BurmaNet News, October 24, 2008

[Editor]

October 24, 2008, Issue # 3584


INSIDE BURMA
AFP: Suu Kyi's lawyer asks Myanmar junta for further appeal meeting
AP: 6 Myanmar opposition members get jail terms
Irrawaddy: Junta must withdraw constitution: KNU
Irrawaddy: UN Chief Not Likely to Achieve Much with Visit: Win Tin
DVB: ABFSU leader Si Thu Maung charged

ON THE BORDER
Khonumthung News: Indian northeast rebels torture Chin villagers

BUSINESS / TRADE
Mizzima News: Trade with China rising sharply

DRUGS
Narinjara: Four drug dealers nabbed with Yaba in Arakan

INTERNATIONAL
AFP: US presses Myanmar to free Aung San Suu Kyi
VOA: Amnesty says EU should address Burma's human rights record

OPINION / OTHER
Irrawaddy: ‘Humanitarian space’ still on the agenda
Mizzima News: Burma's democratic opposition faces trying times
The Guardian (UK): Out of the storm – Conor Foley



____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

October 24, Agence France Presse
Suu Kyi's lawyer asks Myanmar junta for further appeal meeting

Myanmar democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi's lawyer has requested another
meeting with her to discuss an appeal against her detention, amid repeated
international calls for her release, her party's spokesman said Friday.

Kyi Win asked the ruling junta for permission to meet with the Nobel peace
prize winner, who has spent most of the past 19 years locked away in her
lakeside home in Yangon, the National League for Democracy's Nyan Win
said.

"Lawyer U Kyi Win has asked the authorities to meet with Daw Aung San Suu
Kyi again to give her receipt of her appeal and to get further
instructions for it," Nyan Win told AFP.

"We haven't received any reply yet. But the authorities are likely to
allow him to meet her," he said.

The authorities acknowledged receipt of Aung San Suu Kyi's appeal on
October 9 but have not yet indicated whether they will accept the case.

Aung San Suu Kyi last met with Kyi Win in September to finalise her appeal.

The 63-year-old rarely meets with anyone except her lawyer and doctor and
refused a visit from United Nations envoy Ibrahim Gambari in August,
apparently in protest at the lack of progress he was making on political
reform in Myanmar.

On Thursday leaders around the world marked the 13th anniversary of Aung
San Suu Kyi's house arrest by renewing calls for the government to release
her.

A US State Department spokesman urged the "unlawful detention" to end,
while the European Parliament joined rights groups in urging Asian and
European leaders meeting in China this week to appeal to Myanmar for
liberal reforms.

Meanwhile, the United Nations' expert on human rights in Myanmar, Tomas
Ojea Quintana, announced a four-point plan of political reforms he is
asking the junta to implement before elections due in 2010.

The NLD won a landslide victory in 1990 elections but the junta never
allowed it to take office.

Myanmar has been ruled by the military since 1962.

____________________________________

October 24, Associated Press
6 Myanmar opposition members get jail terms

A court in military-ruled Myanmar handed down prison sentences Friday to
six opposition party members who were arrested after last year's
pro-democracy demonstrations, a party spokesman said.

A Mandalay court convicted the six of creating public alarm and promoting
hatred, and sentenced them to prison terms ranging from two to 13, said
Nyan Win, a spokesman for the National League for Democracy.

Pro-democracy protests raged across the country in Sept. 2007 before they
were violently crushed by the army, leaving at least 31 people dead,
according to the United Nations. Thousands of people were arrested.

The party is led by detained Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi,
who marked her 13 years total under house arrest Thursday.

"A special court inside Mandalay Oakpho prison sentenced all six NLD
members today," said a relative of defendant Win Mya Mya, a prominent
organizing committee member of the Mandalay branch of the party, often
referred to by its initials.

The relative, who asked not to be named to avoid the attention of the
authorities, said the activists were tried before a special court in
proceedings that began in August. Family members were not allowed to
attend.

"It was totally unfair and unlawful" said Nyan Win. "All of them are very
active members of the party and the authorities have crushed them
politically by meting out lengthy prison sentences."

International human rights groups say Myanmar's junta now holds more than
2,100 political prisoners, compared with nearly 1,200 in June, 2007,
before the pro-democracy demonstrations.

The opposition party was founded in 1988 after an abortive pro-democracy
uprising, and since then has faced nearly constant harassment from the
ruling military.

After the party's candidates won the most seats in a 1990 general
election, the military refused to let it take power.

____________________________________

October 24, Irrawaddy
Junta must withdraw constitution: KNU – Saw Yan Naing

Burma’s oldest and largest ethnic rebel group, the Karen National Union
(KNU), strongly condemned the ruling junta’s state constitution, calling
it a reactionary throwback to the country’s age of imperialism.

David Takapaw, who was elected vice-chairman of the KNU at its recently
convened 14th congress, said that the constitution reflected an ideology
derived from the thinking of the Burmese kings Anawrahta, Bayintnaung and
Alaungpaya—rulers of imperial dynasties that subjugated ethnic states and
invaded neighboring countries.

Anawrahta, Bayintnaung and Alaungpaya were early leaders of the Pagan,
Toungoo and Konbaung empires, respectively. They aggressively expanded
their territory to include the kingdoms of the Mon, Arakan and other
ethnic groups. King Bayintnaung even expanded his territory to Chiang Mai
in northern Thailand and some regions of Cambodia and Laos.

Takapaw said that the Burmese generals were trying to impose a similar
reign to subjugate ethnic minorities under military rule—an approach that
he said could no longer work.

“Now, it is impossible to establish an empire. Ethnic people will not
accept this ideology,” said Takapaw, who called on the regime to abandon
its efforts to force its constitution on the country against the will of
Burmese opposition parties and ethnic groups.

“According to the constitution, the Burmese military can announce a ‘state
of emergency’ at any time, and requires the president to have military
experience,” he said, highlighting the army’s prominent role under the
constitution.

In September, the National League for Democracy, Burma’s main opposition
party, also called on the regime to review the constitution, calling it
“one-sided” and saying it lacked the participation of democratically
elected representatives from the 1990 general election.

The regime held a national referendum on the constitution in May and
swiftly announced that it had won more than 92 percent approval. However,
critics and dissident groups inside and outside Burma called the
constitution and referendum a sham.

The state constitution is step three of the regime’s seven-step “road map”
to civilian rule. The fifth step is an election slated to take place in
2010.

____________________________________

October 24, Irrawaddy
UN Chief Not Likely to Achieve Much with Visit: Win Tin

Win Tin, a prominent member of Burma’s main opposition party, the National
League for Democracy (NLD), said he and the party would welcome a visit by
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, but added that he had strong
reservations about what the UN head could hope to achieve in Burma.

“I am not sure what he could accomplish,” said Win Tin, a senior member of
the NLD and one of the country’s longest-serving political prisoners, who
was released from Insein Prison in September after serving 19 years.

“The government plays with the time factor and it knows very well how to
manipulate the UN,” Win Tin added.

Ban, who visited Burma several weeks after a deadly cyclone slammed into
southern Burma in May, has said that he was contemplating a return to
Burma in December. However, his visit is now in doubt.

“I understand that he doesn’t want to leave Burma empty handed,” said Win
Tin, acknowledging Ban’s reluctance to make a return trip later in the
year.

Ban recently said that he was frustrated by the Burmese regime’s failure
to take meaningful steps to achieve national reconciliation. He also
called for the release of NLD leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other political
prisoners, and urged the regime to makes its “road map” to civilian rule
more inclusive.

Ban’s statement earned him some rare praise from the NLD, but it fell far
short of what many in the opposition expect from the UN.

“The pressure must step up,” said a senior NLD member.

Meanwhile, the NLD is also coming under criticism from some of its own
members. Last Thursday, around 109 youth members of the party resigned
after complaining that the aging leadership had excluded them from the
decision-making process.

This was followed by more bad news, with reports earlier this week that
NLD Secretary U Lwin, who is 86 years old, had suffered a stroke, and that
the party chairman, Aung Shwe, 91, was also ill with influenza.

Win Tin, who visited U Lwin yesterday, said that the party secretary
seemed to be making a quick recovery and was eating well.

Win Tin also noted that his involvement in the party has been limited
since his release.

“Since I was released from prison, I haven’t attended any regular meetings
at the NLD headquarters,” said Win Tin. However, he said that Aung Shwe
had welcomed him back to the party.

“I am looking forward to holding regular meeting at the NLD so that we can
make policy statements,” said Win Tin.

____________________________________

October 24, Democratic Voice of Burma
ABFSU leader Si Thu Maung charged – Khin Hnin Htet

All Burma Federation of Student Unions leader Si Thu Maung was charged
under with unlawful association and crimes against state tranquility at
Tamwe township court on Wednesday.

Sithu Maung was arrested in Tamwe in connection with the Saffron
Revolution in October last year.

Si Thu Maung’s lawyer Phoe Phyu said the charges were brought against him
by Tamwe township's deputy police chief Than Htay Aung.

"The prosecutors stated in the court hearing that activities of Ko Si Thu
Maung, including his act as a leader of the ABFSU, held a threat against
tranquillity of the state," Phoe Phyu said.

"We countered that by pointing out that the ABFSU had existed in Burma and
had taken part in the revolutions in our country's history since 1920," he
said.

"We stated that the ABFSU is not harming state tranquility and the rule of
law and that it's only a group of intellectual, educated and patriotic
student leaders who are highlighting people’s suffering."

Si Thu Maung's case is being heard by Tamwe township high court judge Daw
Than Than and the verdict will be delivered on 29 October.

Before they were able to arrest Si Thu Maung, authorities detained his
parents, U Peter and Daw Nu Nu Swe, for not opening the door to officials
quickly enough when they came to search for him.

They were each sentenced to six years’ imprisonment in August for
obstructing police investigations.

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

October 24, Khonumthung News
Indian northeast rebels torture Chin villagers

Chin villagers in northern Chin state, Burma are being terrorized and
tortured by insurgent groups from Manipur state in northeast India
operating on Burmese soil, it is learnt.

In the first week of October cadres of the Manipur rebel group entered
Maulpi village in Tonzang Township, Chin state and asked the village
council's chairman and school principal to provide them with chicken and
pork, according to Min Thang from Zomi Human Rights Network.

The chairman and the school principal refused to offer livestock to the
rebels from northeast India. The irate Manipuri cadres assaulted the duo.

"The rebels beat them up (chairman and principal) because they refused to
hand over chicken and pork," said Min Thang from ZHRN.

Manipuri armed groups have been using Chin territories as a safe haven and
move around freely with the blessings of the Burmese military junta
authorities, villagers from Maulpi said.

A villager from Dizang village in Tonzang Township was also assaulted by
Manipuri rebels in September.

"We are concerned about the deteriorating situation in the Manipuri rebel
inhabited villages in Tongzang," added Min Thang.

In June, Manipuri armed groups financed Kyat 300,000 per household to
villagers in Phaisat village in Tonzang and then the rebels forcibly asked
the villagers to evacuate.

"Now, the village (Phaisat) is nearly deserted," Min Thang added.

There were around 40 households comprising 100 people in Phaisat village.

According to villagers, the northeast Indian rebels have cultivated around
400 acres of poppy in the forest of Cikha town and Tonzang Township.

____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

October 24, Mizzima News
Trade with China rising sharply

Burmese Prime Minister General Thein Sein has said trade with China has
risen by sixty percent over the last three years, despite a campaign of
stringent trade sanctions against the Southeast Asian country led by the
United States.

For the 2007/2008 financial year, trade between China and Burma amounted
to 2.4 billion dollars, accounting for almost 25 percent of Burma's total
foreign trade. In 2005/2006, trade between China and Burma came to only
1.5 billion dollars.

Major Chinese investment is in the oil and gas, electricity, industrial
and mining sectors.

Thein Sein, speaking at the China-ASEAN Economic and Investment Meeting
held in Nanning, China, on the 22nd of this month, further said that
Chinese investment in Burma accounts for the fourth largest sum of
investment in the country.

In the aftermath of the Burmese junta's brutal crackdown on monk-led
protests against government policies in September of last year, in which
at least 31 people were killed, Washington and the European Union each
renewed wide ranging sanctions against Burma.

ASEAN countries, as a whole, are the biggest investors in Burma.

____________________________________
DRUGS

October 24, Narinjara
Four drug dealers nabbed with Yaba in Arakan

Two men and two women were arrested for being in possession of drugs in
Maungdaw by joint security forces in a raid on Wednesday, said a police
officer from Maungdaw on condition of anonymity.

"We caught them red-handed with 2,000 Yaba tablets. They were dealing in
the tablets among themselves," he said.

Acting on a tip-off, the joint security forces raided a house in Ward
Number 3 in Maungdaw at 2 pm on October 22. They arrested the four for
dealing in drugs, but the main dealer evaded arrest because he reportedly
received early information about the raid.

A town elder said, "Yes, the police arrested four drug dealers in our
town, but the main drug dealer escaped arrest because he got information
before the raid as he is a very close associate of police officers from
the Maungdaw central police station."

The security forces are currently searching for the main drug dealer but
have made no arrests so far.

The town of Maungdaw is a hotspot in western Burma for trafficking drugs
into Bangladesh, and many people in the area are involved in the lucrative
border trade.

According to a local source, Burmese-made Yaba has been increasingly
trafficked to Bangladesh after Thailand cracked down on Yaba trafficking
in the country a few years back.

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

October 24, Agence France Presse
US presses Myanmar to free Aung San Suu Kyi

The United States on Thursday marked the 13th anniversary of Aung San Suu
Kyi's house arrest by renewing its call for Myanmar's military rulers to
swiftly release the pro-democracy leader.

"As of October 24, Aung San Suu Kyi has spent a total of 13 years under
house arrest," State Department spokesman Robert Wood said in a statement.

"Over the many years, Aung San Suu Kyi has endured unlawful detention, she
has remained a steady beacon of hope and inspiration to those seeking a
peaceful, democratic Burma," he said.

"We again call upon the Burmese regime to immediately and unconditionally
release her and the more than 2,000 political prisoners it holds."

Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, 63, has been confined to her
home for 13 of the past 19 years. Her National League for Democracy swept
elections in 1990, but was never allowed by the military to take power.

Recalling that Friday is also the anniversary of the coming into force of
the United Nations charter in 1945, Wood reiterated US support for UN
efforts to obtain the release of political prisoners in Myanmar and
encourage its shift to democracy.

"Releasing Aung San Suu Kyi would be a first step toward Burma's
reintegration into the world community," he said.

"We further join the United Nations and the rest of the international
community in calling upon the regime to engage credibly in an inclusive,
time-bound dialogue with Aung San Suu Kyi and other democratic and ethnic
minority leaders to bring about a genuine democratic transition."

Myanmar -- whose former name Burma is still used by the United States and
other Western nations -- has been ruled by successive military juntas
since 1962, 14 years after its independence from British colonial rule.

____________________________________

October 24, Voice of America
Amnesty says EU should address Burma's human rights record

Amnesty International is urging the European Union to raise concerns about
Burma's human rights situation during the Europe-Asia summit in Beijing
this week.

The London-based rights group says it has sent a letter to the EU's French
presidency underlining the importance of the rare opportunity to engage in
direct dialogue with Burmese authorities.

A group of forced porters carrying goods for Burmese soldiers pass through
a village in Karen state, Burma (undated photo released by Free Burma
Rangers)
Amnesty International says the EU should raise concerns about Burma's
approximately 2,100 political prisoners, as well as the military offensive
against ethnic Karen civilians in eastern Burma.

Leaders from Burma and at least 40 other European and Asian nations will
attend the summit in Beijing Friday and Saturday.

Burma's military leaders tolerate little dissent and have kept the popular
opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi under house arrest for 13 of the past
19 years.

The government says it is implementing democratic reforms, but critics
argue recent changes to the constitution tighten the military's grip on
power.

Australia expanded its sanctions against Burma's military government this
week to protest what it says is the country's lack of democratic progress.

____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

October 24, Irrawaddy
‘Humanitarian space’ still on the agenda – Editorial

The Brussels-based International Crisis Group (ICG) called this week on
the international community to build on relations with Burma’s military
regime in the wake of coordinated efforts made following the Cyclone
Nargis disaster.

"The massive devastation caused by cyclone Nargis has prompted a period of
unprecedented cooperation between the government and international
humanitarian agencies to deliver emergency aid to the survivors," the ICG
said in a report titled ‘Burma/Myanmar after Nargis: Time to Normalise Aid
Relations.’ The report urged the international community to "seize this
opportunity to reverse longstanding, counterproductive aid policies."

In the meantime, with the support of regime apologists and business
circles, some so-called experts have naively come to believe that a
“space” would be opened up following the 2010 election and the enactment
of provisions of the constitution.

It’s still far from clear, however, whether these expectations can be met.

Instead, because of the junta’s mishandling and mismanagement, there is
little hope of a dramatic increase in the amount of aid. UN and NGO
assistance, for instance, will run out at the end of April 2009.

Burma's political stakeholders, including UN Secretary-General Ban
Ki-moon, believe that the release of detained democracy leader Aung San
Suu Kyi and other political prisoners is the key to an improved,
all-inclusive, substantive and time-bound dialogue as a turning point in
the country's political development. “There is no alternative to dialogue
to ensure that all stakeholders can contribute to the future of their
country,” Ban said.

It should be noted that junta leader Snr-Gen Than Shwe announced a
referendum on a new constitution and plans for a general election in 2010
after coming under international and regional pressure because of the
regime’s brutal crackdown on last September’s demonstrations.

The "humanitarian space"—or what the ICG calls "unprecedented cooperation"
between the Burmese junta and the international community—opened up in the
Irrawaddy delta because of international and exiled Burmese media pressure
on international governments and the UN to act to save the victims of
Cyclone Nargis.

In the absence of any significant achievement, the ICG called for more
comprehensive engagement with the Burmese regime rather than pressure and
sanctions. It furthermore called on Western governments to "lift political
restrictions on aid."

The Burmese people are pawns in the hands of the junta led by Than Shwe.
Burma is a closed society strictly controlled by the military authorities,
and the balance of power is still heavily weighted in favor of the army.
There also is still a lack of willpower within the military towards
political and economic reform.

So aid sent directly to the Burmese junta must be subject to transparency
and accountability. If this is not assured it would be a big insult to
those Burmese who have sacrificed their entire lives for the betterment of
their homeland.

____________________________________

October 24, Mizzima News
Burma's democratic opposition faces trying times

Accelerated by the current global financial crisis and with potentially
grave repercussions for Burma's democratic opposition, the world may be
witnessing a relative weakening in liberal-democratic values as political
power shifts from North America and Europe to Asia, speculates one Burmese
expert.

Writing for the forthcoming November edition of The World Today, Ashley
South suggests that the post-Cold War surge behind a Western doctrine of
universal human rights and justice, already threatened, could be in
terminal decline as the impact of the global financial crisis continues to
take its toll.

What this means in the end, argues South, "is not to deny the legitimacy
of liberal-democratic values, but to recognise their historical
contingency, and therefore limited universal applicability, and declining
political capital."

For Burma, in particular, such realignment in the international theater
could have a drastic impact on the options available to Burma's democratic
opposition, not to mention chances for success.

"Shifts in the global balance of power have reduced the power and
willingness of western actors to promote values of liberalism and
democracy, and to intervene in conflict-affected countries, such as
Burma," warns South.

"Opposition networks in countries such as Zimbabwe and Burma are likely to
have to rely less on the patronage of western supporters. These movements
include many who struggle – often with great heroism – for democracy and
justice," continues the long-time Burma hand.

As humanitarian and political intervention grounded in a rights-based
theory is increasingly put to the test, Asian countries, typically not
drawn to rights-based approaches, will see their position strengthened.

Elaborating on the theme, South continues, "any decline in the west, and
associated weakening of the liberal-democratic view, will present
challenges to pro-democracy groups in conflict-affected and other
developing countries."

The weakening of liberal-democratic values in the realm of foreign policy
is said to have been on clear display in the wake of Cyclone Nargis, which
struck Burma in the first week of May this year, causing cataclysmic
destruction.

Spreading further doubt as to whether the nascent doctrine of a Right to
Protect could ever be effectively implemented, the international community
and the concept of humanitarian intervention are said to have appeared
"powerless" in the wake of the natural disaster; a perception epitomized
by the warships from the United States, Britain and France sent to the
coast of Burma, only to subsequently be withdrawn without having any
discernable impact on the decision making of Burma's generals.

"The response to Cyclone Nargis," South conjectures, "might therefore be
said to herald a new era of regionalised 'humanitarianism with Asian
values.'" And such values will undoubtedly reflect those of the much more
authoritarian governments of the region.

According to Freedom House, only two countries in all of mainland Asia can
be said to be entirely "free", Mongolia and South Korea.

Ultimately, the author encourages Burma's democratic opposition forces to
"realistically assess their positions, and re-orientate their strategies
towards morelocalised, or at least regional, centres of power and
legitimacy."

And one of the first issues that demands thorough assessment in lieu of
shifting international power paradigms is said to be the question of how
to approach the Burmese junta's proposed 2010 general election.

____________________________________

October 24, The Guardian (UK)
Out of the storm – Conor Foley

Is it time to "normalise aid relations" with Burma's notoriously closed
and paranoid military dictatorship? According to the International Crisis
Group (ICG), it might be.

In a report released this week it says: "The international community
should build on the unprecedented cooperation between the Myanmar
government and humanitarian agencies following cyclone Nargis and reverse
longstanding, counterproductive aid policies."

It goes on: "Donors should end aid restrictions, which have seen Myanmar
receiving 20 times less assistance than similar countries – and which have
weakened, not strengthened, the forces for change."

The initial response of the Burmese government to the cyclone, which hit
last May, killing more 100,000, shocked the world. International agencies
and local donors were stopped from delivering aid, putting the lives and
welfare of 100,000s of people in jeopardy. France's foreign minister,
Bernard Kouchner, invoked the "responsibility to protect" doctrine at the
UN, threatening to deliver aid forcibly if necessary. French and US
warships moved to the area. Britain's foreign secretary, David Miliband,
spoke of sending HMS Westminster and hinted at military action.
Journalists such as Nick Cohen salivated at the thought of another
"humanitarian war".

In fact these theatrical gestures were of little practical help for those
involved in the relief effort and, as Oxfam's Barbara Stocking pointed out
at the time, the call for military action was basically a distraction from
the real task of getting the government's permission to allow aid workers
into the country.

Burma's immediate neighbours, working through the Association of South
East Asian Nations (ASEAN), gave the lead both in coordinating the
international aid effort and in persuading the Junta to drop its
restrictions. Visas and travel permits today are easier and faster to get
than before. By late July, John Holmes, the UN emergency relief
coordinator declared, "This is now a normal international relief
operation".

The ICG's latest report argues that the recent post-cyclone cooperation
has proved it is possible to work with the military regime on humanitarian
issues and to deliver assistance in an "effective and accountable way".
John Virgoe, its south-east Asia project director, says: "Political reform
remains vital but withholding aid has done nothing to promote this. Aid is
valuable in its own right for alleviating suffering, as well as a
potential means of opening up a closed country, improving governance and
empowering people to take control of their own lives."

The ICG is not calling for an end to sanctions against Burma, imposed
since the military government cancelled the elections of 1990 and
imprisoned the democracy campaigner Aung San Suu Kyi, but it is arguing
for an easing of Burma's international isolation. In doing so, it is
advocating a significant rethink by pro-democracy campaigners. The Burma
Campaign, for example, calls on people to "increase economic pressure on
the regime by discouraging investment and tourism." The Lonely Planet
travel guide has been the target of protests because it says people should
make up their own minds about whether or not to go there.

I do not know whether the time has come to end the tourism boycott – and,
although I am generally sceptical about boycotts, I would be prepared to
be guided by those more directly working in the country. However, when I
met with a group of Burmese democracy activists on the Burma-Thai border a
couple of years ago, I sensed that they were considering a change of
tactics and that "positive engagement" by the international community
might give them more space within which to work.

However, the ICG report has a wider political significance in that this
was the organisation that was responsible for developing the concept of
the "responsibility to protect", which Kouchner and Miliband cited in
justification of their bellicose rhetoric. Even the ICG has now noticed
such sweeping declarations of political principle may make good slogans,
but they are not proving much practical use in actually helping people on
the ground.