BurmaNet News, April 4-6, 2009

[Editor]

April 4-6, 2009, Issue #3685


INSIDE BURMA
AP: Myanmar announces peace deal with Karen rebels
AP: Foreign media spread lies
Khonumthung News: Government employees face salary cut for water festival

ON THE BORDER
Narinjara: Six Burmese citizens pushed back from Bangladesh

BUSINESS / TRADE
Jakarta Globe: Local firms hesitant toward Burmese bid to attract
investment in plantations

HEALTH / AIDS
Mizzima News: Beverages in Burma under inspection for containing banned
chemical dye
Xinhua: Myanmar to take nationwide census on TB patients

INTERNATIONAL
DVB: UN appeals for more Nargis aid as monsoon looms
AFP: Suu Kyi's US backers plead to keep sanctions
AFP: US should aim to lift Myanmar sanctions: senator

OPINION / OTHER
The National (UAE): Election or image-laundering exercise? – Larry Jagan

STATEMENT
The 88 Generation Students: Statement 3/2009 (88) Open Letter to the SPDC
Government
12th Strategic Consultation Meeting (SCM) of Burma's Democratic and Ethnic
Forces: Vows to oppose the 2010 election collectively



____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

April 6, Associated Press
Myanmar announces peace deal with Karen rebels

Myanmar on Sunday confirmed that it had made peace with a splinter group
of Karen rebels.

Government spokesman Ye Htut told The Associated Press in an e-mail
statement that Saw Nay Soe Mya, the son of a late Karen leader, his 71
followers and 88 of their family members turned themselves in to
authorities in Htokawko village on Monday. They will be allowed to keep
their weapons, he said. Nay Soe Mya could not be reached, and it was
impossible to independently verify the report.

Even if true, the latest peace deal is unlikely to end fighting between
Karen rebels and the government since his group represents such a small
number of fighters. The Karen National Union has been fighting for half a
century for greater autonomy from Myanmar’s central government. It is the
largest ethnic rebel group and the only major one which has yet to sign a
cease-fire with the junta.

The United Nations and human rights groups say that over the years the
military has burned villages, killed civilians and committed other
atrocities against the Karen and other ethnic minorities. The Myanma Ahlin
daily newspaper on Saturday said Nay Soe Mya returned to the legal fold
“as he has confidence in the government’s roadmap and understood the
genuine goodwill of the people and the military,” referring to the junta’s
plans to hold elections next year.

Cease-fire talks broke down between the KNU and the government 2004, and
the Myanmar army launched a major offensive in eastern Karen state in
2005. It has also successfully enticed elements of the KNU to the
bargaining table as part of a campaign to split up the group. In 2007, the
government announced that a splinter group led by Brig. Gen. Htein Maung
had agreed to a peace deal. Maung was reportedly on hand Monday when Nay
Soe Mya and his followers arrived at Htokawko. A KNU spokesman could not
be reached for comment.

____________________________________

April 5, Associated Press
Foreign media spread lies

A SENIOR figure in Myanmar's military regime has accused foreign media of
spreading lies to undermine national unity, a state-controlled newspaper
said on Sunday.
Adjutant Gen. Thura Myint Aung said powerful countries use their media to
'disseminate fabricated news reports,' the Myanmar Ahlin Daily newspaper
reported.

'Some countries ... are using the media as a weapon to weaken unity, to
disrupt stability and to deceive the international community,' it quoted
Myint Aung as saying in a speech Saturday marking the 14th anniversary of
state-run Myawaddy Television.

He stressed the need for state media to counter foreign reports and urged
the staff of Myawaddy to be 'loyal to the country.' He did not single out
any country or media outlet in his criticism.

Myanmar, also known as Burma, tolerates little dissent, and all major
media are controlled by the state.

Some citizens therefore depend on radio broadcasts from abroad to get much
of their news. Although listening to foreign stations is not illegal, it's
frowned upon by the regime as a defiant gesture.

Last year, the government accused foreign media of distortions in their
coverage of Cyclone Nargis, which struck Myanmar on May 2-3 and left
nearly 140,000 people dead or missing.

Myanmar has been under military rule since 1962. The current junta -
formally known as the State Peace and Development Council - seized power
in 1988. It called elections in 1990, but when opposition leader Aung San
Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party won by a landslide, the
military refused to hand over power.

Suu Kyi has spent 13 of the last 19 years under house arrest.

____________________________________

April 5, Khonumthung News
Government employees face salary cut for water festival

The Township Peace and Development Council of Falam Township, Chin state
has cut salaries of government employees as contribution for the Burmese
traditional festival ‘Thingyan’ also known as the water festival held from
April 13 to 16 April every year.

“We are not all Buddhists. It’s not fair for the authorities to deduct
from our salaries for the festival without consulting us. On the other
hand, we celebrate Christian festivals but there are no donations for us.
The authorities never request government employees to donate from their
salaries as is being done for the water festival,” said a government
employee in Falam Township.

Government employees in Falam Township have to donate from their salaries
for the water festival every year.

There are more than 30 government departments in Falam Township with
around 1,000 employees.

The Burmese traditional festival (Thingyan) is celebrated without any
permission from the authorities. But when Chin people want to celebrate
traditional and religious festivals they need to take permission from
local authorities.

Chin people have to pay up to Kyat 10,000 to authorities as bribe to
celebrate their Chin Christian and traditional festivals. Sometimes they
have had to cancel their arrangements when the authorities refuse to give
permission.

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

April 4, Narinjara
Six Burmese citizens pushed back from Bangladesh

Bangladesh Rifles, the Bangladesh border security force, pushed six
Burmese citizens back across the border to Burma at the Teknaf border
point soon after arresting them with smuggled goods aboard two engine
boats, said one official.

He said, "The Bangladesh officials pushed them back to the Burmese side
after seizing their boats and goods."

The Burmese citizens were identified as Ali Ahmed, 30 years old, Nobi
Hossain, aged 34, Nurul Hossain, aged 38, Shaw fiq Ahmad, aged 35, Ino
Uddin, aged 37, and Shaha Uddin.

They were arrested as they were preparing to smuggle Bangladesh goods,
including fuel and cooking oil, across the border to Burma.

According to sources, the seized smuggled goods are worth about 1.9
million taka. Bangladesh authorities also seized the two machine boats
they were traveling in.

It was learned that Bangladesh authorities pushed the smugglers back to
Burma because they did not wish to charge them under Bangladesh law. They
were reluctant to charge them because many Burmese citizens are unable to
return home after serving jail terms in Bangladesh due to Burmese
authorities' refusal to accept them as Burmese citizens.

____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

April 6, Jakarta Globe
Local firms hesitant toward Burmese bid to attract investment in
plantations – Arti Ekawati

Agriculture Minister Anton Apriyantono says the Burmese government has
invited Indonesian companies to invest in developing that country’s oil
palm and rubber plantations, although business players at home say they
will have to first see for themselves whether conditions in Burma are
favorable.

Commenting on his recent visits to Burma, Laos and Cambodia, Anton said on
Monday, “Myanmar has specifically asked Indonesia to invest in its
plantation sector,” referring to Burma.

“Given the fact that they have plenty of suitable land, Indonesian firms
may be interested in investing there.”

However, Anton did not mention how much land was actually involved, saying
that the proposal had been made by the Burmese government in the form of a
diplomatic request.

Derom Bangun, vice chairman of the Indonesian Palm Oil Council, or DMSI,
welcomed the offer. However, he said, there were two factors that had to
be considered by investors before establishing plantations.

The first factor would be the weather. Plantations located in Burma, Derom
said, might receive less sunlight than plantations in some parts of
Indonesia.

“The oil palm grows best in sunny areas,” Derom said. Interested
companies, therefore, would have to make sure that the weather in the
proposed areas was suitable for the development of oil palm plantations.

Another factor that would need to be taken into account, he said, was the
country’s investment climate.

“We need to consider whether the local laws allow a company to manage
extensive areas of plantations,” he said.

Derom pointed out that in Indonesia, a plantation company is allowed to
manage a maximum of two million hectares of land, and must also fulfill
requirements related to corporate social responsibility.

Besides investing in the plantations sector, the two countries have also
agreed to increase cooperation in the agricultural products trade.

Given its population and geographical location, Anton said, Burma could
become a good market for Indonesia’s agricultural products.

Burma has a population of about 56 million people and shares borders with
Thailand, China, Bangladesh and India.

Many Indonesian processed food products, as well as agricultural
machinery, are sold in Burma, the minister said. However, these are
currently imported through third countries like Malaysia, Singapore and
Thailand.

“We could avail of this opportunity to start supplying products directly
to Burma,” Anton said.

To help promote trade, the government would provide free agricultural
machinery to Burma and Cambodia this year.

“We gave 13 hand tractors to Laos during our visit, and we plan to make
similar donations to Burma and Cambodia later this year,” the minister
said.

Indonesia’s imports from Burma are mostly comprised of beans, red onions
and canned fish, while Burma imports palm oil for cooking and cigarettes
from Indonesia.

____________________________________
HEALTH / AIDS

April 6, Mizzima News
Beverages in Burma under inspection for containing banned chemical dye –
Phanida

Burmese military junta authorities have started inspecting food and soft
drinks in Burma, to check whether they are tainted with a chemical dye,
which is dangerous for health of the people.

This latest move was initiated after the authorities banned over 100
brands of pickled tea leaves for using a banned chemical dye, 'Auramine
O'. The authorities also recently, banned two alternative medicines for
the high content of lead and arsenic in the products.

"We are inspecting all products, including soft drinks, fish paste, dried
fish etc. We are inspecting soft drinks of domestic-make found in the
market. Some of them are officially permitted brands," Chairman of 'Food
and Drug Administration' (FDA), Dr. Kyaw Lin, told Mizzima.

"We have already tested samples of these soft drinks before production.
But, the market survey is more important, so we are focusing on the market
survey. We inspected all the brands, so as not to leave anything
untested," he added.

The brands of domestically produced soft drinks are Scorpion, C +, Ve Ve,
Max, Stan Crusher produced by Myanmar Golden Star (MGS), Pepsi, Sparking
and Fantasy Orange among others.

A reliable source from Scorpion Soft Drink Trading and Distribution said
that they had not yet received any notice from the department concerned,
and they were distributing their products as usual to their customers.

"Scorpion is not yet included in the list of banned products. I do not
know whether other brands are included in this list or not. So, we are
continuing our sale to the customer companies. The buyers are still buying
our products. We have not yet heard any significant news regarding it. We
must inform our company, when we hear such news as we are agents for them.
The ban order must be made public officially in newspapers," he said.

They buy these products from Pholapye Co. in wholesale and redistribute them.

The officials from the Health Department have not yet visited Pholapye Co.
and have not yet banned their products, he added.

It has been learnt that local food and drug administration committees have
been formed in each township.

The committee consists of a Township Medical Officer, a Township Health
Department Officer, and responsible persons from the municipal body,
police force, General Administration Department and Animal Husbandry and
Veterinary Department.

"These committees are in every township. They will inspect all the
products, banned by the government as unfit for consumption in Burma, and
recall these products from the shelves and destroy them in the presence of
the shop owners. They can also inform about putting these products in the
market again, depending on how much they are working," Dr. Kyaw Lin said.

It has also been learnt that no new rules and regulations have been
announced yet and these tainted products will be removed in accordance
with the existing National Food and Drug Law.

"They will know our Burma Food and Drug Administration regime in this way.
We do not need to issue any new regulations. These regulations and rules
are already in existence. We need to take action in accordance with them,
such as the National Food and Drug Law. We will continue to enforce this
law," Dr. Kyaw Lin said.

In today's edition of the state-run 'New Light of Myanmar', it has been
reported that in a forum held in Rangoon, Liver Disease specialist,
Professor Dr. Khin Maung Win, said that it had been found meat, fish and
dried shrimps were tainted with chemical dyes for preservation and to
artificially seem fresh. And also the salt found in the market was
bleached with chemicals to whiten the product, which is originally brown,
he added.

Fruits such as apples, grapes, papaya and watermelon were also dyed with
chemicals to make them colourful and attractive to the customers. These
banned chemicals, were also found in some snacks such as tea, roasted
peanuts, cakes, phaluda and plums, the paper reported citing Dr. Khin
Maung Win.

The state-run papers also explicitly announced on March 12 and March 29,
that the Ministry of Health had banned 43 pickled tea leaf brands,
including famous 'Ahyeetaung' and other 57 brands of pickled tea leaves
for being tainted with the banned chemical dye called 'Auramine O'.

'Auramine O' is the industrial chemical dye usually used in dyeing of
yarn, wool, silk, paper and hides, which may cause liver and renal
diseases, cancer and may also affect the growth of the body if it is
consumed for a long time.

____________________________________

April 6, Xinhua
Myanmar to take nationwide census on TB patients

Myanmar will take nationwide census on patients infected with tuberculosis
(TB) starting this month, sources with the Health Ministry said Sunday.

This year's TB census will be the one following that carried out in Yangon
division in 2006.

Myanmar, one of 22 countries in the world affected most with TB, cured
over 130,000 such patients in 2008, the sources said, adding that the
country achieved a 87 percent case detection rate and a 85 percent
treatment success rate during the year.

The sources disclosed that the country spent 440,000 U.S. dollars in
2007-08 fiscal year in treating TB patients.

Myanmar has been making efforts in fighting three communicable diseases of
national concern -- HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria, treating the three diseases
as priority with the main objectives of reducing the morbidity and
mortality in a bid to become no longer a public problem and meet the
Millennium Development Goals of the United Nations.

Of the three diseases, it is estimated that about 100,000 new TB patients
develop annually and about half of them are infectious cases.

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

April 6, Democratic Voice of Burma
UN appeals for more Nargis aid as monsoon looms – Francis Wade

The United Nations has urged the international community to focus
increased aid to Burma on cyclone-hit Irrawaddy delta as monsoon season
threatens the delicate recovery process in the region.

The UN issued a plea at a meeting in Rangoon on Friday, attended by 70
participants including foreign diplomats and non-governmental
organizations, for more support to cyclone-affected areas as well as other
parts of the country.

"There is an imminent need for sustainable shelter and agricultural
support ahead of the monsoon season,” said UN Resident and Humanitarian
Coordinator, Bishow Parajuli.

“The UN also addresses needs for funding to other parts of the country,
where immense humanitarian and development challenges exists," he added.

At the meeting the UK confirmed it would increase aid by US$14 million,
with 60 per cent of the total to be spent on cyclone areas.

Yet the current level of aid to the country in general is still well below
what is required, said Bishow Parajuli earlier last week on a visit to
northern Rakhine state.

"I met with a large number of people who are unemployed and have no or
very little livelihoods opportunities,” he said.

“The UN in cooperation its partners and the Government is currently
working to scale up its activities in NRS, for which increased donor
support is crucial."

In other news, Burma was named as one of 23 countries to receive part of a
US$1.3 billion European Union ‘Food Facility’ package to support
agriculture and improve food security.

Burma’s agriculture sector has been hit hard by the global economic
crisis, said an EU statement.

“Over the months ahead, we must not forget the impact that the financial
crisis and economic downturn will have on developing countries - this is
only now becoming clear and could be much worse than expected,” it said.

Other countries earmarked for the support include Philippines, Palestine,
Ethiopia, Haiti and Zimbabwe.

____________________________________

April 6, Agence France Presse
Suu Kyi's US backers plead to keep sanctions

US Congress supporters of Myanmar's democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi
pleaded to keep sanctions on the military regime as a key senator said
efforts to isolate the junta had failed.

President Barack Obama's administration is reviewing strategy on Myanmar,
also known as Burma, whose ruling junta has crushed dissent and kept Nobel
laureate Aung San Suu Kyi under house arrest for 19 years.

In a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, 17 members of Congress
said they were "greatly concerned" by indications that the United States
was considering lifting sanctions on Myanmar.

The lawmakers, led by longtime Aung San Suu Kyi champion Joseph Crowley,
said that Myanmar's leader Than Shwe had shown no desire to engage with
the world's only detained Nobel laureate.

"Than Shwe's regime continues to perpetuate crimes against humanity and
war crimes so severe that Burma has been called 'Southeast Asia's
Darfur,'" they wrote.

They noted that Congress approved a law last year subjecting the Myanmar
junta to sanctions until it releases all political prisoners and starts
dialogue on bringing in democracy.

"We urge you to join us in standing firmly alongside Aung San Suu Kyi and
Burma's democracy movement," they said.

But Jim Webb, who heads the Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee on Asia,
said the United States needed a more "constructive" policy on Myanmar.

"Certainly the way that we approach it now I don't believe has had the
results that people want it to have," Webb, a member of Obama's Democratic
Party, told a luncheon at the Council on Foreign Relations.

"What I think we should be doing in Burma is trying to open up diplomatic
avenues where you can have confidence builders... and through that process
work toward some way where you can remove sanctions," he said.

State Department official Stephen Blake last week paid the first visit by
a senior US envoy to Myanmar in more than seven years, quietly holding
talks both with the junta and the opposition.

The State Department played down the significance of the meeting,
stressing that the Obama team was still reviewing policy on Myanmar.

Deputy Secretary of State Jim Steinberg said Wednesday the United States
was seeking a common approach with Asia on Myanmar and said the six-nation
talks on North Korea's nuclear program could serve as a model.

Nearly all Asian nations maintain full relations and trade with Myanmar,
distancing themselves from the sanctions policy of the United States and
the European Union.

China is the key commercial and military partner of the junta, which
crushed 2007 protests led by Buddhist monks.

The previous US administration of George W. Bush strengthened decade-old
sanctions against Myanmar -- imposed under his predecessor Bill Clinton --
while his wife Laura was an outspoken critic of the military regime.

Senator Webb -- a Vietnam veteran who has also been a journalist -- said
the United States should take a lesson from how it opened relations with
China and Vietnam despite human rights and other concerns in the two
communist states.

Webb said that when he returned to Vietnam in 1991 -- four years before
Washington and Hanoi established relations -- the situation was worse than
when he visited Myanmar in 2001.

____________________________________

April 4, Agence France Presse
US should aim to lift Myanmar sanctions: senator

The United States should take a new approach of engagement with
military-run Myanmar with an aim of lifting sanctions, a key senator said
Friday.

President Barack Obama's administration is reviewing strategy on Myanmar,
also known as Burma, whose ruling junta has crushed dissent and kept
pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi under house arrest for 19 years.

Jim Webb, who heads the Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee on Asia,
said the United States needed an "aggressive diplomatic posture" on
Myanmar but one that was more "constructive."

"Certainly the way that we approach it now I don't believe has had the
results that people want it to have," Webb, a member of Obama's Democratic
Party, told a luncheon at the Council on Foreign Relations.

"What I think we should be doing in Burma is trying to open up diplomatic
avenues where you can have confidence builders ... and through that
process work toward some way where you can remove sanctions," he said.

Webb said any diplomacy between the United States and Myanmar should
closely involve other countries, particularly members of the Association
of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) which includes Myanmar.

ASEAN nations, along with Japan and China, have maintained cordial
relations and trade with Myanmar, distancing themselves from the sanctions
policy of the United States and the European Union.

Deputy Secretary of State Jim Steinberg said Wednesday the United States
was seeking a common approach with Asia on Myanmar and said the six-nation
talks on North Korea's nuclear program could serve as a model.

Webb -- a Vietnam veteran who has also been a journalist -- said the
United States should look at how it opened relations with China and
Vietnam despite human rights and other concerns in the two communist
states.

Webb said that when he returned to Vietnam in 1991 -- four years before
Washington and Hanoi established relations -- the situation was "worse
than the conditions I saw in Burma in '01."

____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

April 6, The National (UAE)
Election or image-laundering exercise? – Larry Jagan

Myanmar is scheduled to go the polls next year for the first time in 20
years, but although plans of the elections were laid out nearly six years
ago there is little public information about what to expect.

Only recently has the top general in the country, formerly known as Burma,
hinted at what might happen as the historic election approaches.

“Democracy in Burma today is at a fledgling stage and still requires
patient care and attention,” Gen Than Shwe told the country in his annual
speech to mark Armed Forces Day last month. But he warned: “Some parties
look to foreign countries for guidance and inspiration; they follow the
imported ideologies and directives irrationally.”

In the last elections in May 1990, Aung San Suu Kyi’s party, the National
League for Democracy (NLD), won convincingly, but Myanmar’s military
rulers did not allow them to form a government.

This time, the generals are keeping everyone in the dark and are tightly
controlling everything to ensure they do not lose.

With the country having no electoral law, no one knows how the election
will be conducted, and, more importantly, who will be competing.
Therefore, no political parties are registered to stand candidates in the
election – this can only happen after the law is passed and an electoral
commission established to oversee the campaign and the polls.

“The regime, especially Than Shwe, is keeping everyone guessing,” Win Min,
an independent academic from Myanmar based in Chiang Mai, Thailand, said.
“The electoral law is likely to only be revealed only a few months before
the election is scheduled to take place so that the opposition is kept off
guard and has little time to select candidates and register them, let
alone plan a campaign.”

The last time elections were held the electoral law was made public 20
months beforehand and the junta leaders are anxious to avoid making that
mistake again.

But 20 years on, Myanmar is a different country. Repression, harassment
and economic decay has left many bewildered and angry at the military,
though whether this will be translated into a strong anti-government vote
at the polls remains an open question.

Pro-democracy activists are split on whether or not to run.

“Why should we contest these elections – the military will tightly control
everything,” said Aung Din, a US-based activist from Myanmar. “How can
there be free and fair elections when many of our leaders are in prison
for their political activities. The constitution was forced on us –
written by them and then everyone was coerced to vote for it in a sham
referendum [last May].”

Some commentators believe the elections are in fact only a means for the
military to pretend that they have moved to democratic civilian rule.
Under the constitution, one-quarter of the seats are reserved for army
officers. Already junior officers are being given instruction in political
and economic matters as part of their senior officer training courses to
prepare them for possible service as a military member of parliament,
according to military sources in Myanmar.

“In 2010, it will only be an election of the dictators as they take off
their uniforms and pretend to be civilians,” said Soe Aung, a leading
pro-democracy activist from Myanmar who is based in Thailand. Many
government officials in Myanmar have confided privately that the process
will certainly be a “selection” not an election.

However, the military government is quietly preparing for the campaign and
the election. Businessmen with close connections to the regime have
already been told they must support the pro-government candidates and
provide funds for their campaign.

Many army officers have already been told by the top general which
electorate they will be contesting, or which provincial parliament they
will be heading after the polls.

“We cannot afford to lose this election,” Myanmar’s prime minister, Gen
Thein Sein, told some leading businessmen recently. “Otherwise we have
wasted the last 20 years for nothing,” he said, according to western
diplomats with close connections to the business community in Myanmar.

The first sign that the preparations for the elections are making
substantial progress will be a major government shake-up with at least a
dozen ministers resigning or retiring. They will then take up key
positions in the pro-government political parties that will then be
formed.

Many are already part of the community organisation that Gen Than Shwe set
up to mobilise public support for the government, the Union Solidarity and
Development Association (USDA).

Recently, the junta reportedly urged government ministers and senior
members of the USDA to nurture good public relations ahead of the
election.

But most analysts in Yangon do not believe this group will become a
political party in its own right as it is unpopular because of the role it
has played in the attack on Aung San Suu Kyi and her supporters in May
2003 and the clampdown on monks and demonstrators during protests in Sept
2007.

Most observers say the army will form at least one major party under the
direction of the USDA, which will provide financial support along with the
“donations” from businessmen.

So far the NLD plans to boycott the elections, insisting that all
political prisoners, including Aung San Suu Kyi, must be released and the
constitution revised before they would consider fielding candidates.

“The military are planning a constitutional coup that will turn them into
civilian rulers virtually overnight without securing genuine popular
support,” said Zin Linn, a spokesman for the pro-democracy movement and
former political prisoner.

____________________________________
STATEMENT

April 6, The 88 Generation Students
Statement 3/2009 (88) Open Letter to the SPDC Government

Should the SPDC respect human rights and move towards changes in the
interest of the
country and all the people, the sanctions which have been in place in
protest against the
SPDC's violations of human rights, would be removed.

1. Burma is currently facing severe political, social and economic crises.
Due to the impacts of global economic recession, the people of Burma will
soon certainly confront with even more severe ones.

2. To overcome such crises is a national task for all the people. Thus,
the National League for Democracy (NLD) has responsively proposed to the
SPDC government to tackle the national issues together through dialogue.

3. Consequently, the NLD and the Committee Representing People Parliament
(CRPP), in the interest of all the people of Burma, has also called for
the SPDC to take the following actions: the unconditional release of all
political prisoners including Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, to convene parliament,
to commence political dialogue, and to review the constitution. The 88
Generation Students Group believes that these actions are urgently needed
in order to overcome the crises in the country. These calls to action are
reiterated by stakeholders inside and outside the country as well as the
international community.

4. The SPDC has failed to realize these calls, and continues to implement
repressive measures including placing restrictions on movements of and
arresting activists struggling for democracy and human rights. For these
reasons, the countries which respect democracy and human rights have taken
political, social and economic sanctions against the SPDC military
government.

5. Regarding the sanctions, when meeting Mr. Gambari, a special envoy of
UN Secretary General, the SPDC Prime Minister Gen. Theing Sein asked that
"the UN should first make efforts for lifting economic sanctions against
Myanmar" and accused Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and the NLD of causing the
sanctions. Making such accusations against Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and the
NLD, democracy activists and western nations will not assist in having the
sanctions lifted.

6. We believe and understand that these countries have put sanctions
against the SPDC in place in protest against the severe violations of
democratic and human rights the SPDC exercises.

7. No other individual and/or organization than the SPDC military
government can do what is necessary to end these sanctions. The 88
Generation Students Group firmly believes that should the SPDC immediately
respect the above calls made by the NLD and the CRPP, the sanctions would
be removed one after another.

8. In the current situation, it is the right time for the SPDC military
government to move towards changes in the interest of the country and all
the people.

9. The 88 Generation Students urges the SPDC military government to
respect the calls made by all forces inside and outside as well as members
of international communities. If the SPDC does not respect these calls,
the responsibility for negative consequences that the country will suffer
will rest solely with the SPDC.

"The responsibility for changes solely rests on the SPDC military
government."
The 88 Generation Students, contact E-mail: 88gstudent at gmail.com

____________________________________

April 6, 12th Strategic Consultation Meeting (SCM) of Burma's Democratic
and Ethnic
Forces
Vows to oppose the 2010 election collectively

Burma's democratic and ethnic forces successfully held the 12th Strategic
Consultation Meeting from April 2 to 4 in a liberated area. 58
participants of major political alliances and parties joined the meeting
and discussed to achieve common positions and strategies to tackle current
political challenges.

In particular, the meeting focused on issues of building dynamic
leadership and collective movement, the 2008 constitution, and the 2010
election.

• In principle, it was agreed to invite other political forces and
individuals to form a united front with the core alliances such as
National Council of the Union of Burma (NCUB), National Coalition
Government of the Union of Burma (NCGUB), Ethnic Nationalities Council
(Union of Burma), Women League of Burma (WLB), Forum for Democracy in
Burma (FDB), Student and Youth Congress of Burma (SYCB), and Nationalities
Youth Forum (NYF). This united front will represent the democratic
movement as widely as possible. To realize this agreement, a committee
composed of representatives from these core alliances was formed. With
this collective movement, the momentum of the struggle for democracy and
self-determination and equality of ethnic nationalities will be
dynamically furthered. The common positions of all exile and liberated
areas-based main-stream political organizations are as follows:

• holds that the 2008 constitution cannot overcome the country’s
political, social and economic crises but entrench the military rule. To
abolish the 2008 constitution is therefore fundamental in constructing
democratic transition in Burma and one of the most immediate tasks of the
democratic movement.

• reaffirms the position not to recognize the 2010 election that will
materialize the 2008 constitution.

• vows to collectively oppose the 2010 election if the regime continues to
ignore the proposals and recommendations of political forces including
National League for Democracy (NLD) and international community. The
proposals include the unconditional release of all political prisoners
including Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, U Tin Oo, and U Khun Htun Oo followed by
holding a substantial dialogue and collective review of the constitution
to lead to an inclusive political process in the country.

2

National Council of the Union of Burma (NCUB)
National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma (NCGUB)
Ethnic Nationalities Council (Union of Burma)
Women League of Burma (WLB)
Forum for Democracy in Burma (FDB)
Student and Youth Congress of Burma (SYCB)
Nationalities Youth Forum (NYF)
6th April 2009
Contact Persons:

1. U Myint Thein - 087 808 3552
2. Saw David Taw - 081 306 4351
3. Dr. Naing Aung - 081 883 7230