BurmaNet News, October 27, 2009

[Editor]

October 27, 2009 Issue #3827


INSIDE BURMA
DVB: 25 percent of Shan families forcibly relocated
DVB: Photos released of murdered Japanese journalist
Irrawaddy: Playing the Suu Kyi card
IMNA: NMSP Chairmen organize throughout Mon State in preparation for 2010
elections

ON THE BORDER
Al Jazeera: Rohingya forced to build fence
Xinhua: Myanmar, China to jointly shoot film featuring human trafficking

REGIONAL
Mizzima News: Junta supremo to visit Sri Lanka

INTERNATIONAL
The Age (Australia): Wives ignore party divide to support Suu Kyi
Mizzima News: Religious freedom yet to be won in Burma: new report
ISRIA.com (France): Troika of the community of democracies appeals to
Burma/Myanmar to end human rights abuses

OPINION / OTHER
Guardian (UK): A glimmer of light for Burma – Simon Tisdall

PRESS RELEASE
Burma Rivers Network: Communities stand up against Chinese dams on Burma’s
Irrawaddy





____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

October 27, Democratic Voice of Burma
25 percent of Shan families forcibly relocated – Francis Wade

More than a quarter of families in Burma’s northeastern Shan state were
forcibly relocated in the past year, while nine percent of families had at
least one member injured by a landmine, a US health academic said.

A further 24 percent of families had one member taken by Burmese troops
for forced labour, according to Professor Chris Beyrer, from the Johns
Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

The findings were reported to the US House Foreign Affairs Committee
during a testimony on US policy to Burma last week.

While much of the rhetoric surrounding the policy shift has focused on
Aung San Suu Kyi and Burma’s 2,100 political prisoners, Beyrer said that
attacks on ethnic nationalities in the Karen and Shan states “are the
second major cause for concern in Burma today”.

Attacks by Burmese troops in Shan state, Burma’s largest state with a
population of nearly five million, had been particularly intense, with 39
villages targeted and 10,000 villagers forcibly displaced as “part of a
systematic and widespread scorched earth campaign”.

The findings of investigations into landmine injuries in Shan state were
among the highest rates ever documented, he said.

Burma’s state expenditure on healthcare is amongst the lowest in the
world. Medicins Sans Frontieres (MSF) estimates that $US0.70 per capita
per year, or 0.3 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP), is channeled
into the health sector.

The volatile Shan state, which borders China, was the scene of heavy
fighting in August and September between government troops and an armed
ethnic group from the Kokang region.

The fighting, which erupted following rising tension over the government’s
proposals to transform ethnic armies into border guard militias, forced
some 37,000 refugees into China.

Beyrer said that the attacks on ethnic groups were part of the
government’s preparation for the 2010 elections.

“The junta is creating new humanitarian emergencies with its current
campaign for political control of ethnic areas and destabilizing its
border regions with China,” he said.

“Burmese refugees continue to flee not only into China, but to Thailand,
India, Bangladesh and Malaysia, making this a truly regional concern.”

____________________________________

October 27, Democratic Voice of Burma
Photos released of murdered Japanese journalist – Francis Wade

Images of the post-mortem examination on the body of a Japanese journalist
shot dead by Burmese police during the September 2007 protests have been
released for the first time.

Accompanied by the images obtained by DVB of the body of Kenji Nagai, who
worked for Tokyo’s APF news agency, are photographs of the possessions he
carried when he died. Separate footage captured by DVB reporters filming
the demonstrations appears to show Nagai carrying a camera that has not
been included in the exhibit of his possessions.

A letter sent in November 2007 by Japanese activists to Burma’s ruling
State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) protesting the shooting had
demanded that the camera and videotape be returned to Nagai’s family
“without any modifications to the recorded material”. The family has since
received all of his belongings apart from the camera and videotape.

Subsequent footage released on Japanese television showed a government
soldier taking the camera. A wristwatch that Nagai was wearing when he
died is also missing from the exhibit photograph.

Nagai was killed by a single bullet-wound to the chest as he filmed monks
and civilians protesting on the streets of Rangoon, in what has now come
to be known as the Saffron Revolution.

The Japanese prime minister at the time described the killing as
“extremely unfortunate”, while the government’s chief cabinet secretary
demanded an investigation into the incident.

Relations between the two countries temporarily soured after the shooting,
with Japan halting aid to Burma. This was resumed however following
cyclone Nargis in May 2008.

Nagai was the only foreigner to have been killed during protests which
lasted for eight days before the government launched a brutal crackdown,
killing scores of monks and students in the process.

Up to 50,000 people are thought to have been involved in the
demonstrations which erupted after the government hiked up fuel prices
overnight, in some cases to five times their original price.

Since his death, an award has been created in Nagai’s name to honour
reporters documenting human rights abuses in Burma.

The first recipient of the award was Eint Khaing Oo, a female journalist
who was imprisoned after reporting on cyclone Nargis. She has since been
released.

The Times quoted an associate of Nagai’s who said the 50-year-old was
“relentless” in his pursuit of stories. He had previously documented
conflicts in Afghanistan, Iraq, Cambodia and Palestine.

For photos, visit: http://english.dvb.no/news.php?id=2990
____________________________________

October 27, Irrawaddy
Playing the Suu Kyi card – Wai Moe

At last week’s meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations
(Asean) at the resort town of Cha-am in Thailand, Burmese Prime Minister
Gen Thein Sein told heads of state that Burma’s pro-democracy leader Aung
San Suu Kyi has a role to play in the country’s reconciliation process. He
did not, however, provide details or clarify exactly what role he was
referring to.

However, Win Tin, a prominent leader within Suu Kyi’s opposition National
League for Democracy (NLD) party, has claimed that Thein Sein’s comment
could be intended to defuse tensions with the United States ahead of the
Asean- US summit in Singapore next month.

Speaking to The Irrawaddy on Tuesday, he said, “I think this is a kind of
political game that the Burmese premier is playing with regard to Suu Kyi.
At the moment, I do not see any genuine political will toward the
reconciliation process in Burma.

“Reconciliation is more than just a word or a concept. It must be
practiced at the dialogue table,” he added.

The Asean-US summit will be held in Singapore on Nov. 15, coinciding with
the annual leaders' meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum
(APEC). US President Barack Obama will meet with Thein Sein during the
summit, the first meeting between the two.

US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia Kurt Campbell is also
scheduled to visit Burma in the coming weeks. He may meet with Suu Kyi and
some ethnic leaders, as well as government officials such as U Thaung, the
minister of Science and Technology and former Burmese ambassador to
Washington, who Campbell met in New York in September.

Whether Campbell will meet with junta strongman Snr-Gen Than Shwe is
unclear, according to diplomatic sources.

Commenting on Campbell’s trip, Win Tin said he hoped Campbell would be
more proactive toward democracy in Burma than UN Secretary-General Ban
Ki-moon, whose trip to Burma in July was widely labeled a failure.

“Mr Campbell will be different from Mr Ban Ki-moon,” Win Tin said. “During
his visit, Mr Ban Ki-moon met representatives of 10 political parties and
gave us just two minutes each to explain the political situation in the
country—it was very disappointing.”

Suu Kyi has repeatedly requested the junta for an audience with members of
her party’s central executive committee, including Win Tin, but to date
her requests have gone answered.

After the conclusion of its Burma policy review, the Obama administration
said that it will follow a policy of direct engagement with Burma while it
retained sanctions against the junta.

The chairman at the 15th Asean summit in Cha-am on Sunday said the
regional leaders welcomed the US’s engagement policy.

“The US’ engagement with Burma is very different from Asean’s,” said Larry
Jagan, a British journalist who specializes in Burma issues. “The US’
Burma policy goes with engagement and sanctions.

“The US’ engagement is very sensible. We can call it ‘sensible
engagement,’” he said, adding that Asean has lost momentum in dealing with
Burma since it allowed the military regime membership in 1997.

During the summit, Thein Sein and his foreign minister, ex Maj-Gen Nyan
Win, briefed Asean representatives on the political situation in Burma,
including the 2010 election and Suu Kyi’s meetings with the junta’s
liaison officer, ex Maj-Gen Aung Kyi, and Western diplomats.

Burmese officials even hinted during a meeting with Japanese delegates
that Suu Kyi could be released before her current 18-month term of house
arrest expires if she “maintains a good attitude.”

Unlike previous meetings in Thailand throughout 2009, at the 15th Asean
Summit, Abhisit and Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya responded briefly
to a few questions concerning Suu Kyi at press conferences.

However, the Asean chairman dropped a previous call for the release of
political prisoners, including Suu Kyi, in his statements during the
summit and related meetings.

“This is disappointing,” said Win Tin. “It showed Asean cannot do anything
for the Burmese people. It seems Asean’s engagement with Burma is just for
business interests.”

____________________________________

October 27, Independent Mon News Agency
NMSP Chairmen organize throughout Mon State in preparation for 2010
elections – Rai Maraoh

Reports have surfaced that New Mon State Party (NMSP) chairman Nai Htaw
Mon, as well NMSP Central Executive Committee members Nai Hong Sar and Nai
Htar Wara, have been traversing Mon State and MNSP territory since
mid-September 2009, organizing Mon communities in Burma in preparation for
the 2010 elections.

“They [the NMSP organizing committee] are explaining the most important
elements of the NMSP agenda, and what they have done already and what are
they are planning to do for the future” said an NMSP officer based in
Sangkhlaburi, Thailand.

According to IMNA’s reporters, Nai Htaw Mon and his fellow Central
Executive Committee members have been touring the various districts of Mon
State and MNSP territory separately, each accompanied by a small group of
NMSP members. The three groups have been holding lectures in strategic
locations, where they discussed the NMSP’s political positions to groups
of villagers, youth, and monks.

“Nai Htaw Mon and his members organized in Mudon Township this week, they
explained the NMSP’s decision not to accept the SPDC’s Border Guard Force
or People’s Militia offers,” said a Mudon Township resident who attended a
lecture at a local monastery.

According to IMNA’s reporter, Nai Htaw Mon and his group have thus far
toured Moulmein District and Tha-ton District, NMSP General Secretary Nai
Hong Sar and Central Executive Committee Member Nai Htar Wara have both
travelled from Tavoy District to Bee Ree area, upstream of the Ye river.
Reports indicate that the majority of the lectures centered around the
NMSP’s official rejection of the Burmese government’s offer to convert its
armed wing into a Border Guard force this August.

“They accumulated [for the lectures] the residents at the NMSP district
office, and then for the monks they spoke at the monasteries; they also
included Mon youth these meetings; They told us Mon people needed to know
about NMSP’s position [regarding the Border Guard Force offer], they told
us the NMSP will never change their position on this issue,” the Mudon
Township resident who spoke to IMNA added.

This source added that the organizers at the Mudon Township conference
informed the audience that the NMSP wants the Mon community in Burma to
understand the NMSP’s position on the Burmese government’s Border Guard
Force offer clearly, before the 2010 elections.

This January, IMNA reported on the NMSP’s January 27th announcement of
dissatisfaction with the Burmese Government’s 2008 constitution; the NMSP
issued a statement claiming that if certain elements of the constitution
were changed, it would consider running in the 2010 elections.

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

October 27, Al Jazeera
Rohingya forced to build fence – Nicolas Haque

On Myanmar's side of the Naf River that marks border with Bangladesh,
labourers are hard at work building a fence that will prevent them fleeing
persecution.

They will not be paid for their work. Instead the men, who come from the
persecuted Rohingya ethnic group, have been coerced into erecting the
230km long fence by the threat of violence against their families.

The Rohingyas are a distinct ethnic group from Myanmar's Rakhine State.
The authorities in Yangon have refused to recognise them as citizens and
they have been persecuted for their cultural difference and practice of
Islam.

For many, life in Myanmar has become so difficult that they have fled
across the border to Bangladesh. Over the past year 12,000 Rohingyas have
been caught crossing the border illegally.

Now they are being forced to build a fence to prevent such escapes.

"The Myanmar army have forced all of the men living in the villages on the
border to work on the fence," a worker involved in the construction says.
"Most of them are Rohingyas. If we don't do as they say they beat us and
our families."

So far they have fenced off 70km of border in what experts believe is an
attempt by Yangon to increase control of the lucrative smuggling trade
that flourishes in the area.

"Illegal trade between Myanmar and Bangladesh has formerly been in favour
of Bangladesh, but this will change now,"explains Professor Imtiaz Ahmed,
from Dhaka University. "The country that controls the barriers between
borders can also assert greater control over the illegal trade."

Disputed border

Bangladesh and Myanmar have never agreed on their borders, and an ongoing
dispute over where their maritime frontiers lie has seen tension rise
along the Naf river.

The contested maritime border involves a patch of sea believed to contain
valuable oil and gas. Control of these waters could make either country
very rich, and experts say that diplomatic relations between the two
countries has deteriorated as a result of the dispute.

"The tension was heightened last November when the Myanmar Navy came in to
put a rig in what Bangladesh claims, rightly, to be our own territorial
water," says Retired Major General ANM Muniruzzaman, from the Bangladesh
Institute of Peace and Security Studies.

"Eventually the Bangladeshi diplomatic efforts diffused the situation, and
the Myanmar navy rig went back, but the Myanmar government has
consistently told Bangladesh that this is their water, and that they will
come back. When that happens, perhaps the Myanmar government wants to put
a dual pressure on Bangladesh, not only from the sea but also from the
land border."

That process may have already started. Myanmar has deployed 50,000 men to
the border with Bangladesh, and in the past month alone, Dhaka has
responded by sending an additional 3000 troops to the area in a manoeuvre
codenamed "Operation Fortress."

Officially, the Bangladeshi government denies there is tension along the
border. The troops say they are there to monitor and stop the illegal
trafficking of goods and people.

But the soldiers know that relations between the two countries are strained.

"We have a border through which we can observe the other side of the
river. Our troops morale is very high, under any circumstances we are
ready to protect the integrity and sovereignty of our country," says
Lieutenant Colonel Mozammel, commanding officer of Border Guards
Bangladesh in Teknaf.

Unregistered refugees

Meanwhile, the horrific conditions faced by the Rohingyas in Myanmar are
prompting thousands to flee to Bangladesh.

Malika is one of those who crossed the Naf river illegally. Her feet are
swollen from the three-day walk to escape Yangon's soldiers.

She says she suffered horrific abuse there and had no choice but to leave.

"I couldn't stay there, the soldiers raped me over and over again," she
says. "The Myanmar army do not consider us as humans."

But once in Bangladesh, the refugees face new problems. Of more than
400,000 Rohingyas believed to have slipped across the border into
Bangladesh, just 26,000 have been offically recognised as refugees by the
Bangladeshi government and the United Nations.

The authorities refuse to feed and house the rest.

Even the handful of NGOs working here are not allowed to provide food or
medical aid or education facilities to unregistered Rohingyas because the
government fears that this would spark tensions between poor local
villagers and the new arrivals.

Fadlullah Wilmot, the director of Muslim Aid in Bangladesh, explains:
"More than 44 per cent of the population in this area are ultra poor, that
means that their daily income only provides their basic food needs. The
literacy rate is about 10 per cent. The wage rate is low, so of course
there are tensions."

In limbo

In 1992, the Bangladeshi government, under the supervision of UNHCR,
organised the forced repatration of 250,000 Rohingyas on the basis that
the refugees would be given citizenship by the Myanmar authorities. That
promise was never kept.

Professor Ahmad believes the refugees are trapped between a rock and a
hard place.

"Myanmar's position is they do not recognise them as citizens, they are
stateless within Myanmar, and they are also stateless when they come to
Bangladesh," he says.

"If you build the fence now Myanmar will probably say it is ready to take
the 26,000 legal refugees from the camp but not the unregistered because
they don’t know who they are."

Trapped in limbo between two countries that don't want them, the Rohingyas
have become a bargaining chip for both Bangladesh and Myanmar as they try
to settle their border dispute.

In Bangladesh's refugee camps, frustration and anger are rife amongst the
beleagured minority.

"We cannot work. Our children can't go to school. Our wives aren't allowed
to see doctors," one man says. "We cannot receive any food aid. No one
wants us. This is humiliating, we have no arms, but we are ready to fight
and to blow ourselves up. People need to know that we exist."

____________________________________

October 27, Xinhua
Myanmar, China to jointly shoot film featuring human trafficking

Yangon -- Film directors of Myanmar and China will cooperate in shooting
an educative film featuring a story of human trafficking across border,
sources with the Myanmar Motion Picture Enterprise (MMPE) said on Tuesday.

The film, "The Road to Hell", is based on a story in which the mother
rescued her son and daughter from human traffickers to whom they were sold
by her second husband.

Their roles will be played by Myanmar and Chinese actors and actresses,
the sources said, adding that the movie will be shot in the border areas
of the two countries as well as Thailand.

Myanmar is making efforts to promote the standard of the country's video
features and movie production for penetrating foreign markets in
cooperation with foreign countries and through attending foreign film
festivals.

Earlier this month, a Myanmar film delegation comprising director, actors
and actresses took part in the 18th China Golden Rooster and Hundred
Flowers Film Festival held in Nanchang, Jiangxi province, in which two
Myanmar movies -- "Piece of String" and "Myaw Lint Chin Myar Swar" (Much
Expectation) were screened.

In 2007, Myanmar also took part in another Chinese film festival in Suzhou
with the film "Hexagon".

For the development of TV and movie sector, Myanmar sent delegations in
the past few years to international radio, movie and TV shows, Beijing
Film Festival and 16th Chinese Golden Rooster Film Festival as well as to
China, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and Singapore to learn the
digital camera technology and to India to study the TV broadcasting.

____________________________________
REGIONAL

October 27, Mizzima News
Junta supremo to visit Sri Lanka

Chiang Mai – The Burmese junta supremo Senior General Than Shwe will visit
Sri Lanka next month as part of an exercise to boost bilateral ties
between the two countries, said official sources.

Than Shwe, with an entourage of several ministers is likely to leave Burma
on November 11 in the newly bought Myanmar Airways International  A-320
aircraft and will return to Naypyitaw on November 16.

His visit is reciprocal in nature following that of Sri Lanka President
Mahinda Rajapaksa to Burma last June.

During his visit to Burma, President Mahinda Rajapaksa invited General
Than Shwe to visit Sri Lanka. During the ensuing visit, the junta chief is
expected to visit the pilgrimage sites of the country.

Than Shwe's family, which has an ostentatious life style, will be part of
the official visit.

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

October 27, The Age (Australia)
Wives ignore party divide to support Suu Kyi – Brendan Nicholson and Peter
Hawkins

TWO of Australia's most influential women have made a powerful protest
against the Burmese junta's treatment of detained opposition leader Aung
San Suu Kyi.

Therese Rein, wife of Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, and Lucy Turnbull, wife
of Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull, were among hundreds who turned out
on the Sydney Opera House steps at the ''Stand for Freedom'' protest
yesterday.

The presence of Ms Rein marks her most significant foray into a highly
contentious international issue, and is a marked contrast to the low
profile role adopted by her predecessor, Janette Howard.

It is certain to annoy Burmese officials.

Ms Rein said Ms Suu Kyi was a truly courageous woman and an inspiration to
all women in Australia and around the world.

''The Australian people, and the women of Australia in particular, want to
send a message today to Aung San Suu Kyi and to the people of Burma on
whose behalf she continues to sacrifice her own freedom.

''We wish to convey our great admiration for you and our strong support
for your struggle,'' she said. ''You provide an inspiration to young women
in Australia and around the world.''

Six years ago, Lucy Turnbull, then lord mayor of Sydney, awarded the keys
of the city to Ms Suu Kyi.

Members of Australia's Burmese community accepted the keys on her behalf.

''I don't think anyone at the key ceremony six years ago could have
imagined that Aung San would be still under house arrest today,'' Ms
Turnbull said.

The rally was organised by human rights activist, Labor MP and friend of
Ms Suu Kyi, Janelle Saffin, who said she was inspired by the turnout.

Ms Saffin said she was encouraged to see such a strong response to Ms Suu
Kyi's call to the world's democracies to ''please use your liberty to help
ours''.

''Our message to Suu Kyi and the Burmese is simple,'' she said. ''We stand
behind you, beside you, in front of you, and in times of trouble we will
keep you in our hearts and minds.''

On the Opera House steps, and holding a large portrait of Ms Suu Kyi, was
Daw Khinpyone, from Baulkham Hills in Sydney's north-west.

Ms Khinpyone spent nearly four years in jail in Burma during the 1960s.
She remembers the time spent in prison while she was pregnant and then as
a young mother still breast-feeding her child. ''That's not strange -
everybody suffers there,'' she said.

''We are fighting for democracy and need to support our people in Burma
who suffer a lot. But, our community is so happy after today and wants to
say thank you.''

Australian, British and American diplomats met Ms Suu Kyi in Burma on
October 9, their first substantive contact since 2003. Ms Suu Kyi sought
the meeting to obtain information about the three countries' sanctions
policies.

A spokeswoman for Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said the meeting was a
significant step by both Ms Suu Kyi and the Burmese authorities.

____________________________________

October 27, Mizzima News
Religious freedom yet to be won in Burma: new report

New Delhi – The United States State Department has once again produced a
report critical of the right to religious freedom inside military ruled
Burma.

Monday’s release of the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor’s 2009
International Religious Freedom Report accuses Burma’s government of both
propagating and favoring the views of state-sponsored Buddhism, while
systematically obstructing the practice of politically engaged Buddhism
and other religions.

“The regime commonly employed nonreligious laws to target those involved
in religious and political activism, including the Electronic Transactions
Act, Immigration Act, and Unlawful Associations Act,” finds the report.

“The Government’s pervasive internal security apparatus imposed de facto
restrictions on collective and individual worship through infiltration and
monitoring of meetings and activities of virtually all organizations,”
adds the document.

With specific reference to the monk-led protests of 2007, the report calls
out the generals on their attempt to "systematically restrict efforts by
Buddhist clergy to promote human rights and political freedom."

According to those consulted by American authorities, some 200 clergy
remain imprisoned inside Burma, with roughly three-quarters of the said
population arrested following the Saffron Revolution.

Meanwhile, adherence to and promotion of a form of Buddhism in accordance
with the interests of the military government continues to be a goal of
the regime as well as a means of personal advancement for those deemed to
be dutifully toeing the line.

“In practice,” argues the report, “the Government continues to show a
preference for Theravada Buddhism through official propaganda and
state-sponsored activities, including donations to monasteries and
pagodas, encouragement of education at Buddhist monastic schools in rural
areas, and support for Buddhist missionary activities.”

Disapproval is also expressed for the junta’s 2008 Constitution, which the
State Department points out does not allow members of religious orders to
vote while providing the basis for suppression of religion under means
"subject to public order, morality, health, and other provisions of the
Constitution."

No constitution in Burma, however, has ever granted the clergy the right
to vote.
Though crediting the government with apparently no longer subscribing to a
policy of forced conversion, the reports authors spare no corner in their
disclosure of the numerous means through with the regime seeks the
conversion of non-Buddhists to Buddhism.

The report does acknowledge that government promotion of Buddhism to the
detriment of minority religions is well entrenched in the annals of modern
Burmese history, iterating, “Successive civilian and military governments
have tended to view religious freedom in the context of perceived threats
to national unity or central authority.”

Burma's Rohingya Muslims are singled out for their persistent targeting by
the regime, a population that is still not even eligible to obtain
National Registration Cards indicating they are in fact a component of
Burmese society.

It is widely expected that Burma will be labeled a country of particular
concern (CPC) come early 2010, when Washington’s annual, official report
is expected released on the status of freedom of religion around the
world. Burma has been included in every such list since the inaugural
grouping was identified in 1999.

CPC designation is reserved for the governments of countries found guilt
of “ongoing, egregious violations of religious freedom.” The stigma can
carry with it the imposition of sanctions, which regarding Burma have been
widely employed since before the advent of the International Religious
Freedom Act in 2008.

____________________________________

October 27, ISRIA.com (France)
Troika of the community of democracies appeals to Burma/Myanmar to end
human rights abuses

On 26 October in Washington, the Troika (Portugal, Lithuania and Mongolia)
of the Community of Democracies, which is currently chaired by Lithuania,
issued a statement expressing grave concern about the development of the
trial of the opposition leader of Burma/Myanmar Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and
appealed to the ruling regime of Burma/Myanmar to end gross human rights
abuses in the country.

In the statement, the Troika of the Community of Democracies urges the
regime of Burma/Myanmar to immediately release Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and
other political prisoners, to initiate a political dialogue with the
democratic opposition of Burma/Myanmar and representatives of ethnic
minorities leading to national reconciliation, democratic reforms and free
and transparent general election.

In 1990 in Burma/Myanmar, the general election was organised for the first
time in 30 years. The election was won by the National League for
Democracy, the leader of which is Aung San Suu Kyi. She was arrested and
has spent 14 years out of the past 20 under house arrest.

On 11 August 2009, the Burma/Myanmar court sentenced the leader of the
opposition Aung San Suu Kyi to additional 18 months of house arrest for
allegedly violating the terms of her house arrest, when in May 2009 the
military of Burma/Myanmar arrested a U.S. citizen near the home of Aung
San Suu Kyi. It is believed that the junta has used the incident before
the election that is scheduled in 2010 to once again prolong the term of
the house arrest of Aung San Suu Kyi. The term had to end this year.

In 1991, Aung San Suu Kyi won the Nobel Peace Prize.

Since 1962, Burma/Myanmar has been ruled by the military regime. The
country suffers from big corruption, poverty and human rights abuses.
Since 1996, the European Union has applied sanctions against the military
regime in Burma/Myanmar.

Established in 1999, the Community of Democracies is an intergovernmental
structure. Democracies and developing democracies take part in its
activities. The goal of this organisation is to strengthen and deepen
democracy worldwide. The Community of Democracies is based on the Charter
of the United Nations and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The
Convening Group of the Community of Democracies is comprised of 17
members: Cape Verde, Chile, the Czech Republic, India, Italy, Lithuania,
Mali, Mexico, Mongolia, Morocco, the Philippines, Poland, Portugal,
Salvador, South Africa, South Korea and the U.S.A.

____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

October 27, Guardian (UK)
A glimmer of light for Burma – Simon Tisdall

As the regime makes tentative steps to re-engage, western governments must
take care not to undermine Burma's people

Cautious optimism expressed by Asian leaders at the weekend that the
situation of isolated, benighted Burma is taking a turn for the better may
prove to be more than the usual diplomatic doublespeak. Recent, relatively
positive signals from the ruling military junta do not amount to a change
of heart; the generals are not about to put up a sign saying "Dun
Dictatin'" and retire to their jungle palaces, officials say. But out of
darkness, a glimmer of light shows.

One hopeful indication came when Aung San Suu Kyi, the detained opposition
leader, was temporarily released from house arrest to meet foreign
diplomats and junta functionaries. The regime is also tentatively
re-engaging with western governments, including the US, which is due to
send a high-level delegation soon. And last month, prime minister Thein
Sein promised the UN that presidential and legislative elections due next
year would be "free and fair".

Despite Suu Kyi's sentencing in August to a further 18 months' detention,
Thein Sein reportedly told leaders at the 16-nation Asia-Pacific summit in
Hua Hin, Thailand, that he was "confident she can contribute to the
process of national reconciliation". Manmohan Singh, India's prime
minister, said: "There was an atmosphere of hope that the leadership is
moving towards normalising its relationship with the US [and] that next
year's election should see a reconciliation of the various segments of
Myanmar society."

There are several reasons for the regime's shifting stance, western
observers say. One is that the junta has begun to recognise it needs the
legitimacy that only a relatively transparent poll process can bring.
Domestically, the creation of regional legislatures may help defuse
ongoing, historically violent tensions with the country's 16 ethnic
groups; internationally, a respectable election could trigger an easing of
sanctions and additional aid and investment.

Senior General Than Shwe, 76, head of the junta, is said to be hoping to
stand down next year, for reasons of age and possible infirmity. He was
committed to the regime's so-called "road map" to democracy and felt he
had done "a good job" in holding the country together, one analyst said.
Now Than Shwe wanted to secure his legacy and the future safety of himself
and his family by regularising, within defined limits, Burma's relations
with the west.

Another reason for taking advantage of Barack Obama's willingness to
reopen dialogue is said to be a desire to counter China's growing
influence. Harsh words from Beijing over the recent forced exodus of
30,000 mostly ethnic Chinese Burmese from Kokang into Yunnan province came
as a sharp reminder that China, historically, was Burma's No 1 enemy, and
its security and commercial interests do not necessarily coincide with
Rangoon's.

US officials stress Obama is not offering the generals an easy option;
sanctions would remain in place until there was a quantifiable improvement
in the regime's behaviour, secretary of state Hillary Clinton said last
month. "We expect engagement with Burma to be a long, slow, painful and
step-by-step process," said her deputy, Kurt Campbell, who may lead the
visiting American delegation. But even circumscribed interaction with the
US, underpinned by joint demonstrations of mutual interest over issues
such as North Korea, would give the junta a strategic alternative to China
and its other overbearing neighbour, India.

Scepticism that this apparent shift will lead to anything more than a sham
election, decked out with democratic window-dressing to deflect western
critics and hoodwink international opinion, is natural, given the junta's
record since it stole the 1990 polls. The evident risk for Obama, the UN,
and others is that they will be suckered into supporting the
insupportable.

There's no doubt the 2010 election project is highly problematic. Burma's
new constitution guarantees the continuing ascendancy of the military. New
political candidates and parties will be vetted, Iran-style. Lack of free
media, the absence of independent scrutiny, and intolerance of open debate
do not sit well with the holding of "free and fair" polls. And one
deliberate side-effect may be the sidelining of Suu Kyi's National League
for Democracy (NLD), the winners in 1990, whose ageing leadership now
faces a cruel dilemma: either participate in the elections, thereby
lending credibility to a possible political travesty, or hold back and
risk irrelevance.

"While never ending our struggle for democracy, the NLD has continually
sought to engage the regime and open a dialogue, based on peace and mutual
respect, that could address Burma's critical political as well as social
problems," said NLD co-founder and former political prisoner U Win Tin in
a recent article in the Washington Post. But he added: "We will not be
cowed or coerced into participating in a fatally flawed political process
that robs the Burmese people of the freedom for which we struggle."

In other words, a careful balance must be struck. Any western policy aimed
at bringing the generals in from the cold should be carefully calibrated
to strengthen, not undermine, the legitimate aspirations of the Burmese
people. Getting the balance wrong will risk prolonged darkness in a land
where, as Kipling might have put it, it was the light that failed.

____________________________________
PRESS RELEASE

October 27, Burma Rivers Network
Communities stand up against Chinese dams on Burma’s Irrawaddy

Open defiance against Chinese dams in military-ruled Burma surfaced this
month as dam construction and a forced relocation process began in the
country’s northern Kachin State. Affected people directly confronted
leading military personnel and held mass prayers, while a community
network has written to the Chinese dam builders.

On October 9th, residents of Tanghpre village at the planned Myitsone dam
site on the confluence at the source of the Irrawaddy handed an open
letter directly to Burma’s Northern military commander, objecting to the
dam.

The dam will flood the confluence and displace 15,000 people. In August
military authorities informed residents that they had less than two months
to begin moving out.

“We cannot bring our farms with us when we move” said a representative of
the Tanghpre Village Housewives Group in a meeting with the commander on
October 10th. “We do not want to move and we appeal to you to bring our
concerns to Naypyidaw for consideration.”

On the same day, three hundred residents assembled at the confluence for a
public prayer ceremony to protect the rivers. Several historical churches
will be submerged by the Myitsone Dam, which will also flood forests in
one of the world’s “hottest hotspots” of biodiversity.

The Kachin Development Networking Group, which has been monitoring the dam
developments, are today sending an open letter to China Power Investment
calling on them to immediately stop construction of the Myitsone Dam and
other dams in Kachin State “to avoid being complicit in multiple serious
human rights abuses associated with the project.”

China Power Investment is planning a series of seven dams on the Irrawaddy
and its two main tributaries. Construction of the 2,000-megawatt Chibwe
Dam on the N’mai River has already begun. The majority of the electricity
from all the dams will be transmitted to China.

The latest details of the developments at the two dam sites and the recent
community opposition can be found in a report Resisting the Flood released
today by the Kachin Development Networking Group on
www.burmariversnetwork.org

Video footage is available at http://www.burmariversnetwork.org/videos.html

Contact: Ah Nan, (+66) 848854154, kdngchn at gmail.com