BurmaNet News, March 13, 2009

[Editor]

March 13, 2009, Issue #3671

QUOTE OF THE DAY
“Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been kept under house arrest in Burma for most
of the past two decades
 continues to be a beacon of hope and strength to
people around the world. ”
- Hillary Clinton, US Secretary of State

INSIDE BURMA
Mizzima News: Major parties not to contest polls unless constitution is
revised
Irrawaddy: Political prisoners doubled in two years, say activists
Irrawaddy: Monk’s family members sentenced in reprisal
IMNA: Security tightened across Mon S`tate after students protest in Moulmein

ON THE BORDER
Kachin News: Border jade traders opt for drug trade in Burma

BUSINESS / TRADE
AFP: Norway hit for Dongfeng over Burma arms sale

REGIONAL
AsiaNews.it: Burmese people sacrificed on the altar of economic interests,
says Indian priest

INTERNATIONAL
Mizzima News: Clinton hails Aung San Suu Kyi as “Beacon of Hope”
Mizzima News: RSF lists Burma among 12 “Internet Enemies”

OPINION / OTHER
Irrawaddy: The military mind-set – Saw Tun




____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

March 13, Mizzima News
Major parties not to contest polls unless constitution is revised – Nem
Davies

The leader of the 'Committee Representing People's Parliament' (CRPP) Aye
Thar Aung has declared that they will not contest the 2010 general
elections in Burma unless the constitution is amended.

In the course of its regular meeting held yesterday, CRPP Chairman Aye
Thar Aung said that the constitution must be reviewed and amended.

"Since this constitution does not have democratic principles and does not
guarantee the right of ethnic people, the constitution must be reviewed
and amended. Only after that, we will consider contesting the 2010 general
elections," he said.

But the junta had said that they were implementing their 7-step roadmap in
accordance with the democratic principles and the constitution has been
approved by 92 per cent of the voters who turned out in the 2008
constitutional referendum. However, independent observers were not allowed
to monitor the referendum and there were widespread reports of rampant
vote rigging and irregularities in the referendum.

The opposition political parties see the constitution as deliberately
designed for the legitimacy and supremacy of the military in Burmese
politics.

“The main point that needs to be amended is lack of democratic
fundamentals especially the No. 6 point in the basic principles which says
'enabling the Defence Services to be able to participate in the National
political leadership role of the State'. Many points under this principle
must be amended," he added.

All the member political parties in the CRPP namely the main opposition
party the National League for Democracy, Shan Nationalities League for
Democracy (SNLD), Arakan League for Democracy (ALD), Zomi National
Congress (ZNC) and Mon National League for Democracy agreed not to contest
 the 2010 general election unless the constitution is amended.

"We must engage in dialogue for this purpose. The ethnic nationalities,
NLD and SPDC (junta) must review the constitution and make necessary
modifications and insertions in it," Aye Thar Aung said.
____________________________________

March 13, Irrawaddy
Political prisoners doubled in two years, say activists – Wai Moe

The number of political prisoners in Burma has almost doubled since July
2007, according to activists who launched a campaign on Friday to press
for their release.

Before the start of demonstrations in August 2007, it was estimated that
Burmese jails held 1,100 political prisoners. Today the number stands at
2,100, said Khin Ohmar, a leading Burmese activist at the launch of the
campaign “Free Burma’s Political Prisoners Now!” (www.fbppn.net) in Chiang
Mai, northern Thailand.

“Unless political prisoners are released, there is no peace and stability
in the country,” she said.

The “Free Burma’s Political Prisoners Now!” campaign is organized by the
Thailand-based Burmese Assistance Association for Political
Prisoners-Burma (AAPP) and the Forum for Democracy in Burma (FDB), an
umbrella dissident group of seven organizations in exile.

Khin Ohmar, of the FDB, was banned from attending the Asean summit in
Thailand last month, along with a Cambodian activist.

The current campaign aims to collect a symbolic 888,888 signatures on a
petition for the release of Burma’s political prisoners. The petition will
be circulated in Thailand,  Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, India,
Indonesia, Japan, the Philippines, South Korea, and the United Kingdom.

In Thailand, the launch was held at the Foreign Correspondents Club in
Bangkok and Chiang Mai University’s International Center.

Friday was chosen for the launch because March 13 was proclaimed Burma’s
Human Rights Day by pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other
leading dissidents to mark the anniversary of the deaths of activists
Phone Maw and Soe Naing in clashes with police in 1988.

The petition calling for the release of political prisoners will be
circulated until May 24, the day that Suu Kyi should be released from her
current term of house arrest under Burmese law.  It will be sent to UN
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon,

The UN General Assembly has been urging the release of Burma’s political
prisoners for more than a decade.

AAPP Secretary Tate Naing said at Friday’s launch that the 2010 election
would be meaningless if political prisoners were still behind bars on
polling day.

“The release of political prisoners is number 1 priority for national
reconciliation and democratization in the country,” he said.

____________________________________

March 13, Irrawaddy
Monk’s family members sentenced in reprisal – Min Lwin

Six family members of Ashin Gambira, a well-know organizer in the 2007
monk-led pro-democracy uprising, were each sentenced to five years
imprisonment on Thursday in the North Dagon Myothit court, according to
family members.

Khin Thu Htay, a sister of Ashin Gambira, told The Irrawaddy on Friday
that Aung Ko Ko Lwin, 27, a brother of Ashin Gambira, and five family
members were charged under Immigration Act 13/1.

Aung Ko Ko Lwin; Moe Htet Hlym, Gambira’s brother-in-law; and four
cousins, Kyaw Myo Seck, Hlaing Myo, Soe Lwin and Ye Nyunt, all received
prison terms.

“They didn’t do any anti-military or anti-government activities, and they
don’t know politics,” said Khin Thu Htay, whose husband was among the
group.

Her husband, Moe Htet Hlym, was arrested on September 9, 2008, after he
launched balloons in Rangoon to mark the one-year anniversary of the
September uprising.

Khin Thu Htay said the military government made the charges in reprisal
for Ashin Gambira’s activities.

Ashin Gambira organized monks across the country to boycott alms offered
by security forces that brutally suppressed peaceful demonstrations on
September 5, 2007, in Pakokkuk Township.

Ashin Gambira was arrested along with his father by military intelligence
officers while hiding in Sintgyaing Township and subsequently disrobed by
authorities without consultation with the Sangha institution.

He was sentenced to 68 years imprisonment in November 2008 by the Insein
Prison special court under charges generally having to do with threatening
the stability of the state. Ashin Gambira is now in Hkamti Prison in
Sagaing Division.
____________________________________

March 13, Independent Mon News Agency
Security tightened across Mon S`tate after students protest in Moulmein -
Jaloon Htaw and Asah

Security has been tightened across Mon State following last Friday’s
protests by students over lack of electricity in Moulmein, the state’s
capital. Guards have been posted in public places and outside high schools
during their annual examinations, while drivers and occupants at student
hostels in the capital are being checked.

Security forces have been posted outside high schools in townships up and
down Mon State, say local residents, and roads in front of the schools are
being closed. Exams for 10th grade students wishing to complete their
grade began being held on March 11th, and will continue for a total of 6
days.

“Police, Special Branch officers, firemen and traffic police are standing
guard for security. Last year during exams it was not like this,” a hostel
owner in Moulmein told IMNA.

“The Burmese government is worried that the students’ [protests] will
become something,” said a resident of Mudon Township. “That’s why they
closed the road. There are about 10 police men at each school. If someone
wants to use the road, they have to go another way.” Groups of 7 to 8
guards have also been confirmed elsewhere in Mon State, including in
Chaung Zone, Thanbyuzayat and Ye Townships.

University and 10th grade students protested outside government offices
last Friday, throwing stones and demanding electricity. The city had been
without electricity for at least three days, complicating students’
efforts to study for their exams. University exams will begin next week.

Elsewhere in Moulmein, security forces have been posted in public places
and in the area around Moulmein University. Police, Special Branch and
traffic police have also been checking every quarter from 7pm and 9pm,
including stopping drivers and searching inside motorcycles.

Quarter headmen have also collected lists of occupants at student hostels,
where the majority of university students reside. According to a
university student, students’ names, details and photographs were
collected in December. Lists of current hostel occupants are being checked
against this information to discover whether the university area has
outside visitors.

IMNA has not received any reports of arrests or interrogations. Rumors in
Moulmein, however, say that authorities are waiting to make arrests until
after exams. Rumors that parents, meanwhile, appear to believe. “Parents
are worried the police will make problems for students who protested last
week,” said a Moulmein resident. “They are now waiting for their children
outside the schools.”

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

March 13, Kachin News
Border jade traders opt for drug trade in Burma

In a role reversal, an increasing number of jade traders in northern
Burma, who relied on jade markets on the Sino-Burma border, are turning to
illicit drug trade, said local sources.

This is especially true for smaller jade businessmen, traders and brokers
who sell jade in markets in China’s southwest Yunnan province, bordering
Burma. They are switching from their business of jade and turning to
illicit drug trade, said sources close to them.

The main reason for this switchover is that the Chinese border jade
markets have collapsed and only a few Chinese businessmen buy jade from
them. And they offer prices which are much lower than last year, said
Burmese jade traders in Ruili.

A resident of Ruili or Shweli, China’s largest border trade town said,
small jade businessmen from Burma in Ruili are now more into working as
carriers of Yama, or Amphetamine tablets from Ruili to Hpakant jade mining
city in Burma’s northern Kachin State.

On the China side of Ruili and Burma side of Muse border trade towns, the
price for a tablet of Amphetamine is 800 Kyat but it is 3,000 Kyat (US $
3) per tablet in Hpakant jade mining fields, according to jade traders in
Ruili.

The Hpakant jade mining fields happen to be the largest consumer market
for Yama, heroin, formula, opium and myriad other illicit drugs in Burma
and it is also the most favourable markets for illicit drug producers and
distributors, said sources close to jade traders now into drugs.

A businessman on Laiza on the China-Burma border told KNG today, “I agree
that the border jade sales in China markets has dropped drastically
because of the US ban on import of jade from Burma since 2008.  Before the
US ban on Burmese jade, most jade buyers were drug businessmen because
they bought jade for laundering their money from drugs.”

On the other hand, the junta’s Northern Command commander Brig-Gen Soe Win
earns a huge amount of personal income from drug gangs, said sources close
to him.

____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

March 13, Agence France Presse
Norway hit for Dongfeng over Burma arms sale

Norway's state pension fund, one of the world's biggest investors, has
pulled out of Dongfeng Motor over its sale of military equipment to the
Burmese junta, the finance ministry said on.

German engineering giant Siemens, which has been implicated in several
corruption scandals, had also been placed ''under observation'' due to
ethical concerns, Finance Minister Kristin Halvorsen said.

The fund has sold off its 30 million kroner (HK$33.97 million) stake in
Dongfeng over its sale of some 900 military trucks to Burma.

That move came after Norway in October said the fund would no longer
invest in companies that send military equipment to the country's military
junta.

Dongfeng is thus the first company to be blacklisted by the fund over the
new rule and is also the first mainland company to be ruled out as an
investment target.

____________________________________
REGIONAL

March 13, AsiaNews.it (Italy)
Burmese people sacrificed on the altar of economic interests, says Indian
priest – Nirmala Carvalho

Clergyman slams the “silence” of the international community, including
India, and their tendency to dismiss human rights as an “internal affair”
and do business with the dictatorship. In Myanmar today is Human Rights
Day, but democracy “will be reached only on the long run.”

The silence of the international community with regards to the tragedy
unfolding every day in Myanmar is “shameful”. Even India is interested
only in “economic and commercial opportunities” and is doing nothing about
“human rights”, dismissing the whole thing as “an internal matter” with
the result that the military dictatorship is “enjoying all the privileges”
whilst the population “continues to suffer”, this according to Father A
Cyril, a Jesuit priest from Madurai, southern India, who was born in
Myanmar and spent there the first ten years of his life.

The clergyman’s outcry coincides with Human Rights Day in the former
Burma. For the occasion activists have launched a campaign to free Aung
San Suu Kyi and the other 2,100 political prisoners held in the country’s
prisons.

For Father Cyril the campaign is “good sign” and can be used to “reawaken
the conscience of the international community”, but it “will not have any
effect in Myanmar where the government will continue to play big brother.
Anyone who puts his or her name to the signature campaign is in danger of
arrest, torture and persecution.”

“In Myanmar the violation of human rights is total. The military junta
does not provide a decent education and does not create job opportunities
for people. There is no freedom; even religious freedom is heavily
restricted. There is no freedom of movement and people are under
surveillance, jailed if suspected of anti-government activities, and
tortured in the most inhuman ways.”

“Real social and economic development” is an impossibility for the
clergyman because the junta is not interested in “truly democratic
reform.”

Father Cyril, who visited Myanmar after cyclone Nargis, spent four months
in the country working in direct contact with displaced people.

The most extensive damages caused by the tropical cyclone that hit the
southern part of the county on 2 May 2008 were in the area of the
Irrawaddy Delta. Even now, ten months after the tragedy, the situation
there remains critical.

Nargis killed about 140,000 people but affected about 2.4 million Burmese
who are still waiting for assistance.

The Jesuit clergyman is upset that the military dictatorship has created
“obstacles” to help and shown “unwillingness to accept foreign aid.”

“We tried to help people who lost everything in the cyclone. We tried to
give them food, aid, a home, but the government prevented us. But people
are still willing to fight to free themselves from an oppressive tyranny.”

The priest is concerned about the “future of the country and its
liberation” because if there is democracy “the nation can grow.” Its soil
is rich in mineral resources like gold and oil; its forests have precious
wood; the land is fertile. But “capable and talented” people cannot
express themselves because they have to “struggle to survive”, living “in
terror” under the constant threat of “guns and rifles” with many killed.

“People are scared,” said Father Cyril, “but there are still some who are
fighting for democracy and freedom. It is a journey that will take a long
time and will be reached only on the long run. But Myanmar and its people
have all it takes to emerge.”

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

March 13, Mizzima News
Clinton hails Aung San Suu Kyi as “Beacon of Hope” – Mungpi

US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, on Thursday called Burma’s
imprisoned Nobel Peace Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, a “Beacon of Hope”, for
people around the world.

During her speech, at the State Department on the occasion of Women’s
History Month on Thursday, Clinton encouraged women globally to draw
inspiration from courageous women, including Burmese pro-democracy icon
Aung San Suu Kyi.

“Aung San Suu Kyi, whom I mentioned yesterday and I mention as often as I
can, because having been in prison now for most of the past two decades,
she still remains a beacon of hope, strength and liberty for people around
the world,” Clinton said.

In her remarks on Wednesday, during International Women’s Day
celebrations, Clinton also expressed solidarity with Aung San Suu Kyi and
other Burmese women, who are prisoners of conscience.

Clinton said that she expressed her solidarity with  “
especially Aung San
Suu Kyi, who has been kept under house arrest in Burma, for most of the
past two decades, but continues to be a beacon of hope and strength to
people around the world.”

“Her [Aung San Suu Kyi] example has been especially important to other
women in Burma, who have been imprisoned for their political beliefs,
driven into exile, or subjected to sexual violence by the military,”
Clinton added.

Clinton, as much as successive US governments, has time and again called
on Burma’s military junta to release political prisoners, including Aung
San Suu Kyi, and kick-start an all inclusive and meaningful political
dialogue.

The United States has also called on the junta to improve human rights
conditions in the country, and as punishment for the junta’s failure has
imposed strict economic sanctions on Burma.

Meanwhile, with critics pointing out the ineffectiveness of sanctions to
induce desired behavioural change in the Burmese Junta, Clinton, during
her first trip to Asia, since she took office in January, hinted that the
US was reviewing its policy.

Burma’s ruling junta, who are poised with plans for a general election
slated for 2010, said it was steadily implementing a seven-step roadmap to
democracy.

Aung San Suu Kyi, whose National League for Democracy party won a
landslide victory in the 1990 general elections, has so far made no
comment on their participation in the upcoming general elections, which is
the fifth step of the junta roadmap.

In the past, Aung San Suu Kyi and the NLD have time and again called for a
dialogue with the government.

____________________________________

March 13, Mizzima News
RSF lists Burma among 12 “Internet Enemies” – Mungpi

Paris-based media watchdog, Reporters Without Border (RSF), has listed
military-ruled Burma among 12 countries, which it has called “Internet
Enemies” for censoring online freedom of expression.

In a report published on Thursday, entitled “Enemies of the Internet”, the
RSF identified 12 nations, that it said had systematically restricted the
flow of information to the people by denying them access to the internet
and banning sites that it deemed “undesirable”.

The list of such nations included, Burma, China, North Korea, Vietnam,
Egypt, Iran, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Cuba and
Tunisia.

According to the report, Burma’s military rulers have displayed their
high-handedness on the few internet users in Burma, by arresting and
sentencing at least 14 journalists and two bloggers to long prison terms.

Out of an approximate nearly 50 million people, only about 40,000, mostly
urban dwellers, have the privilege of access to the internet, the report
said.

In 1996, Burma had introduced a law on television, and video along with
the Electronic Act, which banned the import, possession and use of a
modem, without official permission. The offense was punishable with up to
15-years of imprisonment, for damaging state security, national unity,
culture, the national economy and law and order.

Burma has two government-controlled Internet Service Providers, namely the
Myanmar Post and Telecommunication (MPT) and the Bagan Cybertech, which
was later renamed as Myanmar Teleport.

Besides monitoring public cyber cafes by conducting surprise checks on
internet users and asking the café managers to keep track records of
users, the prohibitive prices of getting a connection at home, also
restricts the population from accessing the internet.

The report said, the Burmese military junta due to its fear of losing
control over the internet, had made laws relating to electronic
communications and the dissemination of news online, the most dissuasive
in the world, exposing internet-users to very harsh prison sentences.

Internet users in Burma could be simply arrested and sentenced to long
prison terms, if they were found surfing or browsing dissident websites,
international news sites, and exiled Burmese Media sites, including
Mizzima News.

Nay Phone Latt, a 28 year old, owner of two cyber cafes in Rangoon, was
arrested in January 2008, and sentenced to over 12 years of imprisonment,
under the Electronic Act for possessing a film, which the junta said was
“subversive”.

Similarly, popular comedian Zargarnar was also sentenced to 35 years under
the Electronic Act, for posting pictures and information on the impact of
Cyclone Nargis, which revealed the government’s failure to adequately
assist the victims.

The report said, “All of these countries mark themselves out not just for
their capacity to censor news and information online, but also for their
almost systematic repression of internet users.”

The report, which made a study of 22 countries, also said there were “at
least 69 people behind bars, for having expressed themselves freely
online.”

The RSF also puts 10 other countries including Australia and South Korea,
“Under Surveillance” for adopting worrying measures that could be the
beginning of abuses on internet users and imposition of censorship on
freedom of expression online.

____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

March 13, Irrawaddy
The military mind-set – Saw Tun

I would like to try to explain what I believe to be the genuine attitude
of the Burmese military government.

What is the aim of the Burmese Tamadaw [the military]? How do they think?

Until 1988, late dictator Gen Ne Win, who was the god father of the
current ruling generals, didn’t favour the communism and parliamentary
democracy. He ordered prominent political theorists to draw up a
middle-way political ideology. Finally, due to the economic decline, he
began to follow the reforms conducted by China’s paramount leader Deng
Xiaoping.

However, Ne Win gave up his political control by the nation-wide democracy
uprising, which produced the1988 student movements.

His protégé, former spy chief Gen Khin Nyunt, also stated that the enemy
of the military was the Communists and Western neo-colonialists [a phrase
usually used by Communists] who were accused of controlling the opposition
movement from behind the scenes. Until now, the generals continue to teach
army officers along similar lines.

Not like Ne Win, the current ruling generals lacked the experience of
independent struggles or Cold War politics. They are not able to stand on
a nationalistic platform and non-alliance ideology. They are not skilful
in playing political theory games.

But they have learned some effective ways to hold on to their power.


My Brother’s Lesson

“What is military training?” asked my brother, who was a military officer,
when I was young. I replied that the training taught me to be disciplined.

“No, it teaches you to immediately follow an order without thinking,” he
said. “When you hear ‘Attention,’ you follow the order at once, don’t you?
When you hear, ‘At ease,’ you follow it without thinking, don’t you?’”

The training and lectures eventually gives all soldiers a military
mindset, which is comprised of the following characteristics:

-We work harder than others for the sake of the country.
-We sacrifice our lives to work for the sake of the country.
-Our comrades are injured or killed by our enemies.
-The enemies who injure or killed us are supported by a part of the
population.
-We must follow orders, live under the discipline of the army at all the
time.
-We are soldiers serving the country 24-hours a day.

In a soldier’s view, thus, ordinary people and civil servants live more
easy-going lives. They are undisciplined and have many leisure hours. They
do business to become rich.

The result is that soldiers believe they have the sole right to hold state
power due to their hard work and sacrifices. These basic opinions are what
hinder the relationship between the people and the military, the military
and opposition groups and also warp the military view of the international
community, which is constantly telling them to give up their hold on
power.

Military officers were surprised when I, a scholar, travelled with them
through the forests and mountains. They didn’t think anyone except a
soldier could do such hard work.

When the army cracks down on peaceful demonstrators, they viewed them as
lazy opportunists who are asking for rights without working hard.

The army, in a way, blames the people for failing to develop the country.
Although the army as a whole works hard, the people and civil servants
don’t work hard. Foreigners work and think smarter than lazy Burmese
people, and these are the reasons developed countries are ahead of Burma.

However, when ordinary people go abroad to seek job opportunity, they see
foreigners as human beings like them. They work industriously because they
receive advantages from their work. They are disciplined because reap
advantages from performing well. They know exactly the things that Burma
could not move forward because of the army’s heavy handed control.


The Influence of Communist Thought Patterns

After removal of Ne Win from politics, the military generals didn’t have
anyone to give them effective policy guidance that could have gone about
reshaping the country.

Khin Nyunt, who was more broad-minded than others, formed the
American-style Institute of Strategic and International Studies, and
selected young military officers for the intelligence units and trained
them in international politics.

Using various underground political strategies, Khin Nyunt approached the
United States, the European Union and Japan. He drew up the junta’s
political road map, the Naypyidaw plan, and the policies propagated in the
National Defence College.

Although the generals never believed in communism and socialism, they
studied the tactics and methods of these ideologies, which are premised on
hostility to politicians and negativism toward multi-party and federal
systems.

Clearly, the generals followed the dictum of Mao Tse Tung: “Crack down on
the extreme minority, leave the educated to live in illusion, and label
the majority of ordinary people as supporters.”

Today the generals are trying to divide Asean and educated Burmese people
from the opposition groups. Speaking in Communist terms, they see Asean
and the educated class as walking in illusion.

The army believes students and the educated class get into politics
because of their misconceptions. At first, they aimed at strictly
controlling the student movement itself, but later in 2007, they labelled
most students as part of the extreme group.

Because of their highly indoctrinated, military mind-set, military leaders
are cut-off and isolated from the people. They truly have no understanding
of the people’s plight.

Military officers do not associate with the general population even if
they are appointed to civilian positions, because they are trained not to
be too close to the people. Military officers who understand the life of
the people are dismissed from their positions.

Military leaders who are retired from the army are isolated. Many
incumbent military leaders are desperately afraid of being retired,
because they know no other way of life—or thought.

The author is a Rangoon-based observer of politics and military affairs in
Burma.