and left 2.4 million people suffering. The UN and the
international community witnessed the junta’s callous attitude towards its
own citizens. The regime shamelessly claimed that their proposed
constitution was approved by 92.4 percent of the population.

Now, it is blindingly obvious that the substance of the constitution is
undemocratic and, more importantly, that the whole process of implementing
the road map has been lacking inclusiveness and transparency.

Special envoy Gambari once encouraged political parties in Burma to
participate within the framework of the seven-step road map set out by the
junta. All key opposition groups accepted his request and acted
accordingly. But the regime has rejected the envoy’s proposals.

So now what?

According to some UN sources I know, the danger now is that the UN is
exhausting its persuasive capacity and is shifting towards a yielding
approach.

In his press briefing on May 27, Ban Ki-moon said that he "urged them
[Than Shwe and the generals] that the seven-point democratization
programme should be put into implementation as soon as possible" during
his meeting with Than Shwe in Naypyidaw.

The seven-point democratization programme? Isn’t that a contradiction in
terms? Is Ban confusing speed with substance?

Since Than Shwe shot down all the UN’s proposals, the secretary-general
must know that this road map is not headed in the right direction.

Now Burmese democracy activists fear that the UN envoy will encourage the
NLD party to participate in the 2010 election. Since the unilateral
implementation of the road map is unacceptable, the party has already
rejected the referendum results and the upcoming election as a sham. Aye
Thar Aung, an ethnic leader in Burma, hit the nail on the head when he
recently said, "the real necessary step is to develop national
reconciliation to bring a true democratic system to our country". He is
right. In order to take that necessary step, the UN good offices should
not imagine that the “softly, softly” yielding approach will work with the
regime.

The message for the UN envoy is simple:

Secretary-general Ban Ki-moon should instruct Gambari to reiterate that
the regime must adapt its seven-step road map so that it ensures a
peaceful transition to democracy, including the redrafting of the
constitution by means of a transparent, participatory process. That
process must involve representatives of political parties like the NLD and
Burma’s ethnic nationalities. Gambari must also call for the release of
all political prisoners.

If the seven-step road map truly represented the way forward for a
peaceful transition to democracy, then activists and opposition groups
might be prepared to rethink their participation within its framework.

If Gambari cannot persuade the regime to take these essential steps, then
the secretary-general must declare that the regime’s roadmap is no longer
relevant. He must strongly encourage the UN Security Council to use an
enforcement mechanism to bring about progress on democratic transition in
Burma. If not, the UN will fail again and Burmese activists may
reluctantly conclude that the UN is in fact complicit with the regime.

Bo Kyi is a former political prisoner and currently works as a joint
secretary for the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma).

____________________________________

July 16, Embassy Magazine (Canada)
'The most vulnerable were swept away, killed' – Jeff Davis

One of the first Canadians into the Burmese disaster zone reflects on his
experiences, and the path ahead.

The first thing that struck him when he climbed off the commercial flight
in the Burmese former capital of Rangoon on May 16, two weeks after the
devastation of Cyclone Nargis, was the disquieting calm on the airfield.

A UNICEF emergency officer, Michael Bociurkiw was among the first
Canadians permitted entry into the hermitic Southeast Asian realm. While
the disaster zone veteran had worked on such crises as the 2005 Pakistan
earthquake that killed as many as 80,000 people, this scene was different
from the others Bociurkiw had seen.

"I have worked in other disaster zones, and one would expect at that stage
of an emergency that aircraft and supplies would be all over the place,"
he said in an interview two weeks ago. "But it was eerily quiet."

When he finally arrived at his hotel later in the day, he climbed to the
roof to get his first bird's eye view of the destruction.

"From the hotel you could see the extent of the devastation, a lot of
roofs missing from schools, hospitals and private homes," Mr. Bociurkiw
recalled. "Yangon is a beautiful city with huge old trees, and a lot of
those are now gone. Toppled."

But he would soon discover first hand that the damage in Rangoon was
nothing compared to the devastation the cyclone had wreaked upon the
country's rural areas, especially the low-lying Irrawaddy Delta area.

During the storm, which made landfall on May 2, a tidal surge pushed
seawater as far as 12 kilometers inland, through an area mere feet above
sea level. The deluge contaminated rice paddies with salt, washed away
embankments, and destroyed already rudimentary roads.

Flying over the Burmese countryside in a rented Ukrainian helicopter, at
times through pelting monsoon rain, Mr. Bociurkiw could see the true
extent of the damage.

"In some places we couldn't distinguish waterway from the fields," he
said. "In some cases the landscape has been completely changed."

Boats, essential to the rural Burmese lifestyle for fishing and
transportation, were "totally destroyed like matchsticks. Destroyed and
shoved up on the banks like they were thrown there by one big hand."

Another devastating loss was that of between 100,000 and 150,000 water
buffalo, animals essential for transportation, the working of fields, and
food.

But while these items will be replaced someday, much was lost forever,
including as many as 150,000 lives, many of them children. The death toll
was exacerbated by the Burmese government's slow response in allowing
humanitarian aid and workers like Mr. Bociurkiw into the country.

"Many fieldworkers were stunned to find that there are almost no children
under five in many villages," he said. "They were the most vulnerable, and
a lot were swept away and killed. Drowned."

Some were literally ripped from their parents' clutching arms.

Wherever the helicopter passed over the countryside, Burmese survivors
climbed trees and ornately decorated Buddhist pagodas waving flags and
shocks of white linen in joyous or hopeless attempts to get some
desperately needed aid.

Upon spotting a place to land, Mr. Bociurkiw said, the helicopters would
touch down lightly, the engines would be kept whirring to prevent the
wheels from getting stuck in the soft, muddy soil.

Doors would be flung open and men and women would stream from the jungles,
weather worn and deathly thin. Once loaded with supplies or equipment,
they would struggle through sopping rice paddy mud to carry tents, high
nutrition biscuits, rudimentary building supplies and water purification
tablets back to their families.

Recovery Progressing Slowly

Mr. Bociurkiw, in a phone interview with Embassy, said the Burmese
government's initial hesitation, as well as the challenges posed by
primitive infrastructure, have significantly slowed the overall progress
of relief efforts in the country.

It has now been over two months since the disaster and Mr. Bociurkiw said
normally, efforts would be shifting from humanitarian assistance to
reconstruction and rehabilitation.

Relief efforts in Burma, however, are still in the initial lifesaving
phases, and Mr. Bociurkiw expects that to be the case for another four
months before medium-term reconstruction begins.

Mr. Bociurkiw said the UN estimates that some 2.4 million Burmese were
affected by the cyclone and its aftermath, and the effects are spread over
an area roughly the size of New Brunswick.

Of those affected, he said, some 1.1 million victims have not been reached
by the UN or its partners, and hundreds of thousands remain without access
to safe, clean drinking water.

Mr. Bociurkiw said that international aid workers now enjoy "pretty much
unfettered access" to disaster zones, and co-operation is now being
facilitated by the so-called Tripartite Group—consisting of UN, Burmese
and Association of Southeast Asian Nations officials.

Later this month, Mr. Bociurkiw said, the UN and ASEAN will release a
joint assessment that should "give us a very, very clear picture of the
extent of devastation and the state of health the people are in."

Early indications, he said, are that some $9 billion in international aid
will be required for heavy infrastructure reconstruction and to replace
homes, boats, and livestock.

According to the Canadian International Development Agency, Canada has
pledged $14 million for relief efforts to help the people of Burma. The
Canadian government also pledged to match dollar-for-dollar all monies
donated by the Canadian public. How much additional money this
donation-matching scheme will yield is not yet known.

Efforts will also continue to repair Burma's damaged health and education
systems. Some 4,000 schools were destroyed or severely damaged, and there
is a need to replace the teachers, clinicians and midwives killed in the
storm.

Fortunately, Mr. Bociurkiw said, efforts to stop a second wave of death
brought on by diseases, such as cholera or measles, and starvation have
been largely successful. This he attributes to rapid immunization
programs, the distribution of one million malaria bed nets, and the
"incredible resilience of the people."

During his time in Burma, Mr. Bociurkiw interacted with a number of
Burmese officials, including the prime minister.

When asked what he thinks of the regime, he gave a studied reply.

"I think they've now realized that this is bigger than any one entity
could ever handle," he said. "Of course there was slowness at the
beginning for access for both internationals and supplies, but I think
after a while these confidence measures have taken hold and in our case,
things are going rather smoothly compared to many weeks ago."

jdavis at embassymag.ca