BurmaNet News, July 17, 2009

[Editor]

July 17, 2009, Issue #3756


INSIDE BURMA
Mizzima News: Aung San Suu Kyi meets lawyers to discuss final stages of trial
Irrawaddy: Tunnel troops’ families look to occult for help
Xinhua: Flood, tornado hits Myanmar, causing big losses 　　

ON THE BORDER
IMNA: Prices climb as scarcity mounts
SHAN: Protest over cross-border road project

HEALTH / AIDS
Mizzima News: Ten children die of dengue in north-western Burma

ASEAN
AFP: NKorea, Myanmar loom over Asian security forum
Mizzima News: Calls to ASEAN to form a strong human rights body

INTERNATIONAL
AFP: EU to toughen Myanmar sanctions if Suu Kyi found guilty: diplomat

OPINION / OTHER
Irrawaddy: Clinton’s Burma agenda – Aung Zaw
Reuters: Myanmar "VJ" film exposes 2007 protests, crackdown – Mirja
Spernal and Mike Collett-White




____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

July 17, Mizzima News
Aung San Suu Kyi meets lawyers to discuss final stages of trial – Phanida

Burma’s democracy icon, Aung San Suu Kyi met her legal team on Friday, to
discuss the final arguments of her trial in Rangoon’s notorious Insein
prison.

The authorities allowed Aung San Suu Kyi’s lawyers Nyan Win, Kyi Win, Hla
Myo Myint and Khin Htay Kywe inside Insein prison, where they had parleys
on the final arguments to be submitted to the District Court on July 24.
They discussed the legalities for over two hours.

“We discussed the second draft of our final argument and decided on areas
to delete or modify,” Nyan Win, a member of Aung San Suu Kyi’s legal team
told Mizzima.

He said they had drafted a 23-page final argument to be submitted in court
in defense of the Burmese Nobel Peace Laureate.

Aung San Suu Kyi said the charges against her were unacceptable as no
security personnel had been arrested for dereliction of duty for they
could not deter and detect the intrusion in a high security area, by an
American man John William Yettaw, Nyan Win quoted her as saying.

The Burmese pro-democracy leader was charged and put on trial for
violating her detention rules by ‘harbouring’ Yettaw, who swam across the
Inya Lake and secretly entered her lakeside home in early May 2009.

Nyan Win said the health of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and her two live-in party
mates - Khin Khin Win and her daughter Win Pa Pa - is fine.

On July 10, the special court in Insein Prison heard the testimony of Khin
Moe Moe, the second defence witness of Aung San Suu Kyi and fixed the
hearing of the final argument for July 24.

In her testimony, Khin Moe Moe said that since Burma’s 1974 Constitution
is no longer in force, the Burmese democracy icon cannot be charged and
prosecuted by the law defined in the 1974 Constitution.

However, the prosecution defended that though the regime has been changed,
the 1974 constitution is still in force.

The police acted as prosecutor against Aung San Suu Kyi and filed a case
against her for flouting her detention law. If found guilty, she could be
sentenced up to 5 years in prison.

However, critics said the ruling military junta had used the case as a
pretext to explore a method to continue her detention, as her detention
period expired on May 27.

International and domestic legal experts said, as the Burmese law only
provides a maximum of five years of consecutive detention, Aung San Suu
Kyi, who was last arrested and detained in May 2003, has completed her
term and that the junta is violating its own law.

The junta, however, said Aung San Suu Kyi is yet to complete her detention
period and that could still be extended to another six months. The junta
announced that on humanitarian grounds and as she is the daughter of
General Aung San, Burma’s Independence architect, they have terminated her
house arrest period.

Meanwhile, the Nobel Peace Laureate is still being kept under detention
with the new excuse that she is currently facing trial.
____________________________________

July 17, Irrawaddy
Tunnel troops’ families look to occult for help

Astrologers and soothsayers in Burma are reportedly being consulted by an
increasing number of people who haven’t heard for months from family
members of the Burmese army’s Electrical and Mechanical Engineering
section working on the regime’s tunnel construction projects.

Some are practicing yadaya, or magic rites, in the hope that family
members involved in the projects return home soon and unscathed.
Superstitious Burmese commonly practice yadaya to ward off misfortune or
to bring good luck.

Concern about the fate of officers and soldiers assigned to the tunnel
projects has grown following publication of reports about the secret work.

Several photographs of a tunnel construction site were posted on news Web
sites in recent weeks, including the Democratic Voice of Burma, Yale
Global online and The Irrawaddy, and have subsequently been circulating
widely in Burma. The photographs and video material came from a number of
sources, including the Burmese military and Burmese activists.

Family members are reportedly worried that after the completion of the
secret tunnel-construction project, the regime may not want the officers
and soldiers involved to communicate with the public.

A well-connected Burmese editor based in Rangoon told The Irrawaddy that
some of the projects are almost complete and at an “important stage.” He
believed that the regime won’t allow soldiers and officers who belong to
the engineering force to return home this time.

An astrologer who provided yadaya advice to some family members told The
Irrawaddy that a group of female karaoke singers is often brought to
Naypyidaw to entertain the officers and soldiers.

The astrologer said that his clients included some family members who had
visited Naypyidaw to try and meet soldiers and officers from the
engineering department.

“They have seen some tunnels near Naypyidaw and they also heard the sound
of testing missiles that misfired,” he said. “They come and see me to get
an advice of how to get out of the tunnel project.”

According to a MoU signed between Burma and North Korea in November 2008,
Burma plans to build with North Korean technical assistance a military
headquarters facility with a maze of underground tunnels around Naypyidaw,
the country’s remote capital.

The government is also believed to be building underground silos to house
anti-aircraft missiles, radar equipment and other military installations.
____________________________________

July 17, Xinhua
Flood, tornado hits Myanmar, causing big losses 　　

Flood, triggered by torrential rains, struck Myanmar's Kayin state and
Tanintharyi division, and a tornado also swept Ayeyawaddy division early
this week, both causing great losses, the state newspaper New Light of
Myanmar reported Friday.

Some highways and railways in Kayin state were flooded and some households
displaced as a result of the torrential rains on Mondayand Tuesday.

The torrential rains also caused landslide in some areas of
Kawkareik-Myawaddy road and banks erosion at some bridges on
Dawei-Mawlamyine road in Tanintharyi division.

Meanwhile, a tornado hit Ngaputaw, Haigyigyun, Ngwesaung, Bogale and
Pyapon in Ayeyawaddy division on Tuesday, destroying some houses and
blowing off roofs and walls of some buildings. Six people were injured in
the disaster.

Ayeyawaddy division, along with four other states and divisions, was once
struck by deadly tropical cyclone Nargis on May 2-3 last year, inflicting
the heaviest casualties and massive infrastructure damage.

Moreover, heavy rain caused overflow in Maesai Creek in Tachilek, in
eastern part of Shan state.

According to earlier official report, a landslide occurred on July 5 on
the right bank of Phakant-Lonkhin road, leading the collapse of some small
huts on the bank, killing 24 people and injuring another.

Some houses in Phakant were flooded and the villagers were evacuated.

The continuous torrential rain has overflowed the Uru Creek, washing away
24 houses with 90 others remaining in water.

Meanwhile, two days' continuous rainfall last month had also caused a
landslide in Kawthoung, southern Myanmar's Tanintharyi division, leaving
four people dead.

The four people, a mother and three children, were killed asleep when a
large stone rolling down from a nearby mountain.

In May, heavy rainfall also flooded the northern Mandalay division,
leaving one person missing and many other villagers displaced.


____________________________________

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

July 17, Independent Mon News Agency
Prices climb as scarcity mounts – Panorkkyar

The price of goods exported from Thailand increased, as fewer goods from
Thailand have been arriving in Moulmein, according to traders in Moulmein.

Two days ago the main stream of business in Myawaddy mountain road was
blocked as heavy rains falling in the mountain made the road impassible,
and the Gaying bridge remained damage, forcing most trucks to have to
reduce their weight while heading in the direction of Myawaddy at Hpa-an .

“Commodities are not arriving in Myawaddy so we just have to sell what we
have left from before,” said a bulk seller from Zaykyo. “Because of this
we are having to raise our sales prices.”

The price of most goods has increased beyond what would have sold when
they were readily available. Before, one bucket cooking oil increasing in
price from 24,000 kyat to 28,000 kyat said one resident. Among other items
increasing in price are shoes, slippers and spices.

“Before the road was damaged we made profits of 300,000 kyat for trading
with Myawaddy to Moulmein, but now we can’t ship our goods. We are waiting
for road to reopen and have to spend money eating here and are losing the
time for our job” said a trader from Myawaddy.

As previously reported by IMNA, authorities have limited the weight trucks
are able to carry across the Gyaing suspension .The Gyaing suspension
bridge is part of the main road to Rangoon,_Hpa-an,_Moulemin and_Myawaddy
explained the rice trader from Myawaddy.

The trader added, “The Gyaing bridge was saging and the stream of the
business imports from Thailand is slower because most of the trucks have
had to transfer their cargo to smaller cars to transport it past the
suspension bridge – they can only pass if they reduce the weight of their
load.”

____________________________________

July 17, Shan Herald Agency for News
Protest over cross-border road project – Hseng Khio Fah

People along the Thai-Burma border staged a protest last week against a
joint road project between a Thai firm and the Burmese Army, local sources
said.

On July 10, villagers in Ban Hintaek (Ban Therd Thai), the former
stronghold of the late Mong Tai Army (MTA) leader Khun Sa, in Chiangrai’s
Mae Fa Luang district, held a demonstration against the road project of
Saraburi Coal Mining, a subsidiary of Ital-Thai, that had been granted
concession by Burmese authorities to extract coal from Shan State East’s
Mongkok sub-township, Monghsat Township, 70 kilometres north of Chiangrai
border towards the end of 2008.

The demonstrators’ contention was that the road project could affect local
village life, endanger the environment, promote drug trafficking and place
local people’s lives at risk as the proposed area is controlled by the
anti-Naypyitaw Shan State Army (SSA) ‘South’ and the United Wa State Army
(UWSA).

Tension between the Burmese Army and the UWSA has been on the rise since
April, when the latter was urged to become a border security force under
the formers command.

“Without their permission, we won’t dare agree,” a participant in the
demonstration, who requested anonymity, said.

At the same time, the SSA South’s Lt-Col Gawnzeun, Commander of the
Kengtung Front based at Loi Gawwan, 10 miles east of the proposed border
pass also told SHAN, “I don’t believe they (the Thai company) will go
ahead with the road construction without informing us in advance.”

The deposit in Mongkok is estimated to have at least 150 million tons of
raw coal, one third found to be Grade A. It would take 40 years to deplete
the fields even with 200 ten wheelers working each day to transport the
diggings, according to an official from the company.

In exchange for the coal concession the junta had insisted that the
company construct the Mongkok-Maejok route to the diggings despite the
existence of a shorter 100-kilometre route inside Burma’s Tachilek to
Thailand’s Maesai.

The road is proposed to be built across Maejok on the Burmese side of the
border to Thailand’s Hmong Kaolang. It will be roughly 60 kilometres
inside Burma and at least 90 kilometres inside Thailand till it connects
with the national highway at Pasang, between Maesai and Chiangrai.

The proposed road would be able to transport 5,000 tons of coal per day,
according to a security source.

On May 21, the company held a public meeting with 200 villagers of Ban
Hintaek to seek their approval.

 “About 300 villagers will get jobs as drivers if the project is
approved,” a local villager quoted an official from the lobby team as
saying.

Since 1996, the Burmese Army has made abortive attempts to dislodge the
SSA from its border base and the last time was in 2005.

____________________________________
HEALTH / AIDS

July 17, Mizzima News
Ten children die of dengue in north-western Burma – Salai Pi Pi

At least 10 children have died and several are ill after being afflicted
by Dengue, a mosquito-borne viral disease, in Kalemyo a town near the
Indo-Burma border in Sagaing Division, north-western Burma, an official at
a private clinic said.

“As far as I know at least 10 children have died. A lot of other children
are admitted in the hospital, which is crowded with patients,” the
official in Thapyaynyo clinic in Kalemyo said.

When contacted, an official at the Kalemyo General Hospital on Friday
said, the ‘Patient Ward’ of the hospital is full of children being treated
for Dengue haemorrhagic fever.

The outbreak of Dengue was noticed in Kalemyo in the beginning of June and
has been continuing since.

A local resident of Kalemyo told Mizzima that most of the children in her
neighborhood are suffering from the disease. While many have been taken to
hospital several others are depending on private clinics.

Dengue in Kalemyo, a town located on the border of Chin state in western
Burma, is common during the monsoons.

Local residents said, despite being a curable disease, Malaria and Typhoid
continue to claim several lives every year.

____________________________________
ASEAN

July 17, Agence France Presse
NKorea, Myanmar loom over Asian security forum – Danny Kemp

North Korea's nuclear programme and Myanmar's rights record are set to
dominate Asia's largest security forum next week, as US Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton

Foreign ministers at the annual Association of Southeast Asian Nations
(ASEAN) Regional Forum in the Thai resort island of Phuket are also
expected to discuss the region's economy and joint action on tackling
swine flu.

Thousands of troops and police will throw a ring of steel around the isle
for the July 19-23 meeting to prevent a repeat of anti-government protests
that forced the abandonment of a separate Asian summit in Thailand in
April.

"During the meetings ministers will exchange views on the situation on the
Korea peninsula," Thai foreign ministry official Vitavas Srivihok said
last week.

But he said North Korea's foreign minister had declined to attend and
would instead send an ambassador at large to the meeting of 10 ASEAN
members plus 16 dialogue partners including the United States, China,
Japan and South Korea.

Regional tensions have soared since the North quit six-nation talks on
nuclear disarmament and vowed to restart its atomic weapons programme in
the wake of its recent defiant nuclear test and missile launches.

Foreign ministers from all six parties will be in Phuket except North Korea.

The US State Department has been coy on whether Clinton would meet any
North Korean delegates in Phuket, but spokesman Ian Kelly said last week
that "I imagine that North Korea will be a topic at the ASEAN meeting."

Clinton, who leaves Washington for Mumbai on Thursday, will come to Phuket
from India. She travelled to Asia in February on her first trip as
secretary of state, visiting Japan, Indonesia, South Korea and China.

In Phuket, Clinton will hold an unprecedented three-way meeting with her
counterparts from Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia to discuss health and
environmental issues concerning the Mekong river.

The forum will also face the perennial challenge of military-ruled
Myanmar, which has sparked international outrage by putting pro-democracy
icon Aung San Suu Kyi on trial over an incident in which an American man
swam to her lakeside house.

Myanmar, ASEAN's most troublesome member since joining the bloc in 1997,
showed its defiance earlier this month by refusing to allow UN Secretary
General Ban Ki-moon to visit the opposition icon when he visited the
country.

Vitavas of the Thai foreign ministry said democratic reform in Myanmar
could be raised during the Phuket talks. Myanmar's UN envoy said last week
that the ruling junta would release prisoners ahead of elections planned
next year.

The regional economy and swine flu could also come up at the ASEAN
Regional Forum, Vitavas said. Thailand now has the largest death toll from
the A(H1N1) virus in Asia, with 24 fatalities and more than 4,000
infections.

"We will discuss the pandemic and cooperation among members... there are
several countries attending which are affected by the flu," Vitavas said
-- adding that visiting ministers would be screened for the virus on
arrival.

ASEAN foreign ministers are further set to endorse a final version of the
bloc's new human rights body, which has faced criticism for being unable
to tackle persistent violators such as Myanmar.

Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has in recent weeks sought to
reassure foreign ministers that the Phuket meeting will not be disrupted
by anti-government demonstrators following months of political turmoil.

Thailand said it would deploy a 14,000-strong team for the forum and has
announced a complete ban on protests in Phuket during the talks, while
also invoking an internal security act for the island and its surrounding
waters.

In April, Asian leaders were forced to flee the coastal city of Pattaya
when protesters loyal to ousted former premier Thaksin Shinawatra stormed
the venue. Two days of deadly rioting in Bangkok ensued.

The leaders' summit has now been postponed until October. It was
originally due to be held last December but was repeatedly delayed and
moved because of ongoing political turmoil in Thailand.

____________________________________

July 17, Mizzima News
Calls to ASEAN to form a strong human rights body – Usa Pichai

ASEAN civil society organizations have highlighted Burma as a benchmark
for ASEAN human rights issues and called for a strong Human Rights Body to
place Burma on the agenda of the next ASEAN Summit.

Sixty nine civil society groups in Asia Pacific urged members of the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations to take firm action in response to
Burma’s continued non-compliance with the ASEAN Charter, according to an
open letter released in a press conference prior the 42nd  meeting of
ASEAN Foreign Ministers with their dialogue partners in Phuket, the island
province of Thailand.

“ASEAN countries must address Burma’s flagrant violations of its new
charter. As long as the military continues to systematically attack
civilians and jail opposition leaders, how can we believe in the junta’s
repeated claims of bringing democracy to the country? ” asked Aung  Myo
Min coordinator of the Task Force on ASEAN and Burma (TFAB), a network of
Burma’s civil society working to promote a people-centered ASEAN that is
supportive of the cause of democracy, human rights and peace in Burma.

“At this critical juncture, ASEAN cannot afford to be weak on Human
Rights. ASEAN leaders must take firmer measures and not let Burma slide by
on false promises. Otherwise, it risks losing its credibility in the
international community,” said Khin Omar, Coordinator of Burma
Partnership, a network of Burmese and regional civil society.

The letter calls on ASEAN Foreign Ministers to employ a charter provision
stating that “in the case of serious breach of the Charter or
non-compliance, the matter shall be referred to the 15th ASEAN Summit for
a decision.”

The group ended the letter saying “ASEAN must stand by the people of Burma
and show solidarity with friends throughout Asia as we seek to eradicate
systematic human rights violations and implement national reconciliation
and peace in Burma.”

At a conference on Friday, representatives from civil society groups in
the region urged the ASEAN to create a strong Human Rights Body committed
to action from the member states that would ensure a better human rights
situation in the region.

Wathshlah Naidu, Programme Officer of International Women’s Rights Action
Watch – Asia Pacific (IWRAW-AP) said at the conference, “we want a strong
protection mandate, which includes the capacity to conduct on site visits,
conduct investigations and issue recommendation  to a member state as well
as to institute a mechanism for receiving and addressing complaints. The
body also should be independent, effective and credible.”

Sinapan Samydorai, from ASEAN Migrant Workers Group, said ASEAN should
appoint a sub-committee responsible for migrant workers as the cross
border labour condition is a significant issue.

The 42nd ASEAN Ministerial Meeting is to be held from July 17 to 23, 2009,
at the Holiday Island of Phuket in Southern Thailand.

___________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

July 17, Agence France Presse
EU to toughen Myanmar sanctions if Suu Kyi found guilty: diplomat


A British diplomat Friday said the European Union would likely toughen
sanctions on Myanmar's military regime if pro-democracy leader Aung San
Suu Kyi was found guilty at her ongoing trial.

The Nobel peace laureate is being held at a guesthouse on the grounds of
Yangon's notorious Insein prison as her trial on charges of violating her
house arrest nears its end after a final witness was heard last week.

Asif Ahmad, Southeast Asia head for the British foreign office, told AFP
that diplomats expected Aung San Suu Kyi to be found guilty over the
incident in May when an American man swam to her lakeside house uninvited.

He said if that was the case, once any appeal had been exhausted, the EU
would slap further measures on the junta to signal its disapproval.

"Financial sanctions have been certainly at the forefront of what we would
be doing," Ahmad said.

"If the final sentence is anything other than her being free... Looser
chains are not acceptable, she has to be free," he said.

Aung San Suu Kyi has spent 13 of the last 19 years in detention since the
junta refused to recognise her National League for Democracy's (NLD)
landslide victory in elections in 1990.

The EU's current sanctions -- in place since 1996 -- include a travel ban
and the freezing of assets of Myanmar's leaders and their relatives, as
well as a ban on arms exports to the country.

The sanctions also limit diplomatic relations between the Southeast Asian
nation and the European bloc.

Meanwhile, Aung San Suu Kyi met her lawyers for two hours Friday to
discuss final arguments in the court case, and protested at the treatment
she said she was receiving at the hands of authorities.

"She said that, as trespassing is entering by breaking through security
and... no action has been taken so far against any security officials, it
was one-sided," her lawyer Nyan Win told AFP, adding however that she did
not want any security guards to be targeted.

____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

July 17, Irrawaddy
Clinton’s Burma agenda – Aung Zaw

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made no mention of Burma in her
foreign policy speech in Washington this week, but she renewed the US
offer to talk with the Iranian regime—but the offer and opportunity would
not remain indefinitely, she warned.

Clinton is on her way to Asia—this is her second trip—to attend the 42th
Asean Ministerial Meeting in Phuket. Whether she wants it or not, the
Burma and North Korea issues will likely dominate the meeting. Clinton,
who said she was deeply troubled by the decision by the Burmese regime to
charge Suu Kyi with a baseless crime, is not unprepared to speak on the
Burma issue, but a US policy review on Burma that began in February is
still pending.

During her first trip to Jakarta, Clinton said, “Clearly, the path we have
taken in imposing sanctions hasn’t influenced the Burmese junta.” Then she
added that the policy adopted by neighboring countries of “reaching out
and trying to engage them has not influenced them, either.”

The policy review on Burma is still pending, with the Obama administration
wanting to take a different policy direction on Burma from the previous
Bush administration. The new policy will probably be a mix of carrots and
sticks, but recent events have complicated apparent indications favoring
increased diplomacy and outreach from Washington towards Burma’s rulers.

“The recent events with Aung San Suu Kyi are just deeply, deeply
concerning, and it makes it very difficult going forward,” said Kurt
Campbell, assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific Affairs
told US lawmakers during his confirmation hearing last month.

“We're in the midst of a very sensitive review,” he said. “We are looking
at the situation of the trial and what the junta is considering going
forward. It will play into our review.”

If Suu Kyi’s bizarre trial has played a role in the policy review—other
sensitive issues include the release of 2,100 political prisoners, the
relationship with ethnic groups along the Burmese border with China and
Thailand, and the upcoming election in 2010—then no doubt the issue of
Burma’s shady relationship with North Korea will also play a part.

Though Washington’s policy review remains incomplete, the US is not
without a policy and diplomatic tools. The Deputy Assistant Secretary of
State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, Scot Marciel, assured that
Clinton would bring up the issue of Burma during the meeting with Asean
foreign ministers.

 “I don't want to try to predict exactly what she's [Clinton] going to
say. I'm confident that she will raise Burma and express our concerns
quite clearly,” Marciel said.

“The fundamental policy remains the same, which is to do whatever we can
to try to encourage progress in Burma,” he said.

“By progress, I mean the beginning of a dialogue between the government
and the opposition and the ethnic minority groups, release of political
prisoners and improved governance and, we would hope, more of an opening
to the international community,” he said.

Since the trial began in May, the international pressure on Burma has been
sustained. The military leaders, diplomats believed, were shocked at the
swift and unified reaction from the international community, including
Asean and China. As things stand at the moment, the bizarre trial that
appeared to be progressing fast in its initial stages has slowed
down—perhaps this is a sign that the junta is having second thoughts.

The Burmese leaders received two separate high level visits: one led by
Singapore’s senior minister Goh Chok Tong and the other from UN chief Ban
Ki-moon. They both delivered a firm message to the regime leaders to make
significant progress in national reconciliation.

The regime showed its uncompromising stance when meeting visiting UN chief
Ban Ki-moon, who was not allowed to meet Suu Kyi. However, Ban did speak
out for the need for an inclusive road map towards democracy, the release
of political prisoners and for free and fair elections. Though he left
empty-handed, his public remarks gained him kudos in Burma.

In a nutshell, the US is likely to search for more effective ways to
encourage dialogue between the military, the opposition and the ethnic
nationalities, and to gain the release of political prisoners and make
steps towards broad-based reform. It will not be surprising to see more
engagement by US officials and diplomats with the regime if the doors are
opened.

Critics of US policy on Burma argue that sanctions are a failure, saying
that they have only helped entrench the junta’s power, helping it to
isolate its people from the outside world.

Nevertheless, to the surprise of many, many Burmese living inside the
country (predictably, the Burmese community in exile support the sanctions
policy) have expressed support for sanctions that punish the regime
leaders.

Though the administration of President Barack Obama is seen to be intent
on setting a different course from the Bush administration, such will
require considerable creativity, particularly when dealing with rogue
regimes like North Korea and Burma.

Referring to Iran, meanwhile, Clinton argued that a policy of engagement
was not a sign of weakness. However, Burma’s neighbors who have been
strong advocates of “constructive engagement” can only point to a decade
of failure. Burma is a tough nut to crack.

____________________________________

July 17, Reuters
Myanmar "VJ" film exposes 2007 protests, crackdown – Mirja Spernal and
Mike Collett-White

LONDON (Reuters) - A film documenting a group of clandestine reporters
secretly filming the 2007 street protests in Myanmar and crackdown by the
military junta hit cinemas in Britain this week to warm applause from the
critics.

"Burma VJ," directed by Denmark's Anders Ostergaard, takes the viewer to
the heart of events two years ago which, without the courage of video
journalists on the ground taking huge risks, would have gained far less
international attention.

Led by "Joshua," the VJs covertly filmed the drama unfolding on the streets.

The demonstrations started in August 2007 as a protest over living
standards before attracting the revered Buddhist monkhood and snowballing
into the biggest challenge to military rule since a 1988 uprising. At
least 31 people were killed.

Often shaky footage of monks parading along roads, and thousands of people
leaning from balconies and lining the streets to cheer them, is
interspersed with soldiers opening fire on the protesters who flee in
terror.

Journalists capture the tension as panicked crowds rush up the stairs of a
darkened building to escape the authorities, while Joshua keeps in contact
with his team of cameramen on the telephone and frets about their
wellbeing.

The journalists smuggled footage to Thailand, from where Joshua, who kept
his real name a secret, sent it to Norway, where the Democratic Voice of
Burma (DVB) (www.dvb.no) is based.

DVB is a media outlet based in Norway that aims to provide independent
news to people inside Myanmar. It also became an important source of
information for international broadcasters in 2007, because foreign media
access was so limited.

"I know the risks, but we understand that there has to be somebody to take
the risk to break other people's fear," Joshua told Reuters at the British
premiere of Burma VJ this week.

"There will be somebody who starts and I decided that I have to be the one
to start."

TRAGIC SACRIFICE

Joshua described some of the sacrifices he had made.

"Since I began this job I disconnected with (my family), that's the first
thing I had to sacrifice," Joshua said.

"I don't want them to become hostages of the authorities and I don't want
to compromise my job with my family. That's why I disconnected with them
because maybe they can pressurize my family or harm them to pressurize me
to leave my job.

"Sometimes I miss my family. I want to meet them, I miss my old
neighborhood, you know everybody in my neighborhood loves me, but I cannot
go back to them."

According to media reports, other video journalists in the team are behind
bars facing long sentences.

Critics have lauded the courage of Joshua and his "VJs."

"That footage ... is raw and compelling," said the Daily Telegraph. "The
story of how it was sneaked out is worthy of the best thrillers. Burma VJ
is crucial testament to the will of a suffering people to ensure the world
does not forget them."

The New York Times, in a review posted in May, agreed.

"Burma VJ is a rich, thought-provoking film not only because of the story
it tells, which is by turns inspiring and devastatingly sad, but also
because of the perspective it offers on the role that new communications
technologies can play in political change," the newspaper said.

"The narrative of Burma VJ takes on a somber, elegiac cast, as the
potential for freedom flares up and is, in short order, snuffed out."

(Writing by Mike Collett-White, editing by Paul Casciato)