BurmaNet News, October 3, 2008

[Editor]

October 3, 2008 Issue # 3570


INSIDE BURMA
DVB: NLD youth member given four-year jail term
DVB: Ailing political detainee forced to stand trial
AFP: Eye specialist examines Aung San Suu Kyi
Irrawaddy: Than Shwe’s health again in question
Kachin News Group: Monks finding it difficult to travel in Burma

ON THE BORDER
Mizzima News: Thai company to pay compensation to next of kin of 54 workers
Narinjara News: Western border road blocked by landslide

BUSINESS / TRADE
Irrawaddy: Weekly business roundup

HEALTH / AIDS
Irrawaddy: Safe drinking water ever scarcer in Irrawaddy Delta

INTERNATIONAL
Mizzima News: UN Rights Commissioner urges Burma to free more political
prisoners

OPINION / OTHER
Irrawaddy: Where would Burma be without Suu Kyi? – Kyaw Zwa Moe
Bangkok Post: Justice for migrant labour – Editorial
Asia Times: Nuclear bond for North Korea and Myanmar – Norman Robespierre



____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

October 3, Democratic Voice of Burma
NLD youth member given four-year jail term

Mya Than Htike, a National League for Democracy youth member who was hit
by a bullet when government troops opened fire on protestors last year,
has been sentenced to four years in prison.

Kyauktada township court handed down the sentence of four years’
imprisonment with hard labour yesterday for gathering in a group of more
than five people and not obeying orders to disperse, lawyer Aung Thein
said.

"When the security forces opened fire to disperse the crowds, Mya Than
Htike fell down and was left behind,” Aung Thein said.

“He insisted that he was hit while he was trying cross the street with
three friends but was blocked by the crowd.”

Mya Than Htike was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment each for two
charges – offences against the state or public tranquility under section
505(b) of the penal code and joining an unlawful assembly under section
145.

Mya Than Htike, from Thingangyun township, Rangoon, was shot in the thigh
when troops fired into the crowds to disperse demonstrators in September
last year.

He had been caught up in the crowd at the junction of Anawrahta road and
33rd street outside Shwe Loonpyan store.

The prosecution claimed he had been at the front of the crowd of
protestors, but Mya Than Htike argued that he had been walking away from
the scene with his back to the soldiers when he was shot.

He was arrested by the police while receiving treatment in hospital and
sent to Insein prison.

U Aung Thein also said it was unfair to try Mya Than Htike on two
different charges for the same offence.

____________________________________

October 3, Democratic Voice of Burma
Ailing political detainee forced to stand trial – Naw Say Phaw

Political prisoner Aung Zaw Oo was forced to stand trial at Kyauktada
township court despite his pleas to be tried at a later date, according to
a friend of the detainee.

Aung Zaw Oo’s friend said he was handcuffed and forced into a prison van
by police private Saw Htay Oo and when he arrived in court he refused to
come out of the van for an hour in protest at his treatment.

"He was trembling and sweating and the handcuffs made deep marks on his
skin," his friend said.

Tate Naing of the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners denounced
the incident and accused the authorities of human rights abuses and
illegal treatment of political prisoners.

Aung Zaw Oo was locked up in a dog kennel on 13 September as a punishment
for staging a hunger strike calling for the immediate release of Daw Aung
San Suu Kyi and genuine dialogue.

He stopped the hunger strike when he began vomiting blood and was admitted
to hospital on 18 September.

Aung Zaw Oo, from the Shan State capital Taunggyi was arrested under
article 13/1 of the Immigration Act for illegally crossing the border and
article 6 of the Unlawful Associations Act.

He has previously been reported to be in poor health with a weak heart,
and fainted twice while at Kyauktada township court for a hearing in
March.

____________________________________

October 3, Agence France Presse
Eye specialist examines Aung San Suu Kyi

An eye doctor has visited Burma's pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi at
her home, where she has been detained for most of the past two decades,
her party said on Friday.

The specialist accompanied the Nobel peace laureate's general physician
and his assistant on a rare visit to her lakeside home in the main city
Yangon on Thursday.

"The eye specialist spent about an hour with her," National League of
Democracy spokesperson Nyan Win said, adding he had no further details
about her health condition.

Witnesses said her regular physician Tin Myo Win spent about four hours at
the house, just two weeks after his last visit.

The doctor had given Aung San Suu Kyi an intravenous drip on September 14,
about a month after she began refusing to receive food rations delivered
to her home.

The 63-year-old campaigner has refused to meet with anyone other than her
lawyer and her doctor since early August.

She rejected talks with visiting United Nations envoy Ibrahim Gambari and
the junta's liaison officer, labour minister Aung Kyi.

Aung San Suu Kyi's NLD won 1990 elections but the military, which has
ruled Burma since 1962, never allowed them to take power.

____________________________________

October 3, Irrawaddy
Than Shwe’s health again in question – Min Lwin

Burma’s 75-year-old leader, Snr-Gen Than Shwe, is undergoing medical
treatment at his Rangoon residence near Tooth Relic Pagoda in Mayangone
Township, says a source close to the junta chief’s family.

“Than Shwe has stayed in his Rangoon house since late September where he
is receiving medical treatment,” said the source.

No further medical details were given. According to sources inside and
outside the country, Than Shwe and his family, accompanied by a team of
doctors, are expected to travel to Singapore soon for additional medical
consultations or treatment.

The information, however, could not be independently confirmed.

Many people claim Than Shwe, whose official age is given as 75, is closer
to 78 or 79.

In January 2007, he and his family went to Singapore for a two-week trip
accompanied by the regime’s health minister and Than Shwe’s personal
physician, Kyaw Myint, to receive treatment for intestinal cancer.

Than Shwe was in the hospital for about one week. He reportedly rejected
advice to undergo surgery for a life-threatening condition, saying he
wanted first to consult his chief astrologer.

Rumors have circulated in Burma and abroad that Than Shwe’s health has
been deteriorating since January. Many Burmese believe his health problems
are caused by bad karma because of his brutal crackdown on peacefully
demonstrating monks in September 2007.

His wife, Kyaing Kyaing, has kept a low profile since she and her husband
went to vote on May 10 in the constitutional referendum, fueling rumors
that she too may be experiencing health problems.

____________________________________

October 3, Kachin News Group
Monks finding it difficult to travel in Burma

A year after the saffron revolution, Buddhist monks are still finding it
extremely difficult to travel in Burma because the Burmese military junta
authorities are checking them thoroughly all the time, a source said.

Monks who want to travel from Myitkyina, the capital of Kachin State in
northern Burma to Rangoon, the former capital, are being checked by the
police at railway stations and are being asked detailed address of places
in Rangoon where they intend to stay, said a resident in Myitkyina.

The monks are being subjected to more checks by the police than other
travellers not only in railway stations but also on the roads and
highways.

Meanwhile, residents in Myitkyina claimed that the police have intensified
checking people as they are all being viewed with suspicion. The police
are still guarding Buddhist temples.

According to a Rangoon resident, one cannot see monks on the road like
earlier even in buses and there are many policemen on the roads especially
at the bus station.

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

October 3, Mizzima News
Thai company to pay compensation to next of kin of 54 workers – Than Htike Oo

A Thai Life Insurance Company is likely to pay compensation of Baht
100,000 for each of the 54 Burmese nationals who died of asphyxiation in a
ten-wheel container truck in Ranong district, southern Thailand while
sneaking into Thailand illegally.

On April 9 this year, 121 migrant workers illegally entered Thailand in a
deep freezer container vehicle of whom 54 died of asphyxiation. Now it is
learnt that the Thai Insurance Company 'Liberty Insurance' is likely to
pay compensation of Baht 100,000 for those who died.

"The Ranong lower court has passed the order in accordance with the law.
The compensation has come about mainly due to Thai lawyers and NGOs here
who in cooperation did the job," Ko Htoo Chit, Director of Thai based
Basic Human Rights Education Institute, told Mizzima.

The vehicle in which the migrant workers were travelling is insured with
the 'Liberty Insurance'. According to Thai law, anyone who dies in a car
accident is entitled to get Baht 100,000 compensation if it can be proved.

But the date when the compensation is of to be transferred to family
members is not yet known.

"It takes time to translate the required documents to Thai language and
sending required documents to the Burmese authorities. So receiving the
compensation is delayed. I think it ought to have been received by
concerned family members two months ago," he added.

The Human Rights organization is cooperating with Thai lawyers and
attended the court hearing in Ranong in September 22.

Two defendants in this case admitted their crime in court and the Burmese
authorities are cooperating in this case to ensure compensation from the
Thai Insurance Company.

"The judge said nothing about compensation. But one of the defendants (car
owner) admitted his crime in court. Then they said they would take action
in accordance with the law. It has nothing to do with the judge hearing
the case. The court has heard the case at least four times", he said.

These migrant workers sneaked into southern Thailand in a container truck
and 54 of them died of asphyxiation in Sutsamram between Ranong and
Phuket. The survivors were detained by Thai Immigration in Ranong prison
for about two months and then sent back to the Burma border.

Though the Thai authorities could arrest the car driver and vehicle owner,
the human trafficking gang which masterminded it, is still at large.

Most of these ill-fated Burmese nationals were from Kyaikto, Thaton,
Mawlamyine and Chaungsone in Mon State.

____________________________________

October 3, Narinjara News
Western border road blocked by landslide

The only motorable road connecting Bangladesh with the western border of
Burma was blocked on Wednesday after heavy rains caused a landslide in the
area, said a local businessman.

"The road is blocked following the landslide and vehicles are unable to
ply between Buthidaung and Maungdaw. Many business establishments are
suffering from the road blockade because goods cannot be exported to
Bangladesh," he said.

The road connects Buthidaung and Maungdaw on the western border and
despite being only 16 miles long, is a key route for trade with
Bangladesh.

"It is a very important connection with Bangladesh, but the authorities
have neglected road repairs. Because of this, the road often suffers
subsidence and blockages during the rainy season," he said.

The road was also blocked in June this year due to a bridge collapsing
after heavy rains. At that time, transportation between Bangladesh and
Burma had stopped for at least 15 days and border trade suffered badly.

This time, many shrimp traders are suffering because of the road block.

"We export frozen shrimps to Bangladesh along this road. If the road is
not repaired within a short time, we may lose nearly 10 million Kyats. We
are really frustrated by the road collapse," the businessman said.

The authorities have summoned 20 people from each ward in Maungdaw to help
repair the road because there are no construction workers or machineries
to do the job.

____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

October 3, Irrawaddy
Weekly Business Roundup (October 3, 2008) – William Boot

The Japan External Trade Organization, known as JETRO, has ended its
“hold” warning to Japanese companies made after the 2007 Burmese military
crackdown, sources say.

Reports from Rangoon say Japanese firms want to set up parts manufacturing
factories in joint ventures with local businesses, but no details have
been disclosed and JETRO did not provide more information.

JETRO, a Tokyo government-funded business development agency, had advised
companies planning to invest in Burma to wait in the wake of the violence,
sparked after monk-led protests over harsh economic conditions and the
junta’s tight grip on daily life.

The alarm was heightened by the fact that the only foreigner to die when
the army opened fire on unarmed protesters in Rangoon was a Japanese
cameraman who was filming the crackdown.

About 60 Japanese companies have a presence in Burma, either in factories
or promotional liaison offices, says JETRO.

All of them scaled down their activities after the crackdown.
However, Japanese vehicle manufacturers have expressed new interest in
joining one of several so-called special economic zones the ruling junta
says it plans to establish.

Suzuki and Isuzu are already involved in low-scale ventures in Burma. 
Suzuki has been manufacturing pickup trucks and motorbikes since the late
1990s but a continuing poor economy has prevented expansion, say industry
analysts.

The junta-linked Myanmar Economic Holdings and SPA Motorcycle Ltd, as well
as the Ministry of Industry, are involved with Suzuki and Isuzu.


Lloyd’s Pressured by UK Government to Quit Burma

Major international insurer Lloyd’s of London is being pressured to stop
doing business with Burma.

The British government has written to Lloyd’s expressing disquiet at its
continued Burma links through brokers and affiliates.

The government wrote to Lloyd’s chairman Lord Levene. The contents of the
letter have not been disclosed by either side, but the London Observer
newspaper reports that it has led to Levene writing to underwriters and
agents “urging them to consider” their continued involvement with
junta-linked business.

The British government action follows increased public campaigning against
Lloyd’s by the human rights group Burma Campaign UK after the company’s
announcement of 2008 first half year global profits of US $1.76 billion.

The London-based NGO termed Lloyd’s profits in Burma “blood money” and
called for a campaign to pressure the company to get out of Burma.

Lloyd’s refuses to disclose details of its Burma business, but it is
believed to provide insurance guarantees for air and sea transport—key
elements of the junta-controlled economy.

The loss of such underwriting could seriously upset the junta’s foreign
business operations.

“This is humiliating for Lloyd’s. For too long they have profited from
helping to finance Burma’s brutal dictatorship,” Burma Campaign UK
campaigns organizer Johnny Chatterton told The Irrawaddy.

“Lloyd’s is breaking government guidelines and damaging their reputation.
If they don’t end their involvement in Burma soon they will be branded by
Burma in the same was that Barclays was with Apartheid South Africa and
Exxon is with climate change.”


Junta’s Maung Aye to Bangladesh for Business, Sea Talks

Burma’s second-highest ranking military government chief, Vice Snr-Gen
Maung Aye, is to make a second trip to western neighbors to drum up
business and improve ties.

Maung Aye is scheduled to visit the Bangladesh capital Dhaka on October 7
for three days of talks which will include a bid to push forward
settlement of disputed offshore waters.

Both countries are anxious to resolve their long-running territorial
waters disagreement so they can get on with exploring for more undersea
gas.

Foreign developers inside Burmese waters have already found huge gas
reserves in the Shwe field.

Bangladesh upset both Burma and India recently when it announced plans to
offer international licenses to explore blocks it claims are inside its
territory—but disputed by the neighbors.

Maung Aye recently visited India, during which a major agreement was
finalized to allow a state Indian company to build to large hydroelectric
dams on the Chindwin River in northwestern Burma.

Like India, Bangladesh has been making a series of overtures to Burma to
improve what have been frosty relations.

The Bangladeshis have made a number of economic cooperation proposals,
including leasing large tracts of land inside Burma’s western Arakan State
to grow crops to ship back to Bangladesh.

The Bangladeshis are also eyeing up prospects for small-scale hydro
schemes in Arakan.

In addition, the Burmese government was reported last month to be planning
to build a trading center at Maungdaw near the border to facilitate trade
with Bangladesh. The focus is said to be shrimp sales.

According to media reports in Dhaka, Maung Aye will be accompanied by
Foreign Minister Nyan Win and a 50-member business and bureaucrat
delegation.

____________________________________
HEALTH / AIDS

October 3, Irrawaddy
Safe drinking water ever scarcer in Irrawaddy Delta – Violet Cho

Clean drinking water is becoming ever scarcer in Burma’s
cyclone-devastated Irrawaddy delta as the country heads into the dry
season.

The cyclone relief committee of the opposition National League for
Democracy is “gravely concerned” about the lack of clean water, said
committee member Dr Win Naing. “If we can not fix this widespread problem
soon, people will definitely die.”

The cyclone and accompanying tidal wave contaminated village ponds, many
of which are still unsuitable to use.

“Most of the villages we have visited still cannot use the water from
their ponds,” said Thant Zin, a relief worker who has just returned from
Laputta Township.

A resident of Panage village in Laputta Township said three unsuccessful
attempts had been made to pump contaminated water out of the local ponds.

Local and international NGOs in the affected areas are helping to clean up
the ponds and dig wells but were having difficulty reaching remote
communities, said a World Vision staffer.

“We have hired water experts and technicians to help set up water
purification machines in cyclone-affected areas such as Dedaye, Pyapon,
Kyaiklat and Bogalay,” he said. “Until now we have been able to set up
machine in only 15 villages and we still can’t reach villages in remote
areas.”

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) says it has so far cleaned up
442 ponds and is helping to set up temporary mobile water treatment plants
and large storage tanks.

Relief organizations are also having to contend with a lack of funds. Only
US$ 249 million of the $482 million sought by the UN five months ago has
so far materialized, according to the UN office in Rangoon.

Bishow Parajuli, the leading UN representative in Burma, said on Wednesday
that funds were still needed to provide support as aid efforts move into
the rehabilitation phase after the immediate needs of the emergency.

“People and communities have been severely affected. It will take a long
time until the needs are met,” Parajuli was quoted as saying in a
statement issued on behalf of the Tripartite Core Group, an international
assistance coordination body including the Burmese government, members of
the Association of South East Asian Nations and the UN.

Cyclone Nargis, the worst natural disaster ever to strike Burma, killed at
least 78,000 people, while about 56,000 are still missing. More than 2.4
million people were affected by the cyclone.

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

October 3, Mizzima News
UN Rights Commissioner urges Burma to free more political prisoners – Solomon

The United Nation High Commissioner for Human Rights Navanethem Pillay on
Thursday urged Burma's military junta to free all political prisoners. The
junta released seven political prisoners recently.

While welcoming the release of seven political prisoners as part of the
amnesty for 9002 prisoners across the country, Ms. Pillay said the
government should release the rest of the more than 2,000 political
prisoners who are still languishing in prisons across the country.

"I urge the government to release them all as soon as possible," Pillay
told a news conference in Geneva, held ahead of launching 'the Dignity and
Justice for Detainees Initiative', set to begin on October 6.

According to the Thailand-based Association Assistance for Political
Prisoner-Burma (AAPP-B), 10 political prisoners including veteran
journalist Win Tin, Khin Maung Swe, Dr. Than Nyein, Dr. May Win Myint,
Thein Naing, Aye Thein, Thiha, Maung Kyaw, Aung Khin and Myint Lwin were
among the 9002 prisoners granted amnesty on September 23.

But Pilly said, "It was a very small step considering there are an
estimated more than 2,000 political activists currently in detention in
that country."

She also said, the continued detention of Burma's pro-democracy leader Daw
Aung San Suu Kyi as completely illegal, saying "Noting that she [Aung San
Suu Kyi] has in fact served a sentence that far exceeds that served by
many hardened criminals."

Meanwhile, Burma's opposition party – the National League for Democracy -
and other political groups in exile did not view the recent release of a
few political prisoners as a progressive step while welcoming the release
of veteran journalist Win Tin, who has served more than 19 years in
prison.

Nyan Win of the NLD said, "We did not see anything significant, given that
the political prisoners released have, in fact, exceeded their
prison-terms."

"We can only assume that there is a change only if all political prisoners
including the leader of the NLD are released," he added.

Similarly, the Burmese government in exile – the National Coalition
Government of Union of Burma - said, while they welcome the release of a
few political prisoners, it, however, it is not a significant development.

"This is how they [junta] function to reduce international tension or
pressure," said Dr. Tint Swe, Information and Public Relations Committee
Chairman of the NCGUB and Minister at the Prime Minister's Office (west).

He said, the junta's intentions are clear, they wanted to showcase that
they are taking steps in improving the human rights situation so as to
allow its ally countries to have a bargaining point at the UN and
internationally.

"Surely, the junta will receive some support and praise from several
countries because of the recent release of prisoners," he added.

But he said the junta's actions are skin-deep and much more needs to be
done for genuine political reforms in the country. He said starting with
the release of other political prisoners including Daw Aung San Suu Kyi
and kick starting a meaningful tripartite dialogue would only bring
genuine changes.

"Merely releasing prisoners is not the way forward to national
reconciliation," Dr. Tint Swe said.

"Over 20 years they [junta] has been lying to the whole world that there
are no political prisoners in Burma but at the same time it is arresting
and sentencing political activists on fabricated charges of criminal
acts," he added.

In the AAPP-B's latest report, there are at least 2,123 prisoners still
languishing in jails across the country.

"It is difficult to say that the junta had even released political
prisoners because they number a few. But most of them should have been
freed as they have completed their prison-terms," said Tate Naing,
secretary of the AAPP-B.

"Every day the junta continues to arrest more political activists and are
charging them with criminal counts in courts and sentencing them," he
added.

Tate Naing said, the junta's intention is to ease-off pressure and it is
playing a game with the international community, just as they have done
several times in the past.

____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

October 3, Irrawaddy
Where would Burma be without Suu Kyi? – Kyaw Zwa Moe

Let's imagine a situation: Burma without Aung San Suu Kyi. Undoubtedly,
the ruling generals would see this as a dream come true. But for the
majority of Burmese, it would come as a great disappointment to lose the
leader of the country’s pro-democracy movement.

 Suu Kyi may be a prisoner, but she still has immense power. She strikes
fear into the hearts of heavily armed men, while giving moral strength to
the powerless. She is the hope of the people of Burma, who have struggled
to survive under the boot of their military rulers for the past 46 years.

Her recent refusal to receive food deliveries raised serious concerns
about her health and worries about the country’s future without her.

According to her lawyer and her doctor—the only two people who were able
to meet her during her month-long ordeal, which began in mid-August—Suu
Kyi’s protest against her continued unlawful detention had left her thin
and malnourished.

It was the first time in two decades that Suu Kyi had subjected herself to
a hunger strike. Soon after beginning her first period of house arrest in
1989, she refused food and demanded to be placed in prison alongside her
colleagues. After several weeks, she won guarantees that her fellow
pro-democracy activists would not be tortured, and ended her protest. Her
weight had dropped from 48 kg (106 lbs) to just 40 kg (90 lbs), and she
suffered hair loss, impaired vision and a weakened immune system.

At the time, Suu Kyi was still in her early forties. Now she is in her
sixties, and the impact on her health has presumably been much greater,
even if she merely restricted her intake of food to the barest
requirements for survival.

What would happen if Suu Kyi died or became so unhealthy that she couldn’t
continue her role as the political leader of Burma’s pro-democracy
movement? It is something we need to ask in light of the fact that she has
spent 13 of the past 19 years under house arrest, without regular access
to proper medical treatment and under immense psychological pressure.

Most people would prefer not to think of Burma’s future without Suu Kyi.
Her absence from politics would probably be a death blow to the already
weakened democracy struggle, because she has no obvious successor as
leader of the movement.

On the other hand, the ruling generals would probably see Suu Kyi’s demise
as an end to an era of trouble. After all, she is even now regarded as a
threat to their hold on power.


>From the generals’ viewpoint, there are many reasons to believe that the

future without Suu Kyi would be very bright indeed. For one thing, they
would not have to fear a repeat of the non-violent confrontation that she
initiated in early 1989, when she called on people to resist unlawful
decrees imposed by the junta. The movement continued for months, until
July 19, when the regime used an overwhelming show of force to stop a
planned Martyrs’ Day march. The next day, Suu Kyi was placed under house
arrest for the first time.

Another reason the generals would be happy to see the back of Suu Kyi is
that it would probably mean no more electoral upsets like the one the
world witnessed in 1990. Despite the regime’s efforts to ensure a victory
for the pro-junta party, Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy inflicted
a stunning defeat, winning more than 80 percent of seats in parliament. It
was Suu Kyi who urged her party to contest the election, despite the fact
that she was still under house arrest at the time and not permitted to
participate herself. Even within the confines of her home, she showed the
generals that she could make life difficult for them.

It was also Suu Kyi who called for a boycott of the National Convention in
1995. She made this decision a few months after being released from six
years of house arrest because she deemed the convention convened to draft
a new constitution as undemocratic. The generals have never forgiven her
for continuing to resist their plans even after they were good enough to
give her back her freedom.

In 1998, Suu Kyi once again proved to be a thorn in the side of the
generals. That was the year she spearheaded the creation of the Committee
Representing the People’s Parliament, a body that directly challenged the
junta’s right to rule. The generals wasted no time in arresting members of
the newly formed group.

Since then, Suu Kyi has enjoyed a few brief interludes of relative
freedom. Each time, she demonstrated that her immense appeal was in no way
diminished by her long absence from the public eye. She campaigned around
the country, drawing crowds of thousands eager to hear her speak. Her
engaging and courageous speeches inspired hope in the hearts of countless
ordinary Burmese—and intense anger among the country’s military rulers,
who watched her every move and did everything they could to keep her away
from her adoring audiences.

All of these episodes have only served to convince the generals that they
need to keep her on a tight rein if they want to carry through their
agenda. Last year, they finally succeeded in completing their
constitution, which they will use to usher in a new era of
military-dominated “democracy” that excludes a democratic opposition. It
is doubtful that they would have been able to achieve this long-pursued
goal if they hadn’t kept Suu Kyi confined within the walls of her
residential compound for the past five years.

Suu Kyi’s reputation as a troublemaker within the military government’s
ruling circles has earned her a further—illegal—extension of her current
period of house arrest. Although she should have been released in May
under Section 10 (b) of the State Protection Act, which only allows for a
maximum sentence of five years, she is still in detention.

The regime is now preparing for the next stage in its transition to
quasi-civilian rule—the 2010 election, which is intended to undo the
damage of the 1990 vote. But in order to reverse the tide of history, the
generals know that Suu Kyi must remain detained and silenced.

If Suu Kyi’s health were to fail prior to the election, it would probably
deliver the regime the victory that has eluded it for the past two
decades. Her death would not spell the end of the democracy movement, but
it would leave it greatly weakened.

Although Suu Kyi has spent most of the past two decades almost completely
cut off from the outside world, she is still Burma’s single greatest hope
for democratic change. She is also a leader who is widely trusted by
people of every ethnicity in Burma, and one who is respected by the
international community, which will have a major role to play in helping
to restore the country’s economy.

She has the rare ability to speak to the generals in a straightforward,
unflinching manner. Indeed, her power derives almost entirely from what
she calls “plain honesty in politics.” Her courage, dedication and
steadfast adherence to the truth have empowered her to speak for the
people of Burma in a way that no one else can at this point in the
country’s history.

After 46 years under military rule, Burma is very lucky to have someone
who can still command such immense power through the sheer force of her
convictions. Without her, life would go on, but the country would be
impoverished in a way that makes even its current circumstances seem
tolerable by comparison.

____________________________________

October 3, Bangkok Post
Justice for migrant labour – Editorial

It was indeed a historic court ruling. But much still needs to be done to
save ethnic migrant workers from slave-like working conditions in
Thailand.

After a two-year-long trial, the Labour Court ruled last week that owners
of the Praphasnavee fleet of deep-sea trawlers must pay for leaving their
crew adrift in the open seas for over three months without food and fresh
water. Out of over 100 crew members, 39 died at sea. Two of them were
buried on an island. The bodies of 37 others were simply dumped in the
ocean.

When the rest of the crew returned to Thai shores, they suffered from
swollen bodies, severe fatigue, breathing problems and vomiting - symptoms
of acute malnutrition. Most of them were ethnic Mon who had fled the harsh
poverty and war atrocities wrought by the junta in Burma.

Initially, few believed they would have a chance against the rich and
powerful trawler owners backed by corrupt officials. When the sick and the
families of the dead demanded back wages and compensation, they were
flatly ignored. The authorities refused to investigate the deaths at sea
on grounds that Thai law did not apply in international waters. The police
also refused to investigate the employers' false registration of their
migrant workers.

Without assistance from human and labour rights organisations, their
misery would have been swept under the carpet. Although some believe the
4.9-million-baht compensation awarded to the 38 plaintiffs is too small,
the message from the court is clear: workers, illegal or not, are entitled
to minimum wages. And regardless of their workers' legal status, the
employers must be held accountable for their mistreatment.

With the employers filing an appeal, the workers still do not know when
the costly and time-consuming legal process will end, which is why some of
their peers cut the matter short through an out-of-court settlement.

Too bad that we cannot expect this heartening verdict to lead to less
labour abuse in the future. The Praphasnavee scandal was not the first
legal victory for migrant workers. A few years ago, the court also ruled
in favour of a group of migrant workers who were used as slave labour at a
Mae Sot sweat shop.Like the Prahpasnavee crew, they were treated like
criminals, having to live in hiding during the court case. Abused or not,
the law says all migrant workers whose jobs are terminated must be
immediately deported. This law has robbed workers of their right to seek
legal and financial redress from labour exploitation, while allowing
abusive employers to get away with murder.

It is not only inhumane laws that are at play here. Migrant workers in
Ranong, Phuket, Phangnga and Surat Thani are barred from using mobile
phones and motorcycles. Group gatherings are prohibited, meaning workers
cannot organise cultural or religious ceremonies - a blatant violation of
their rights.

Undeniably these rules and laws stem from Thai society's deep distrust of
Burma, which is the result of our ultra-nationalistic history which
portrays Burma as evil. This distrust is so strong that it has spilled
over to affect ethnic minorities from that country. Ethnic people who fled
harsh poverty and persecution in Burma are viewed here as a threat to
national security and as potential criminals, rather than as victims of
oppression by the Burmese junta and of exploitation by Thai investors.

As long as this discrimination remains intact, we will see no end to the
abuse and exploitation of migrant workers in Thailand.
____________________________________

October 3, Asia Times
Nuclear bond for North Korea and Myanmar – Norman Robespierre

A recent flurry of high-level contacts between North Korea and Myanmar
raises new nuclear proliferation concerns between the two pariah states,
one of which already possesses nuclear-weapon capabilities and the other
possibly aspiring.

At least three delegations led by flag-level officers from Myanmar's army
have traveled to Pyongyang in the past three months, hot on the heels of
the two sides' re-establishment last year of formal diplomatic relations.
According to a source familiar with the travel itineraries of Myanmar
officials, Brigadier General Aung Thein Lin visited North Korea in
mid-September.

Before that, other Myanmar military delegations visited North Korea,
including a group headed in August by Lieutenant General Tin Aye, chief of
the Office of Chief Defense Industries, and another led in July by
Lieutenant General Myint Hlaing, the chief of Air Defence.

The rapid-fire visits have gone beyond goodwill gestures and the normal
diplomatic niceties of re-establishing ties. Rather, the personalities
involved in the visits indicate that Myanmar is not only seeking weapons
procurements, but also probable cooperation in establishing air defense
weaponry, missiles, rockets or artillery production facilities.

The secretive visits are believed to entail a Myanmar quest for tunneling
technology and possible assistance in developing its nascent nuclear
program. Tin Aye and Myint Hlaing, by virtue of their positions as
lieutenant generals, are logical choices to head official delegations in
search of weapons technology for Myanmar's military, while Brigadier
General Aung Thein Lin, current mayor of Yangon and chairman of the city's
development committee, was formerly deputy minister of Industry-2,
responsible for all industrial development in the country.

Prior to 1998, the minister of Industry-2 also served as the chairman of
the Myanmar Atomic Energy Committee. This came to an end when Myanmar's
Atomic Energy Act of 1998 designated the Ministry of Science and
Technology as the lead government agency for its aspirant nuclear program.
However, the Ministry of Industry-2, by virtue of its responsibilities for
construction of industrial facilities and the provision of equipment,
continues to play a key supporting role in Myanmar's nuclear program.

Myanmar's stagnant nuclear program was revitalized shortly after
Pakistan's first detonation of nuclear weapons in May 1998. Senior general
and junta leader Than Shwe signed the Atomic Energy Law on June 8, 1998,
and the timing of the legislation so soon after Pakistan's entry into the
nuclear club did little to assuage international concerns about Myanmar's
nuclear intentions. Some analysts believe the regime may eventually seek
nuclear weapons for the dual purpose of international prestige and
strategic deterrence.

Myanmar's civilian-use nuclear ambitions made global headlines in early
2001, when Russia's Atomic Energy Committee indicated it was planning to
build a research reactor in the country. The following year, Myanmar's
deputy foreign minister, Khin Maung Win, publicly announced the regime's
decision to build a nuclear research reactor, citing the country's
difficulty in importing radio-isotopes and the need for modern technology
as reasons for the move.

The country reportedly sent hundreds of soldiers for nuclear training in
Russia that same year and the reactor was scheduled for delivery in 2003.
However, the program was shelved due to financial difficulties and a
formal contract for the reactor, under which Russia agreed to build a
nuclear research center along with a 10 megawatt reactor, was not signed
until May 2007.

The reactor will be fueled with non-weapons grade enriched uranium-235 and
it will operate under the purview of the International Atomic Energy
Agency, the United Nations' nuclear watchdog. The reactor itself would be
ill-suited for weapons development. However, the training activities
associated with it would provide the basic knowledge required as a
foundation for any nuclear weapons development program outside of the
research center.

Constrained reaction

The United States' reaction to Myanmar's nuclear developments has been
somewhat constrained, despite the George W Bush administration referring
to the military-run country as an "outpost of tyranny".

After Myanmar's 2002 confirmation of its intent to build the reactor, the
US warned the country of its obligations as a signatory to the nuclear
Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). After the contract was formally announced
in May 2007, the US State Department expressed concerns about the
country's lack of adequate safety standards and the potential for
proliferation.

The warming and growing rapport between Myanmar and North Korea will
likely further heighten Washington's proliferation concerns. Myanmar broke
off diplomatic relations with Pyongyang in 1983, after North Korean agents
bombed the Martyr's mausoleum in Yangon in an attempt to assassinate the
visiting South Korean president, Chun Doo-hwan.

The explosion killed more than 20 people, mostly South Korean officials,
including the deputy prime minister and the foreign minister, and the
South Korean ambassador to Myanmar. Four Myanmar nationals perished and
dozens more were wounded in the blast. Myanmar severed ties with North
Korea after an investigation revealed the three agents responsible for
planting the bomb spent the night at a North Korean diplomat's house
before setting out on their mission.

However, common interests have brought the two secretive nations back
together. The famine in North Korea in the late 1990s and Myanmar's
military expansion ambitions, including a drive for self-sufficiency in
production, have fostered recent trade flows. While Myanmar has the
agricultural surplus to ease North Korean hunger, Pyongyang possesses the
weapons and technological know-how needed to boost Yangon's military
might. There is also speculation Myanmar might provide uranium, mined in
remote and difficult-to-monitor areas, to North Korea.

As testament to Pyongyang's willingness to supply weapons to the military
regime, more North Korean ship visits have been noted at Thilawa port in
Yangon, one of the country's primary receipt points for military cargo.
During one of these visits in May 2007, two Myanmar nationals working for
Japan's News Network were detained outside Yangon while covering a
suspected arms delivery by a North Korean vessel.

Growing bilateral trade has helped to heal old diplomatic wounds and
eventually led to a joint communique re-establishing diplomatic relations
in April 2007. The emerging relationship is also a natural outgrowth of
the ostracism each faces in the international arena, including the
economic sanctions imposed and maintained against them by the West.

While it is possible the recent visits are related to Myanmar's nascent
nuclear program, the evidence is far from conclusive. Nevertheless,
Myanmar has undoubtedly taken notice of the respect that is accorded to
North Korea on the world stage because of its nuclear weapon status.
Unlike North Korea, Myanmar is a signatory to the NPT.

Myanmar has publicly stated it seeks nuclear technology only for peaceful
purposes, such as developing radio-isotopes for agricultural use and
medical research. Yet two well-placed sources told this reporter that
North Korean and Iranian technicians were already advising Myanmar on a
possible secret nuclear effort, running in parallel to the aboveboard
Russia-supported program. Asia Times Online could not independently
confirm the claim.

The lack of participation by Myanmar's Ministry of Science and Technology
in the recent trips to Pyongyang would seem to indicate that nuclear
developments were probably not the primary focus of the high-level
meetings. The regime is also known to be interested in North Korea's
tunneling technology (see Myanmar and North Korea share a tunnel vision,
Asia Times Online, July 19, 2006) in line with the ruling junta's siege
mentality and apparent fears of a possible US-led pre-emptive military
attack.

The junta and others have no doubt noted the extraordinary problems
tunneling and cave complexes have caused US forces in Iraq and
Afghanistan, not to mention the success North Korea has enjoyed in hiding
underground its nuclear facilities. Bunkers are rumored to underlie
several buildings at Naypyidaw, where the regime abruptly moved the
national capital in 2005. The ongoing construction of a second capital,
for the hot season, at Yadanapon, is also believed to have tunnels and
bunkers integrated into its layout.

Whether the visits are related to arms procurement, military industrial
development, tunneling technology or nuclear exchange, they foreshadow a
potentially dangerous trend for Myanmar's non-nuclear Southeast Asian
neighbors and their Western allies, including the US.

As the true nature of the budding bilateral relationship comes into closer
view, the risk is rising that Pyongyang and Yangon are conspiring to
create a security quandary in Southeast Asia akin to the one now vexing
the US and its allies on the Korean Peninsula.

Norman Robespierre, a pseudonym, is a freelance journalist specializing in
Sino-Asian affairs.