BurmaNet News, August 19, 2009

[Editor]

August 19, 2009 Issue #3779


INSIDE BURMA
Irrawaddy: ‘Humanitarian junta,’ says State Press
DVB: Win Tin undergoes heart surgery
Kachin News: Junta yet to respond to KIO’s demands
Mizzima News: KNU to try and reunite breakaway DKBA

ON THE BORDER
IMNA: With no land, Rohingya refugees languish in jail

ASEAN
Reuters: ASEAN debates calling on Myanmar to free Suu Kyi

REGIONAL
AFP: China failing on Myanmar, key US senator says
AFP: US man in Suu Kyi trial leaves Bangkok: official

OPINION / OTHER
New York Times: Visit to Myanmar – Editorial
TIME: Burma's monks carry on democratic fight – Hannah Beech
AP: US Senator's visit could herald new Myanmar policy – Grant Peck
New Light of Myanmar: Just need to pass through the narrow area – Hlaing
Bwa (Parami)

PRESS RELEASE
FIDH, Altsean, BLC: Burma/Myanmar: EU sanctions against SPDC inadequate:
EU must back a UNSC Commission of Inquiry





____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

August 19, Irrawaddy
‘Humanitarian junta,’ says State Press – Wai Moe

The Burmese military regime has shown itself as an advocate of human
rights by releasing the American intruder, John W Yettaw, and is promoting
bilateral relations with the US by hosting Senator Jim Webb, Burma’s
leading state-run newspaper said on Wednesday.

In an editorial titled “Constructive attitude in the area of international
relations,” the English-language The New Light of Myanmar said that in
granting amnesty for Yettaw, the regime has shown respect for “the rule of
law, as well as humanitarianism and human rights.”

The editorial also noted that US Sen Webb’s trip to Burma had ended
successfully.

“We hope that his visit will help promote constructive views on bilateral
relations and hold discussions based on mutual understanding between the
US and Myanmar [Burma] in the future,” the editorial said.

It also added that the Burmese regime is working with the international
community by being “willing to fully cooperate with neighboring countries,
regional countries and all other countries with a constructive attitude.”

The comment is most likely linked to a reported conversation between Sen
Webb and pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Saturday when, in
response to Webb’s statement that Burma needs to have interaction with the
international community, Suu Kyi said that first the regime must interact
“inside the country.”

Commenting on the New Light of Myanmar’s editorial, Bo Kyi, the
joint-secretary of the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners
(AAPP), a Burmese human rights group based in Thailand, said that if the
regime really wants to show respect for the rule of law and human rights
it must first release Suu Kyi and all political prisoners, and stop human
rights violations in ethnic areas.

“It is clear that the junta released Yettaw after they had used him to
keep Daw Aung San Suu Kyi continually under arrest during the elections in
2010,” Bo Kyi said. “After sentencing her to 18 months house arrest, they
do not need Mr Yettaw anymore.”

According to AAPP and other human rights groups, Burma holds more than
2,100 dissidents in prison across the country and hundreds of thousands
are internally displaced in eastern Burma.

Meanwhile, many private weekly journals in Burma are reporting good sales
this week with the news of the verdict on Suu Kyi being the main
attraction.

“Almost every journal can publish the news about The Lady [Suu Kyi] this
week,” a reporter in Rangoon who spoke on condition of anonymity told The
Irrawaddy. “The censorship board is allowing journals to broadcast the
news. Consequently, they have sold out quickly.”

Another editor said she thought it was a good thing that news about
Burma’s most famous prisoner should appear in Burmese journals.

Although the news about Suu Kyi’s trial is in popular demand among Burmese
readers, the news of Sen Webb’s trip has not been reported in private
journals to date.

“Webb is already quite infamous among ordinary Burmese,” said the
Rangoon-based reporter.

____________________________________

August 19, Democratic Voice of Burma
Win Tin undergoes heart surgery – Naw Say Phaw

A senior member of the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD)
party has undergone heart surgery following reports of poor health.

U Win Tin, a key member in the NLD’s Central Executive Committee, was
taken to a Rangoon hospital last Saturday complaining of a slow heartbeat.

Win Tin had been a regular figure outside the gates of Insein prison
during Aung San Suu Kyi’s trial, and has often acted as a press contact
for the NLD.

“I was submitted to the hospital on Saturday and had a pacemaker inserted
in my heart [on Sunday],” he said.

“The whole procedure took about one hour and 20 minutes. Now I’ve been
released from the Intensive Care Unit [to a regular ward.]”

He will be released from the hospital in about two to three days depending
on how fast the incision [from the surgery] recovered.

Win Tin, now 80-years-old, had a medical check up in mid-July this year
for surgery in his eye.

Later he was diagnosed with slow a heart beat, which is beating at only
half the speed of a normal heart. The subsequent medication did not work,
and doctors decided to insert a pacemaker.

Win Tin is Burma’s longest serving political prisoner, released in
November 2008 after a 19 year sentence.

He was originally chosen as one of four witnesses to testify on behalf of
Suu Kyi at her trial, but judges dismissed him citing his past conviction.

____________________________________

August 19, Kachin News
Junta yet to respond to KIO’s demands

The Burmese military junta is yet to respond to the military and political
demands of the major ethnic Kachin ceasefire group in the country's north,
said sources.

The Kachin Independence Organization (KIO), one of largest ethnic
ceasefire groups in the country, is awaiting a response from the junta on
its demands. It is also looking at further discussions on it, said KIO
officials in Laiza headquarters on the Sino-Burma border in Kachin State.

Last month, the KIO officially submitted its demand of transforming its
armed-wing the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) to the Kachin Regional Guard
Force (KRGF) at the brigade level (not controlled by the Burmese Army). It
also demanded the KIO's direct participation in a new Kachin State
government after next year’s elections. The demands were submitted to
commander Maj-Gen Soe Win, Myitkyina-based Northern Regional Command
(Ma-Pa-Kha), the junta's chief local-level negotiator and Lt-Gen Ye Myint,
chief of the Military Affairs Security (MAS) and the Naypyitaw negotiator.

The junta has not responded to the KIO's demands but it requested the
group to extend the ceasefire agreement between them and said further
discussions will be held soon, according to KIO officials in Laiza.

The KIO also presented over ten departments of its government to Commander
Maj-Gen Soe Win and the Naypyitaw chief negotiator Lt-Gen Ye Myint last
week, a KIO central committee member in Laiza said.

The junta has been pressurizing the KIO to transform its armed-wing KIA to
the Burmese Army-controlled battalion of the Border Guard Force (BGF)
since April.

Dr. Lahkyen La Ja, general secretary of KIO told KNG last week, both sides
have stuck to their positions on each others demand.

The KIO, meanwhile, has formed an alliance with four other ethnic
ceasefire groups in Shan State in the event of the junta launching a
military offensive against any of them. The military alliance comprises
the Shan State Army-North (SSA-N), Kokang ceasefire group, Mongla-based
National Democratic Alliance Army-Eastern Shan State (NDAA-ESS) and United
Wa State Army (UWSA).

Three of the four main Kachin ceasefire groups in military-ruled Burma,
have already agreed to transform to the BGF and militia group in June.
Those which accepted are the Pang Wah-based New Democratic Army-Kachin
(NDA-K) in Kachin State to BGF and Kawnghka-based Kachin Defense Army
(KDA) in Northeast Shan State and Lawa Yang-based Lasang Awng Wa peace
group in Kachin State as militia groups.

The KIO/KIA was formed on February 5, 1961 for secession of Kachin State
from the Union of Burma but it scaled down its demand to
self-determination since 1976.

The KIO is keen to solve the nearly five-decade old problem between it and
the junta through political means and dialogue, added Dr. Lahkyen La Ja.

____________________________________

August 19, Mizzima News
KNU to try and reunite breakaway DKBA

Chiang Mai – Serious confabulations are on in some KNLA battalions under
the command of the KNU’s 6th Brigade, where ways are being explored to
reunite with its breakaway faction the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army
(DKBA).

Should the exploratory moves bear fruit, it will be a blow to the Burmese
military junta, which has been pitting the two Karen groups against each
other.

Some commanders from the 16th and 17th Battalions of the KNLA in Duplaya
District, Karen State, which is under the control of KNLA’s 6th Brigade
have started coordinating among themselves to reinstate members of the
breakaway faction.

“It is not possible to demote them from platoon commanders to section
commanders when they come back to the fold. We must see to their not
losing their status. If someone comes back with a section, he will be made
a section commander. Those that come back with a platoon will be given
platoon commander status. This was our discussion in brief,” an officer of
the KNLA told Mizzima on condition of anonymity.

The plan afoot is yet to be forwarded to the 18th Battalion in the 6th
Brigade for discussions but it has been sent to 6th Brigade Commander.

The armed conflict among Karen nationalities will not end through
violence. At the grassroots level we have circulated our plan of reuniting
with the breakaway faction to district officials and the Brigade. The high
command is yet to reply to our proposal," he said.

The KNU Vice-Chairman said the plan would be implemented if found
appropriate, when it reaches the KNU headquarters.

"We do not know about it yet. There is a committee to deal with DKBA
affairs in each district. If they send the plan to the headquarters, we
will discuss and consider it. If we deem it fit and proper we shall
implement it. We shall advice and lead them in this regard," KNU
Vice-Chairman Saw David Takapaw told Mizzima.

An officer of the DKBA said that he thought it would be difficult to
implement this plan but they would abide and comply with the decision
reached by the high commands from either side.

"I have no idea of how to reach this stage (reuniting with the mother
unit). The situation on both sides -- the situation in Burma and the
situation of exile based units, need to be considered. Anyway if our
seniors agree we have no problem with the plan," he said.

The Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) led by Tha Htoo Kyaw split from
the mother unit the Karen National Union (KNU) in 1994. They are now based
in Myaing Gyi Ngu village, Hlaing Bwe Township, Karen State.

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

August 19, Independent Mon News Agency
With no land, Rohingya refugees languish in jail – Rai Maraoh

A group of Rohingya people that was arrested trying to cross illegally
into Rangnon, Thailand, remain in prison along the Thai-Burma border after
Thai authorities were unable to find a location to repatriate the group.

About 50 Rohingya were arrested by the Thai police in July, as they
attempted to enter Thailand by boat. The group, which was assisted by a
broker, hoped to find better jobs and asylum in Malaysia.

The Rohingya are a state-less ethnic Muslim minority, traditionally from
Arakan area in Western Burma. The Rohingya have attracted sporadic media
attention over the last 20 years after facing a variety of abuses. However
their status as refugees has been heavily disputed by both Burma and
Thailand.

One factor in this dispute has been Burma’s refusal to recognize the group
as a legitimate ethnic minority. Having been striped of citizenship in
1982 the group faces regular abuses of religious persecution, land
confiscation and arbitrary arrest by the Burmese government.

“Thai soldiers arrested a group of 50 Rohingya migrants, and tried to send
them back, but the Rohingya haven’t been sent back yet because they don’t
have their own land,” said a Kawthaung resident. “Thai authorities have
held them for over a month.”

According to an article published by the New Light of Myanmar, a Burmese
government controlled newspaper, on January 30th, 2009, there are more
than 100 ethnic groups officially recognized by the government in Burma,
however the Rohingya are not amongst the sanctioned groups.

Early last January a group of Rohingya people, who had been living in
Arakan State in western Burma, were arrested by Thai authorities after
they landed in Rangnon, according to an article published by the
Irrawaddy. In a widely criticized response, the Thai authorities beat the
attempted refugees and forced them back on boats, setting them adrift
without engines, and few supplies.

At ASEAN’s 14th summit meeting, the Burmese foreign minister, Nyan Win,
stated that the Rohingya are not Burmese ethnic and that there are no
Rohingya in Burma. The Junta has insisted that it will only take back
migrants who can prove they are “Bengali”, an ethnic group the government
recognizes.

____________________________________
ASEAN

August 19, Reuters
ASEAN debates calling on Myanmar to free Suu Kyi

JAKARTA - Senior Southeast Asian officials are meeting in Jakarta to
debate whether to call on Myanmar to release opposition leader Aung San
Suu Kyi, Indonesia said on Wednesday.

Suu Kyi, who has spent 14 of the last 20 years in detention, was sentenced
last week to a further 18 months of house arrest for violating an internal
security law after an American man swam to her lakeside home uninvited.

Senior officials from the 10-member Association of South East Asian
Nations (ASEAN) were meeting for dinner on Wednesday and then will hold
more talks on Thursday, possibly going into Friday, to discuss sending a
letter to Myanmar's ruling junta.

"They will seek to ask Myanmar to give amnesty but that's in principle
only. I don't know exactly how it will be reflected in the letter,"
foreign ministry spokesman Teuku Faizasyah said by telephone, adding he
was unsure whether the letter would also call for amnesty for other
political prisoners.

"I suspect it will be Suu Kyi. I don't know if it will touch on all
political prisoners."

Suu Kyi's sentence means she will be unable to take part in an election
next year that have already been dismissed by critics as a sham aimed at
legitimizing the army's grip on power.

Faizasyah would not be drawn on speculation that the meeting would be
evenly split on the issue, with Myanmar and countries such as Cambodia,
Vietnam and Laos expected to oppose the move.

"The 50-50 calculation of positions cannot yet be verified as the Senior
Officials Meeting, one of the possible avenues to discuss it, has yet to
meet," he said.

The regional grouping, unlike many Western nations, has so far given only
a timid rebuke of Myanmar by expressing "deep disappointment" over the
issue, although members such as Indonesia appear keen to send a sterner
message.

ASEAN has a policy of non-interference in its members' domestic affairs
and is seen by some as a toothless talking shop.

(Reporting by Sunanda Creagh; Editing by Ed Davies and Alex Richardson)

____________________________________
REGIONAL

August 19, Agence France Presse
China failing on Myanmar, key US senator says

China has failed to show leadership in solving the political stalemate in
Myanmar, a United States senator who made a landmark visit to the
military-ruled country said in Vietnam Wednesday.

Senator Jim Webb arrived in Vietnam after securing at the weekend the
release of an American man who swam to the house of Myanmar's detained
democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi.

During his Myanmar visit, Webb became the first US official to speak with
the junta's reclusive leader, Than Shwe.

The senator also met Suu Kyi without winning freedom for the Nobel
laureate, whose house arrest was extended over the bizarre stunt by John
Yettaw.

"When I returned to Bangkok from Myanmar I raised my view at that time,
with respect to the issues in Myanmar, that the Chinese government should
step forward and show leadership in assisting in solving that situation,
and they have not done that yet," Webb told a Hanoi press conference on
the last leg of a two-week Southeast Asian tour.

Beijing has long helped keep Myanmar afloat through trade ties, arms
sales, and by shielding it from United Nations sanctions over rights
abuses. China is a veto-wielding, permanent member of the Security
Council.

The European Union, United States and other countries have targeted
Myanmar with economic sanctions and travel bans but the military regime
has so far proven impervious to these, partly due to support from nations
including China.

While the US Congress has overwhelmingly backed trade restrictions against
Myanmar, Webb has been a critic of sanctions and said in Bangkok that they
had allowed Beijing to increase "dramatically" its influence in Myanmar.

The administration of President Barack Obama, particularly Secretary of
State Hillary Clinton, has indicated it is not keen on using sanctions as
a diplomatic tool.

Webb, a Democrat and former Marine who served in Vietnam, chairs the
Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on East Asia.

Yettaw flew home to the US on Wednesday after receiving medical tests in
Bangkok but Aung San Suu Kyi remains under house arrest, sentenced earlier
this month to a further 18 months because of Yettaw's actions.

The ruling means she will be locked up during elections promised by the
ruling junta in 2010.

Webb, who first returned to Vietnam 18 years ago, was to visit government
officials and business leaders on his latest trip.

Asked whether he would seek the release of any Vietnamese prisoners, he
said discussions over the political evolution of communist Vietnam are "an
ongoing process" but he was not raising the matter on this trip.

In July, a group of US lawmakers said they were calling for the release of
more than 100 non-violent Vietnamese political prisoners, some of them
held for criticising the government, as part of an annual September 2
amnesty.

Vietnam says it does not punish anyone for political views and only
prosecutes criminals for breaking the law.

Webb also visited Laos and Cambodia as part of his five-nation Southeast
Asian tour whose purpose was "to emphasise how important Southeast Asia is
to the United States".

He noted that Secretary of State Clinton has twice visited the region this
year, showing "how we want to reinvigorate, from the United States'
perspective, our relations in this region".

Clinton's signing in July of a friendship pact with Southeast Asia sent a
strong signal of the US desire to deepen ties and counter China's
increasing influence, diplomats said.

____________________________________

August 19, Agence France Presse
US man in Suu Kyi trial leaves Bangkok: official

BANGKOK — The US man at the centre of Aung San Suu Kyi's trial flew out of
Bangkok Wednesday, a Thai official confirmed.

"Mr John William Yettaw left Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi on UA 890 flight,"
Colonel Pongdej Chaiprawet, head of immigration at Suvarnabhumi airport,
told AFP.

Yettaw's plane left early Wednesday bound for Tokyo before going on to Los
Angeles, Pongdej confirmed.

The 54-year-old American had undergone more than two days of medical tests
at a hospital in Bangkok following his deportation from Myanmar on Sunday.

Yettaw had been sentenced to seven years' hard labour for swimming to the
home of pro-democracy leader Suu Kyi in early May, but he was released
after a visit by US Democrat Senator Jim Webb at the weekend.

The eccentric former military veteran Yettaw was bound for his home in
Falcon, Missouri.

Webb said Sunday that Yettaw -- who suffers from epilepsy and diabetes --
was "not a well man" and had suffered what he called a medical episode
even as he was being deported by Myanmar authorities.

Yettaw was hospitalised earlier this month after suffering a series of
epileptic fits while being held in Yangon's notorious Insein Prison,
causing delays to the trial.

Yettaw said he intruded on Suu Kyi's house in May on a "mission from God"
to warn her about a vision that she would be assassinated but his actions
instead landed her with another 18 months' house arrest.

Webb was allowed to meet with Suu Kyi -- unlike UN head Ban Ki-Moon who
was denied access to the opposition leader during his visit in July -- as
well as hold talks with military ruler Than Shwe.

Webb denied after the talks that he had offered Myanmar's rulers anything
in exchange for Yettaw's freedom and said he was "hopeful" they would heed
calls to free Suu Kyi to allow her to participate in elections due in
2010.

____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

August 19, New York Times
Visit to Myanmar – Editorial

Myanmar’s repressive government was uncharacteristically welcoming when
Senator Jim Webb visited last weekend. The junta released an American
prisoner. Its leader, Senior Gen. Than Shwe, held talks with Mr. Webb and
allowed him to meet with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel Peace Prize
winner who has been under house arrest for 14 of the last 20 years.

We hope this new attitude means that Myanmar’s leaders are looking for
ways to lessen their isolation and are finally ready to loosen their iron
grip. We encourage the Obama administration to test that proposition. But
it is far too early to lift sanctions on one of the world’s most
authoritarian regimes.

The seven-year sentence imposed on John Yettaw was cruel. The American,
who suffers from post-traumatic stress, was convicted after swimming
across a lake to visit Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi, uninvited, at her home. The
junta used the incident to add another 18 months to her detention, which
now extends past next year’s general elections. She — and 2,000 other
political prisoners — should be released immediately and allowed to engage
in peaceful political activity.
Mr. Webb is right that American policy — Washington tries to isolate the
junta, while Myanmar’s neighbors pursue engagement — has failed to bring
change. The Obama administration’s policy review, on hold during Mrs. Aung
San Suu Kyi’s trial, must be speeded up if Washington hopes to influence
the elections.

Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi has been a strong supporter of economic pressure.
But Mr. Webb said she told him she “is not opposed to lifting some
sanctions.” A statement issued by her lawyer on Tuesday suggests
otherwise. We would like to hear her views directly.

Any change should begin with a dialogue to explore how relations might
improve. The United States should press the junta to free Mrs. Aung San
Suu Kyi and allow the opposition to participate in fair elections. It
should make clear that it is prepared to begin lifting sanctions if the
junta demonstrates its willingness to stop persecuting its own people.
Washington must also make clear that it is closely monitoring reports of
suspected nuclear cooperation between Myanmar and North Korea.

The administration must also persuade China (Myanmar’s major foreign
investor), India and others to rethink their policies. If Washington is
willing to open a dialogue with the generals, Myanmar’s neighbors must be
willing to use their diplomatic and economic influence to press the
generals toward a peaceful transition.

____________________________________

August 19, TIME
Burma's monks carry on democratic fight – Hannah Beech

Sittwe, Burma – The abbot leaned in but didn't bother to lower his voice.
Around us were sitting half a dozen local Buddhist worshippers, including
one man whose aggressive curiosity about my presence made him a likely
informant for the notoriously repressive Burmese junta. No matter — the
abbot had no time for fear. "This is a very famous monastery," he said, as
I, the first foreign visitor to the monastery in many months, nodded.
"Important people have come here throughout history: Nehru, Indira Gandhi
and, of course, the Lady."

It was, in fact, the connection to Aung San Suu Kyi — the democracy icon
known simply as "the Lady" in Burma, who on Aug. 11 was sentenced to 18
months of house arrest on charges condemned by leaders worldwide — that
had led me to the Shwe Zedi monastery in the first place. Located in the
crumbling Indian Ocean port town of Sittwe, Shwe Zedi was the monastery of
U Ottama, one of Burma's most famous monks, whose pacifist resistance
against the colonial British inspired independence hero Aung San, father
of Nobel Peace Prize winner Suu Kyi. The political activism of the Shwe
Zedi monks has continued into modern times; in 2002, this was one of the
few places Suu Kyi visited in between stints of house arrest, and she
called for political change from its lawn. In September 2007, Shwe Zedi
was among the first in Burma to organize peaceful prodemocracy rallies, a
doomed effort that ended in the junta gunning down unarmed demonstrators
on the street. "At first, I was scared to join the protests," recalls a
teenage monk who participated in the mass rallies. "But I had faith that
even if it failed, it was better than doing nothing." (Read "Burma Court
Finds Aung San Suu Kyi Guilty.")

The generals who have ruled Burma since 1962 may have a harder time
keeping the faith. Most Burmese are devout Buddhists, and the junta tries
to burnish its image by plastering state-controlled newspapers with
articles about its cash contributions to religious causes. But no amount
of merit-making can erase the specter of regime goons massacring monks, as
they did in 2007 and, even more violently, in 1988. Although a frightened
hush followed the most recent crackdown, Suu Kyi's trial has ignited
speculation that this time, the generals have gone too far — and that
religious harmony has been disturbed. "Signs that the government in Burma
is losing its power are everywhere," opined a June editorial in Mizzima, a
leading Burmese dissident news website. "Why [is] a military government
armed to the teeth very afraid of the gentle lady who speaks softly from
behind bars, as well as barefoot monks who pray peacefully?"

Certainly, the signs from the heavens haven't been auspicious of late. On
May 30, the revered Danoke pagoda on the outskirts of Rangoon suddenly
collapsed, killing three and injuring dozens of others. Burmese with an
eye for otherworldly coincidences noted that a recent ceremony for the
pagoda had been presided over by none other than the wife of Than Shwe,
the junta's supremo leader. Many ruling generals are known to consult
astrologers — a previous junta head once denominated the Burmese currency
by nine because he considered the number lucky — and the collapse of a
pagoda after being blessed by a junta family member surely dented their
sense of divine right. Then, on June 4, an elevator inside a 32-story
Buddha statue in Sagaing division rapidly lost altitude, injuring several
passengers. "Burmese people take omens very seriously," says a newspaper
editor in Rangoon. "I can assure you that the generals are very worried."

In the aftermath of the crushed 2007 protests, Shwe Zedi, like many
monasteries across the country, was forced to shutter for a month.
Cautiously the faithful returned, but dozens of Sittwe monks are still
missing, believed either to be toiling in labor camps or to have slipped
into foreign exile. Yet the monks I spoke to seemed curiously unafraid to
talk. "It is our responsibility to try to change our country," said a monk
who sat cross-legged on the burnished teak floor of the 19th century
monastery. "If the monkhood doesn't do it, who else will?" Another monk
padded over to a bookcase and pulled out a Burmese-English dictionary,
flipped through it and pointed to a word: democracy. Perhaps their
outspokenness is the legacy of their monastery's activism — or the
knowledge that they carry far more legitimacy in the eyes of the Burmese
people than does a clutch of army men.

In September 1988, in Burma's precursor to the Tiananmen Square massacre,
hundreds — if not thousands — of people were slaughtered when troops
opened fire on monks, students and other peaceful protesters in Rangoon,
just days after predictions had abounded that the junta was on its last
legs. Two years later, the ruling generals lost badly in elections to Suu
Kyi's National League for Democracy, a clear indication of the public's
disenchantment with army rule. The junta ignored the poll results and
tightened its grip on power. In 2010, the regime promises another
nationwide poll, the final step to building what it calls a
"discipline-flourishing democracy." Few doubt that the generals will
ensure their victory this time through intimidation or
ballot-box-stuffing. (Read "Burma's Agony.")

So what can the monks of Shwe Zedi do, besides silently point at words in
a dictionary? I posed the question to the abbot, who replied, "Pray." The
snooping man sitting near us, who had whipped out a camera to take photos
of our meeting, smirked. As I left Shwe Zedi, the abbot handed me a slip
of newspaper on which rolled a tiny ivory-hued bead. It was, he said, a
bone relic of the Buddha, or at least it symbolized as much. I thanked him
for the gift of luck. But I couldn't help thinking that the monks of Burma
— not to mention the impoverished citizens kneeling around me in their
frayed sarongs — will need the relic far more than I.

____________________________________

August 19, Associated Press
US Senator's visit could herald new Myanmar policy – Grant Peck

BANGKOK — While U.S. Sen. Jim Webb's high-profile visit to Myanmar offers
an opportunity to turn around America's policy toward the military-ruled
nation, any real warming of relations is likely to be a slow and uncertain
process.

Webb's trip was "an important step, a first step" toward creating change,
said David Steinberg, a Myanmar specialist at Georgetown University,
adding it is too early to predict its impact.

He and other scholars believe it is highly unlikely the ruling generals
will meet long-standing international demands to release opposition leader
Aung San Suu Kyi ahead of elections set for 2010.

Without that, Western nations such as the United States have little reason
to come through with any major action of their own, such as easing the
political and economic sanctions they have long maintained against the
regime.

The generals may be interested in dealing. When Webb, a Democrat from
Virginia, went to Myanmar last weekend he was given unprecedented access.
He was granted the rare privilege of seeing both the country's reclusive
leader, Senior Gen. Than Shwe, and his nemesis, detained democracy icon
Suu Kyi.

His meeting Saturday with Than Shwe was the first time the general has met
with a senior U.S. political figure. And even U.N. Secretary-General Ban
Ki-moon was not allowed to see Suu Kyi when he was last in Myanmar.

Webb pulled off a feel-good trifecta, ultimately winning the freedom of
American John Yettaw, who was sentenced to seven years in jail for
sneaking into Suu Kyi's home. Yettaw's escapade saddled his reluctant
hostess with another 18 months under house arrest. Suu Kyi has been
detained for 14 of the last 20 years.

The senator, one of the most prominent U.S. advocates of a new Myanmar
policy, acknowledged he is not optimistic she will soon be freed.

He said, however, he is "hopeful that, over time, the government of
Myanmar will understand that with the scrutiny of the outside world,
judging their government very largely on how they are treating Aung San
Suu Kyi, that it is to their advantage to allow her to participate in the
political process."

Meanwhile, he suggested the U.S. could respond to the "gestures" offered
him and "begin laying a foundation of good will and confidence-building so
that we may be able to have a better situation in the future."

Webb, who chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee's East Asia and
Pacific Affairs Subcommittee, did not specify if this should include an
easing of sanctions, which he has described as a failure.

"The sanctions of the past several years have increased Myanmar's
isolation from Western governments and culture," he told reporters. "These
are major impediments in allowing the Burmese people the kind of access to
the outside world that is essential to their economic and political
growth." Burma is the old name for Myanmar.

He also said the sanctions were ineffective because Myanmar could rely on
the support of neighbor and ally China to make up for them. To that
extent, he said, they were also counterproductive, because China could
increase its economic and political influence in Myanmar at Western
expense.

Webb said he didn't want to misrepresent Suu Kyi's views, but it was his
"clear impression from her that she is not opposed to lifting some
sanctions," and that "there would be some areas she would be willing to
look at."

"You've got to have some sanctions there as a form of leverage or
pressure, but you need to be doing an awful lot more to bring about a
process of change," said Trevor Wilson, a Myanmar expert at the Australian
National University in Canberra.

"There could be some symbolic changes," said Donald Seekins, a Myanmar
expert at Japan's Meio University, including dropping a ban on visits to
the United States by junta officials and upgrading the U.S. diplomatic
presence in Myanmar with the appointment of an ambassador.

"They could cut down on some of the rhetoric," he added.

Both sides are also constrained by domestic political considerations. In
Myanmar's case, the ruling military wants to keep a lid on pro-democracy
sentiments that could be unleashed ahead of next year's election if Suu
Kyi is released from house arrest.

For the administration of President Barack Obama, any loosening of
sanctions could be used by his foes as a case of being soft on tyrants.
And other Western nations aren't necessarily on board.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown — a longtime supporter of Suu Kyi — has said
that he'll push allies to harden measures against the military regime.

"I have always made clear that the United Kingdom would respond positively
to any signs of progress on democratic reform," Brown said following Suu
Kyi's sentencing this month. "But with the generals explicitly rejecting
that course ... the international community must take action."

Scholar Wilson said the time for change may come if next year's election
is held successfully.

"It's going to be almost a new situation, not democracy, not the sort of
progressive reform-oriented open-minded policy that we all wanted. Not a
sudden improvement in human rights law or anything like that," he said.

"But it will be something that the government can't keep a tight hold on
like they had in the past. It's going to be a little bit freer."

Foster Klug in Washington, David Stringer in London and Robert Wielaard in
Brussels contributed to this report.

____________________________________

August 19, New Light of Myanmar
Just need to pass through the narrow area – Hlaing Bwa (Parami)

My plan to spend this weekend reading was knocked out by my good lady's
strong request for a pilgrimage to Mandalay and Pyin Oo Lwin. Her request
somehow plucked me up from my having overloaded with work for months at a
stretch. Her tone and glance at me implied that I had forgotten the family
affairs for a long time, so I had no choice but to fulfil her wish.

Mandalay-Pyin Oo lwin Road is a fine one if compared with its conditions
in my youth. The grand two-way tarmacked road is designed to avoid traffic
jams and is kept clean, thus adding to the beauty of the scenery along it.
I relished with such a golden opportunity to view the positive changes
from the car en route. If the inspiring success achieved due to the
earnest efforts the government has made to generate a prosperous future of
the nation is compared to a flower garden, the motorway is like a flower
bed.

About an hour after we set out on, the journey, I was awakened by the loud
noise of a motorcycle bound for Pyin Oo Lwin on the downhill lane. I was
surprised by that vehicle moving on the other side, but in parallel with
our car. So, I looked outside to find out if there was a traffic signboard
indicating both forward way and return way, but I did not find such a
traffic signboard. Then, I checked to find out if we took the wrong way,
but I found that our car was on the correct way, as evidenced by the
traffic signboards indicating to Mandalay: The event made me puzzled. Some
time later, I was drowsy again.

Again I was awakened by the sound of the motorcycles driving in the wrong
lane, but that time I was not surprised because I came to understand that
the motorcyclists were violating the traffic rules by driving in the other
lane meant for vehicles travelling opposite direction. That was very
dangerous to our car moving at high speed. I shuddered at the thought that
there might have been a head-on collision between the erratic cycles and
our car. If so, such a traffic accident would tarnish the image of the
fine road. Then, I saw some motorcycles sporadically moving in the same
way, and that was no longer new to me. It seemed to me such reckless
drivers violated traffic rules indiscriminately in the places where the
enforcement of traffic rules hardly worked. I took my ballpoint pen out of
the handbag to note down the license plate numbers with the intention of
complaining to the department concerned about such careless violations of
traffic rules, but I gave up my intention when my wife touched me to show
her disagreement.

I wonder who will punish such reckless drivers. They seemed to think that
there was no need to abide by the traffic rules in the countryside. I did
not find anything that made it difficult for them to follow traffic rules.
The traffic island area is just 30 feet wide. So, the area they had to
pass through to take the correct way was narrow. I did not know why they
circumvented traffic rules, which was disappointing. Myanmar may see a
large number of cases in which some people circumvent the laws in the
democratic system for which the government is working hard, as aspired by
the people. They are not serious matters but they must be addressed
without fail.

Then, I could not help expanding my thought about small-but-serious
matters. Some groups with leaders who disregard such matters still indulge
themselves in doing wrong, but some abandoned armed struggle line. On 30
March 2009, Captain Saw Ne Soe Mya, son of late chairman Saw Bo Mya of
KNU/KNLA, and party together with their families joined Htotkawkoe Village
in which KNU/KNLA Peace Council is located. Why did they do so? They
started to take the correct way and made peace because they came to
realize that the area between the two ways is narrow. In fact, narrow
strip areas are designated as borders between two states or divisions in
the Union of Myanmar to facilitate the administrative machinery of the
government.

The restrictions in the social, literary, cultural and commercial sectors
are not heavy. Those who realize the role of small-but-serious matters
fortify amicable relations between national races, safeguard the Union,
cultivate a sense of Union Spirit, and live in the nation irrespective of
region. In the nation, there have never been restrictions on any
particular national race. That is a correct principle for a union. So,
there is no need to promulgate unnecessary restrictions. If a person
suggests that the nation promulgate needless restrictions, he must be
inspired by his dishonest behaviours or because of the instigation of
certain foreign countries that are anxious to weaken the Union.

A family member can stay anywhere in his house. So, walls will be
unnecessary if occasion does not arise to protect the family members
against bad weathers, thieves and robbers. However, thin partition is
necessary for even a hut. With this concept, 17 national race armed groups
have returned to the legal fold to share joys and sorrows with other
national brethren. In February 2007, Chairman of KNU/KNLA Commander of
Brigade (7) Major General Htein Maung and members made peace, thereby
taking the correct way from the wrong one through the narrow area. Here is
a noteworthy point that it is impossible to win the approval of the whole
international community.

Certain countries that hate to see development of the Union of Myanmar,
interfere in the internal affairs of other countries and exercise
protectionism deceive the international community into considering small
differences between the policies of Myanmar to be big ones. If their
deceptions do not work, they rumour things to exaggerate the small
matters. It is amazing that there is a thin layer between their one policy
and another. The changes of presidents or prime ministers in those
countries are like a magic show. Indeed, the political curtain of the
world's stage is a thin cloth.

It is disappointing that the political party that is not capable of
noticing such small-but-serious matters and sticks to their policies. That
party walks in reverse on a road. It walks on the wrong way, but in
parallel with others on the correct way. Actually, it on purpose fails to
pass through the small area to get to the correct way although it knows
that the area between the two ways is narrow. Their acts are all designed
to mislead the people into considering the government to be a villain one,
but itself to be a saviour of the nation. If it really wants to serve the
interest of the mother country, what it needs to do is just to pass
through the narrow area and join hands with the people. If it marches in
parallel with others, but in the wrong way meant for traffic going
opposite, it will face adverse effects, and they will go backwards even
though it is trying to go forwards.

In addition, it persists in trying to revive the expired results of the
1990 election. It acts as if the disagreements were very huge, and it
found it difficult to pass through the narrow area. It issued Gandhi Hall
Declaration to make the country divert from its path. And if so, it will
watch with great relish the conflicts between the people on the wrong way
and the government. Then, it will come out of the public as a saviour with
the help of its western masters. Its fantasy is particularly intended to
serve its interest. However, the people have known what its fantasy is
like. The people do not comply with its instructions. The people have
realized that members of the party were disunited in the 1988 unrest, and
the Tatmadaw relieve the miseries of the people in the mass demonstrations
that broke out at the instigation of some audacious youths.

Again they are holding meetings and issuing announcements to disrupt the
election the government will hold with genuine goodwill in 2010. They are
like the reckless drivers I face on my pilgrimage. They are trying to put
into reality the risky Methrawhta constitution drawn by traitors as well
as expatriates. Surely, they will not proceed if they take the ordinary
way, so they are planning .to march in the lane on the other side.

To make things worse, they are demanding for reviewing the State
constitution that has been approved with the support of 92.48 per cent of
the voters,_ as the expression that is common in the country "cooking the
rice that is already cooked". And they are like the drivers who drive
their cars backwards on the right lane.

Anyhow, it is not too late for anti-government politicians to mend their
ways because even armed insurgents have realized the small disagreements
and returned to the legal fold. In other words, they just need to pass
through the small area to get to the correct way. Honestly, the goal of
democracy is within the touching distance if the people march with
self-discipline along the path to the new nation, wiping out the drivers
who are driving in the wrong lane.

Translation: MS

____________________________________
PRESS RELEASE

August 19, International Federation for Human Rights, ALTSEAN-Burma, Burma
Lawyer's Council
Burma/Myanmar: EU sanctions against SPDC inadequate: EU must back a UNSC
Commission of Inquiry

Paris - Brussels - Bangkok - In the wake of the sentencing of National
League for Democracy (NLD) leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the International
Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), ALTSEAN-Burma, and the Burma Lawyer's
Council (BLC) urge the European Union (EU) to support the establishment of
a UN Security Council Commission of Inquiry into crimes against humanity
and war crimes in Burma.

The EU responded to the verdict of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi with additional
targeted measures against Burma’s military regime, the State Peace and
Development Council (SPDC), including new restrictions on the four judges
responsible for the verdict. In addition, the EU imposed an asset freeze
on four SPDC-run media companies.

“The new sanctions imposed by the EU are and totally  inadequate in the
face of the worsening human rights situation and the ongoing atrocities
against ethnic nationalities. These sanctions reflect the political
unwillingness of the EU to take a firm stance on this issue and increase
dangerously the risk that the regime will consider this as a green light
to continue committing international crimes ” said Souhayr Belhassen, FIDH
President.

“The EU must not be fooled by the SPDC’s phony attempt to show leniency on
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. The SPDC has fulfilled its strategy to keep Daw Aung
San Suu Kyi out of the picture while, at the same time, the SPDC tells the
world that Burma is on the path to democracy. How can the SPDC’s planned
elections be given any credence when war still rages in Eastern Burma?”
questioned Debbie Stothard, Coordinator of Altsean-Burma.

In June, SPDC Army attacks against Karen villagers forced over 6,000
civilians to seek refuge across the border in Thailand. In late July, the
regime forcibly displaced over 10,000 villagers in Central Shan State.
Since 1997, the regime has destroyed over 3,000 villages and displaced
over half a million civilians in Eastern Burma.1

FIDH, ALTSEAN – Burma and BLC firmly believe that there must be a UN
Security Council Commission of Inquiry into crimes against humanity and
war crimes in Burma. It is the only way to show that the international
community is serious about stopping the SPDC’s human rights violations and
ending impunity in Burma.

FIDH, ALTSEAN - Burma and BLC urge the EU to take the lead on this issue.
“This is a critical juncture that requires leadership from the European
Union members. The EU must set an example for the international community
and urge others to follow. With the SPDC’s planned elections growing near,
time and pressure are of the essence." said Aung Htoo, Secretary General
of BLC.

Enquiries:
Debbie Stothard, Cellphone : +668 1686 1652
Anelyn de Luna, +668 14034830
Aung Htoo, Secretary General of BLC
Gael Grilhot - FIDH : + 33-1 43 55