BurmaNet News, March 25, 2010

[Editor]

March 25, 2010, Issue #3924

QUOTE OF THE DAY
“I might have gotten released, but all my colleagues, my family -- they
are still in jail. I can't really be happy
.The U.S. keeps talking about
carrots. How many Burmese lives will be lost before they get to the
sticks?" – Nyi Nyi Aung, U.S. citizen recently released from detention in
Rangoon


INSIDE BURMA
IHT: Pole dances, punk rock and a taste of freedom; Young people push
limits of what Myanmar's rulers consider acceptable
Mizzima News: Party literature cannot criticize military: Junta

ASEAN
AFP: Vietnam PM to visit Myanmar ahead of ASEAN summit

REGIONAL
DVB: Malaysia criticised for migrant treatment

INTERNATIONAL
VOA: UN Chief to Burma: Create conditions for free & fair elections
Washington Post: For democracy activist Nyi Nyi Aung, homecoming is
bittersweet

OPINION / OTHER
Irrawaddy: NLD between a rock and a hard place – Aung Naing Oo

INTERVIEW
Irrawaddy: Divided opinion on NLD party registration

PRESS RELEASE
Christian Solidarity Worldwide: CSW welcomes UK government support for a
UN inquiry into Burma’s crimes against humanity
Burma Partnership: ASEAN Human Rights Commission must address crimes
against humanity in Burma




____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

March 26, International Herald Tribune
Pole dances, punk rock and a taste of freedom; Young people push limits of
what Myanmar's rulers consider acceptable

Yangon – Despite the repression, or perhaps partly because of it, young
people in the nation are pushing the limits of what the military
government, let alone their parents, consider acceptable art and
entertainment.

The dance music thundered through a crowd of thousands of drunken fans,
past the pavilions where skinny women in impossibly high heels gyrated
around metal poles, and into the streets filled with taxis that ferried
partygoers to this free, whiskey-soaked concert in the park.

''Our parents don't allow it, but we do it anyway,'' said Zun Pwint Phyu,
one of the pole dancers who endured hours of lascivious stares.

Myanmar is a country where owning a fax machine without a permit is
illegal, where even spontaneous gatherings of more than five people are
technically banned and where critics of the government are regularly
locked away for decades in tiny jail cells. Yet despite this repression,
or perhaps partly because of it, young people here are pushing the limits
of what the military government, let alone their parents, consider
acceptable art and entertainment.

Art exhibitions, some featuring risky hidden political messages, open
nearly every week in Yangon, Myanmar's main city. Yangon has a festival of
underground music, including punk bands, twice a year. Fans of the most
popular musical genres, hip-hop and electronic dance music, wear low-slung
baggy pants to regularly held concerts here.

U Thxa Soe, a popular artist who mixes traditional ''spirit dances'' with
something resembling techno music, believes that one of the reasons the
government has been tolerant of wild concerts in recent years is because
this fits into its strategy of control over the country. ''You need to
squeeze and release, squeeze and release,'' he said.

''We live in fear. We live under a dictatorship,'' he said. ''People need
fresh air. They release their anger, their energy.''

The success of artists like Mr. Thxa Soe undermines Myanmar's often
monochromatic image as a place of zero freedoms. The country, formerly
known as Burma, is by many measures a brutally authoritarian place - human
rights groups count 2,100 political prisoners. But even if the generals
willed it, people here say, the government would probably not be able to
pull off North Korean-style totalitarianism: Burmese society is too
unruly, disorganized and corrupt; its people are too creative; its climate
is too hot for 24-hour repression. The police are famously brutal, but
they, too, suffer from tropical torpor: A common scene is a group of them
napping in the back of a truck.

Over the last two years entertainment options have rapidly expanded for
residents of the largest cities in the country.

The government has nurtured the creation of a soccer league after years
without any system of organized matches. Soccer games are raucous, with
fans spewing invective toward the opposing side, ignoring government
exhortations to be ''polite'' at sporting events.

The number of FM radio stations broadcast in Yangon has gone from just one
a few years ago to a handful that play various types of both Burmese and
Western-style music. Late last year a private company started up the first
television channel in the country dedicated to music videos.

''The government is trying to distract people from politics,'' said a
Western-educated Burmese businessman who declined to be identified because
he thought it might jeopardize his business. ''There's not enough bread,
but there's a lot of circus.''

The contrast between the military government's heavy-handed
authoritarianism and the surprisingly uninhibited entertainment scene can
be jarring. Early this month the leader of the ruling junta, Senior Gen.
Than Shwe, marked ''Peasants Day,'' a national holiday honoring farmers,
with a message addressed to the ''Esteemed Peasantry.''

''I wish you, the peasantry, physical and mental well-being and greater
success in agricultural farming,'' the message said.

Yet as night fell at a lakeside fairground in Yangon, it was an altogether
different picture. Security guards had trouble holding back the thousands
of fans, who clamored over each other like peasants in revolt. Police
officers at times raised their night sticks menacingly, but they were
largely ignored by the crowd, who had come to see a bill of popular
artists playing music that ranged from heavy metal to pop.

Ear-splitting dance music carried across Inya Lake in the direction of the
home of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the democracy advocate and Nobel Peace
laureate who lives under house arrest.

She is banned from most contact with the outside world, including the
Internet and television, but it was likely she heard the concert,
dissonant chords of a society that is rapidly changing without her.

One longtime analyst of Myanmar says the government here tolerates
politics with a small p - gatherings of intellectuals and members of
smaller political groupings. But it cracks down without mercy on Politics,
with a capital P, which the analyst defines as anyone who questions the
legitimacy of the military rulers, like groups that support Ms. Aung San
Suu Kyi. The analyst, like this reporter, did not want to be identified
because the junta does not tolerate foreign journalists, aid workers or
academics who operate in the country without permission, which is often
denied.

Mr. Thxa Soe says he experiences both the government's hard-line rigidity
and its quirky, laissez-faire side. He is one of the most harassed
musicians in the country, constantly called in for reprimands at the
government's censorship board, which banned 9 of the 12 tracks on a recent
album. It has ordered him to delete countless other songs over the years
from DVDs and CDs and passed a law last year specifically banning his
innovative musical style.

Yet in a telling sign of the complexities of Burmese society, his
hard-driving music is very popular with civil servants. He sometimes jokes
with the military intelligence officers assigned to spy on his shows. They
are also fans, he says. He was invited to inaugurate the zoo at the
country's new capital, Naypyidaw, several years ago and has been invited
back to perform three times, including performances planned in April for
the annual water festival, where he will play for a crowd largely made up
of government workers.

''Some people in government like me, some people hate me,'' Mr. Thxa Soe
said.

His songs include ''We Have No Money,'' a title that appears to have
slipped past the censors. Poverty is a sensitive topic in Myanmar, because
many blame the country's poor economic performance on government
mismanagement and corruption.

Speculating about what kinds of activities the government will tolerate is
a regular topic of conversation here, especially among those who push the
limits.

Artists say the approval process from the censorship board often appears
random and inconsistent.

Some ancient cultural traditions have remained off-limits under the
military government, like Than Gyat, a spontaneous form of repartee that
has been described as a kind of ancient ''rap.'' Participants let loose
their inhibitions and freely criticize all forms of authority while trying
to entertain an audience. Although banned inside the country, Than Gyat is
still practiced by Burmese overseas, and illicit video recordings
circulate in Yangon.

Censors once banned a Thxa Soe song where the only lyrics were ''Hey! Hey!
How are you?''

''I asked them why,'' said Mr. Thxa Soe. ''They said it was not good for
the people.''

Other times the censors relent for unknown reasons. U Thu Myat Aung, a
24-year-old artist who says he draws inspiration from the British graffiti
artist Banksy, played host to the country's first graffiti show this
month, on the eve of Peasants Day.

''We've been wanting to do this since 2003, but we weren't allowed,'' Mr.
Thu Myat Aung said at the exposition, where women and men in T-shirts and
baseball hats displayed their spray-painting skills on large pieces of
plywood. Mr. Thu Myat Aung posted the censorship board's certificate on a
wall in the gallery, as if it were an art work itself.

U Nyein Chan Su, an artist whose work has met with regular disapproval
from the censors, says the government appears particularly wary of
abstract art.

''My opinion is that they only allow art they understand,'' he said.
''They are afraid that artists are doing political things by using
contemporary art.''

Mr. Nyein Chan Su cites the example of a colleague's painting that was
rejected by the censorship board that featured impressions of women with
contemplative expressions. ''They said, 'Why don't you paint the women
smiling?''' Mr. Nyein Chan Su said.

Run-ins with the censors have provided a group of painters a certain
notoriety, especially among foreign buyers, which may have contributed to
higher prices for their art.

Mr. Nyein Chan Su's abstracts, which he says he often completes in 20
minutes, can sell for several thousands of dollars in galleries in
Singapore, Bangkok or Hong Kong.

''The art scene in Myanmar is definitely thriving,'' said Gill Pattison,
the New Zealand-born manager of the River Gallery in Yangon. Compared with
other Asian capitals the number of artists and galleries remains small,
Ms. Pattison said. But the overall level of artistic activity is
''startling'' in a country that is still somewhat isolated from the
currents of the international art world, she said.

''What is achieved in-country by the artists, with very limited resources,
is a tribute to their ingenuity and the strength of the creative spirit,''
she said.

____________________________________

March 25, Mizzima News
Party literature cannot criticize military: Junta

The Burmese military junta, which has rolled out harsh electoral laws for
political parties, making it difficult for many to contest, has now come
up with rules for political parties while printing their pamphlets, books
or election-related printed matter.

Elections have been declared for this year but no date has been announced
yet.

The announcement on party literature on March 17, says parties have to
register for printing election-related matter with the government under
the 1962 Printers and Publishers Registration Act.

For permission to print, the political party needs to seek permission from
the country’s notorious Press Scrutiny and Registration Board (PSRB)
within 90 days after they register with the Election Commission.  The
party literature cannot criticize the military and the present regime, the
announcement says. The printed material cannot disturb “law and order and
tranquility” of the nation, it added.

Moreover, a political party has to deposit 500,000 Kyat (USD 500) for
permission to print. The amount will be fully or partially forfeited by
the PSRB if a party violates the stringent rules announced.

The 1962 Printers and Publishers Registration Act prohibits publications
or materials that go against the interests of the government. The
penalties for violators of this Act range from the banning of an article
to seven years in jail.

____________________________________
ASEAN

March 25, Agence France Presse
Vietnam PM to visit Myanmar ahead of ASEAN summit

Hanoi – Vietnam Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung will visit Myanmar next
month, shortly before Hanoi hosts a regional summit expected to discuss
the military ruled country's elections due this year.

Dung will meet Myanmar's ruler, Senior General Than Shwe, and his Prime
Minister, General Thein Sein, during the visit from April 2-4, said
foreign ministry spokeswoman Nguyen Phuong Nga.

The visit comes just four days ahead of a summit in Hanoi at which
Myanmar's pledge to hold elections later this year is likely to be a key
issue.

Myanmar has imposed severe restrictions on the elections expected to be
held in October or November, including the effective exclusion of jailed
opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, leading to international condemnation.

Nga did not say whether Dung would discuss the election with the generals.

She said that "the visit is aimed at consolidating and promoting the
friendship and co-operative relations between Vietnam and Myanmar."

Dung will also attend a conference to promote investment ties between the
two countries, she said.

Vietnam's imports and exports to Myanmar totalled less than 100 million
dollars last year. State-owned Vietnam Airlines this month began service
between the Vietnamese capital and Myanmar's largest city, Yangon.

Communist Vietnam holds this year's chairmanship of the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and will host a summit of its leaders in
Hanoi on April 8.

Philippines' Foreign Minister Alberto Romulo said last week he would urge
members of the 10-nation bloc to call at the summit for a reversal of
Myanmar's decree governing the elections.

____________________________________
REGIONAL

March 25, Democratic Voice of Burma
Malaysia criticised for migrant treatment – Joseph Allchin

The international human rights group, Amnesty International has released a
damning report on Malaysia’s treatment of migrant workers in the country
with workers apprently exploited and lured into jobs with false promises.

A large proportion of Malaysia’s migrant work force are believed to be of
Burmese origin, whilst migrant workers make up an enormous one in five of
the entire work force, with some even suggesting that the figure could
even be as high as 1 in 3, mainly in construction, fisheries, plantations
and other dangerous professions.

The report, entitled; Trapped: The Exploitation of Migrant Workers in
Malaysia, documents what it calls ‘widespread’ abuse of migrant workers.

It condemns labour practices which are common in Asia such as the holding
of migrants’ papers by employers; “its a situation of labour exploitation”
explains Mr Michael Bochenek, the report’s author.

Mr. Bochenek was quoted on Amnesty’s web site saying that the Malaysian
authorities were “criminalising it’s migrant workforce”, or as Mr.
Bochenek told DVB; “there is an effort to criminalise immigration wherever
it occurs”.

He adds that they “systematically received less legal protection” from
courts and the judicial system, with the report also stating that many
migrants receive low wages, unsafe working conditions and live with the
threat of arrest, extortion and deportation.

The issue of holding travel documents of migrant workers which the
report’s author said was widespread was heavily condemned, but Mr.
Bochenek did believe that the Malaysian authorities may review the
situation.

London based Amnesty was petitioning the Malaysian government to amend
laws in order to guarantee foreign workers better protection, because for
instance; “domestic workers, who are not covered by most of the labour
laws, recourse to the courts is usually not an option”.

Workers whom Mr Bochenek stated the Malaysian economy is dependent upon;
“dependency upon foreign labour is so high” he told DVB.

Many, including the prominent Malaysian NGO, Tenaganita and Amnesty are
asking why Malaysia receives official foreign workers whilst refugees are
unable to work legally.

Last month it was reported that migrants were going on hunger strike in
Lenggeng camp near the capital, Kuala Lumpur. “Those are the few responses
that detainees have to protest their detention”
. “you would readily
understand why they would want to protest the conditions they were held
in”, said Mr Bochenek of viewing conditions in Malaysian detention centres
as part of his research.

This report follows a February decree from the authorities that they would
clamp down on illegal ‘aliens’ in the country, with the Home Minister
stating that they would make foreigners feel; “afraid and threatened”.
This order may have stemmed from a US state department reclassification of
Malaysia as a ‘tier 3′ country for human trafficking.

Malaysian Human Resource Minister S. Subramaniam told AP that; “The system
of bringing in foreign workers is a well-established legal system. 
 It is
fair to everybody,”
.. “We offer the same kind of protection to foreigners
(as to locals). 
 We don’t protect employers who exploit workers.”

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

March 25, Voice of America
UN Chief to Burma: Create conditions for free & fair elections – Margaret
Besheer

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says the government of Burma must
create conditions that give all stakeholders the opportunity to
participate freely in elections, if the vote is to be viewed as fair and
credible.

Mr. Ban spoke to reporters after a meeting of his so-called Group of
Friends of Myanmar, the other name by which Burma is known.

He said the 15 governments which make up the group discussed developments
following the military government's announcement earlier this month of the
new election law.

The law has raised international concerns because one of its provisions
prohibits anyone serving a prison term from voting or being a member of a
political party.

That would effectively ban National League for Democracy leader Aung San
Suu Kyi and other political prisoners from participating in the general
election.

No date has been set for the vote, which would be the country's first in
20 years.

Mr. Ban said the electoral law and the overall electoral environment so
far fall short of what is needed for an inclusive political process.

Speaking on behalf of the Group of Friends, Mr. Ban said they urged the
elections be inclusive, participatory and transparent.

"We encourage all parties to work in the national interest," Mr. Ban said.
"The government must create conditions that give all stakeholders the
opportunity to participate freely in elections. This includes the release
of all political prisoners - including Daw Aung San Suu Kyi - and respect
for fundamental freedoms."

Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been in detention for 14 of the last 20 years,
has said she is opposed to her party registering for the vote, but that
the NLD (National League for Democracy) must decide for itself whether to
participate in the election.

Mr. Ban said if that is her genuine belief, then "we have to respect it."
But he expressed some reservations, saying he did not know the
circumstances surrounding her statement.

On Wednesday, the U.N. Security Council had its first briefing on Burma in
more than six months. British Ambassador Mark Lyall Grant said many
council members expressed their concern about the electoral laws, which he
said appeared to target Aung San Suu Kyi and her opposition party.

____________________________________

March 25, Washington Post
For democracy activist Nyi Nyi Aung, homecoming is bittersweet – Tara
Bahrampour

Just eight days ago, Nyi Nyi Aung didn't know whether he would live to see
his home again. Imprisoned in the Burmese jungle, he'd been beaten, forced
to sleep in a kennel in his own excrement, denied medical treatment and
told by captors that his U.S. citizenship didn't matter.

At times, it seemed as if it didn't. Aung, sentenced to three years of
hard labor after he was caught promoting democracy in Burma, the land of
his birth, was crippled by back pain and pain in his right leg from the
beatings. Over six months, he had been moved from one solitary confinement
cell to another, the last one a stagnant, mosquito-infested room with
crumbling walls and a plastic bottle for a toilet.

Aung knew prison conditions in Burma could prove fatal -- a friend had
died behind bars -- and sentences could be extended without due process.
U.S. consular officers were rarely allowed to visit him.

Then, last week, Aung was suddenly released. Within two days, he was
sitting in his Montgomery Village living room, surrounded by lush potted
plants, intricately carved wooden statues and gold-plated lacquer boxes.

It felt both miraculous and not strange at all.

"It's my home," he said quietly of the duplex he shares with his fiancee,
Wa Wa Kyaw, who sat nearby, nursing a cup of coffee.

Aung, 40, had always known what he was doing was risky. The naturalized
U.S. citizen had devoted his life to trying to undermine the military
government that has ruled Burma since before he was born. As a teenager,
he was arrested and tortured for participating in a 1988 democracy
movement. He fled the country and taught nonviolent resistance along the
Thailand-Burma border. He came to the United States in 1994 under the
refugee resettlement program and studied computer science at Purdue
University.

Occasionally he made forays into Burma to train activists and collect
information. It was dangerous work in a country where more than five
people at a time cannot gather in the street and where printing anything
at all -- even a restaurant menu -- requires government approval.

"In Burma, every citizen has been breaking the law. For listening to the
radio, they can arrest you," Aung said. "All the rules are crazy. However,
you don't get caught unless you're against the regime."

On Sept. 3, Aung's luck ran out. He landed in Rangoon and was pulled aside
by the authorities. At first he denied that he was Nyi Nyi Aung, the name
he had taken as an activist. For travel to Burma, he had always used his
given name, Kyaw Zaw Lwin.

But last summer he had presented the United Nations with a petition
containing 680,000 signatures that called for the release of political
prisoners in Burma, also known as Myanmar, and news reports had used both
names. He went ahead with his travel plans regardless, saying he was "more
worried for the Burmese people."

Harsh prison conditions

Aung recounted his story three days after returning to the United States.
He had dropped from 140 pounds to 120 and was hobbled by what doctors on
Saturday diagnosed as sciatica from a herniated or slipped disk caused by
mistreatment in prison.

But his hands flew in graceful animation as he recounted what happened
after he was detained.

He was handcuffed to a table for 10 days and denied food and sleep. Every
couple of hours, new interrogators would ask the same questions, trying to
catch him in a lie: Where did he live? What was his involvement with the
armed resistance and terrorist acts along the border?

"If they link him with terrorists, they think the U.S. won't help," Kyaw
said.

Every day Aung asked for access to a U.S. consular officer. "We don't care
if you're American," he recalled his interrogators telling him. "You're in
Burma." No officer arrived. Instead, there were curses, more beatings and
sleep deprivation. "It's terrible, it's a hell," Aung said.

"They treated me like a Burmese citizen," he said, adding, "I'm not white.
They know me as Burmese."

Kyaw, who knew from Aung's friends that he had never exited the airport,
alerted the U.S. Embassy in Burma, and 17 days later Aung was allowed a
supervised visit from a consular officer. The officer complained about
Aung's treatment, but it did not improve, leaving Aung with mixed
feelings. "I felt better because the U.S. government knew," he said. "But
the U.S. government was requesting medical care for me and couldn't get
it, so I'm going, 'Does the U.S. government really have power?' "

By then he was in Rangoon's notorious Insein Prison, steadily losing
weight. Prisoners survived by eating food brought by relatives. But most
of Aung's relatives, including his ailing mother, were political prisoners
themselves.

When his aunts on the outside finally visited, he made a point of speaking
openly about repression in Burma. "I'm already in their hands, so whatever
the sentence, 20 years, 65 years, death sentence . . . I'm thinking, 'I
will do what I can for Burma to be free, even if I die. But I'm not
shutting my mouth.' "

Listening in, an officer warned him that conversation during such visits
was limited to family topics. "I said, 'How do you define the word family?
The world is my family. All the people in my motherland are my family.' "

Sometimes Aung communicated with other prisoners by yelling over a wall;
many knew of him from his activism.

"Prison," Aung said, "is the only place you can express yourself freely in
Burma. You don't need to be careful because they've already got you."

In December, he went on a hunger strike -- not, he says, to protest his
detention but to draw attention to the more than 2,000 other political
prisoners in Burma. In response, his jailors moved him to a kennel.

In February, Aung was sentenced to three years of hard labor for carrying
a fake ID, failing to declare currency and failing to inform the Burmese
government of his movements -- "sham charges," according to the human
rights group Freedom Now. "Twenty percent of prisoners die from forced
labor, so we were terrified," said Beth Schwanke, a spokeswoman for the
organization.

Pressure from U.S.

After his conviction, Aung was transferred to a remote jungle prison, a
bad sign. "They'd never transferred a foreigner out of Insein before,"
Schwanke said. Kyaw, whom Aung has known since they met as exiled
activists in 1988, feared she would never see him again.

But members of Congress had been pushing for Aung's release. They sent a
letter to the military government warning of tougher sanctions on Burma.
After Aung's sentencing, the State Department issued a statement
condemning his imprisonment and calling the conviction "unjustified."

Last Wednesday, an officer shackled Aung's leg and took him on a public
bus for a six-hour journey back to Rangoon. Worried that other passengers
would think he was a criminal, Aung spoke loudly to the guard: "I'm of the
[activist] student generation. I'm Nyi Nyi. I'm a political prisoner."
People gave him silent thumbs up, he said. They were afraid to do more.

The next day he learned that he would be released. The reason, according
to official Burmese media, was to honor "bilateral friendship and at
request of U.S. State Department." Aung attributed his release to pressure
from the U.S. government and inside Burma, which this month faced
international condemnation for restrictive new election laws. Two hours
after the announcement, he was on a plane to Bangkok.

Since returning to the United States, Aung has spent most of his time
visiting doctors, who say that his right leg could have been permanently
paralyzed if left untreated for one more month. He plans to meet with
politicians who pressed for his release and continue his activism from
here.

It was good to be home, he said, but the feeling was bittersweet.

"I left all my family and friends in the prison," he said. "My aims are
not reached yet. I want to be free altogether."

____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

March 25, Irrawaddy
NLD between a rock and a hard place – Aung Naing Oo

Once again, the unmatched power and influence Aung San Suu Kyi, detained
leader of the National League for Democracy (NLD), holds over her party
may have shown their genuine impact—this time on the NLD's approach toward
the planned general election.

The NLD's central committee is due to meet on March 29 to decide whether
or not to contest the election, but Suu Kyi made her own views on the
issue crystal clear on Tuesday, saying the party should not register under
the recently promulgated election laws.

On March 20 (Decision Time Approaches for NLD), I wrote in The Irrawaddy:
“If her (Suu Kyi’s) preference [whether or not to contest the election] is
made known to the central committee members before the voting, it may sway
them towards the direction she chooses.”

The day before Suu Kyi made her position known, NLD Spokesman Khin Maung
Swe announced that the party's central executive committee had agreed that
the central committee should leave the final decision to Suu Kyi and party
Chairman Aung Shwe.

Despite the weight of Suu Kyi’s rejection of participation under current
conditions, party Chairman Aung Shwe is known to be in favor of the party
entering the election. But for now the party’s decision seems to be skewed
towards not contesting.

Three possible scenarios remain open for the party, although all bring
problems and likely divisions. Although the choice appears to be
straightforward—a simple “yes” or “no” to participation in the election—it
is an extremely complex matter.

Scenario-1: The NLD decides not to contest the election

This is the most likely scenario now. In this case, the regime-drafted
election laws require the party to disband.

Pragmatists or moderate factions are then likely to form a political party
or two of their own and contest the election under a new banner.

The formal abolition of the party will create radicalism among those who
remain loyal to it. Undoubtedly, the disbanded NLD will become an
underground grouping and find a way to get back into the political arena.

Operating outside the legal and constitutional framework, it is likely to
join forces with other opposition groups, both inside and outside the
country, to discredit the military. Such action will lead to a head-on
confrontation with the Burmese junta and its loyalists, especially
following a decision evidently influenced by Suu Kyi’s preference not to
contest.

The NLD is not an underground organization, however, and its strength is
not in mass mobilization. So the party may find itself in uncharted
territory with aims that may be elusive if not entirely unrealized—unless
it can persuade the Burmese to take to the streets and force the junta to
renegotiate the terms of the Constitution.

If it cannot find political rhythm in underground movement the party is
likely to eventually collapse under relentless pressure from the junta,
which will surely mount a harsh repressive campaign against the party
remnants.

In addition, 20 years of struggle have shown that a mass anti-regime
movement cannot succeed without at least the tacit support of some key
elements within the military.

Most importantly, the promulgation of unjust election laws was clearly
designed with the purpose of forcing the NLD to opt out of the election on
its own volition.

All in all, this scenario will play into the trap junta leader Snr-Gen
Than Shwe has set up for the party. Besides, it may not provide the party
with a strategy designed for all members with different views to follow.
And unlike the Burmese junta, the NLD has not thrived in conflict, which
would be prolonged if the party failed to contest the election.

Scenario-2: NLD decides to participate, in the interest of survival

This possibility seems a long shot now. Ostensibly the NLD would have less
than 60 days from its registration to complete the task of nominating its
election candidates.
The NLD's strategy in the past 20 years has been to focus on its survival
as a legal entity. If this remains its primary preoccupation, the party
may try to adopt a step-by-step strategy. A first step would be to
register so as to maintain the party’s legality. It would then continue
debating the broader strategy, giving it some breathing space.

If it wants to focus only on its legal survival, the party has two
options. The first is to field only three candidates in the election,
meeting the minimum requirement for any registered party—a half-boiled
strategy. But the law also requires a party, at the time of registration,
to inform the Election Commission (EC) early on whether it intends to
contest throughout the country or just in one specific area, such as a
state or region.

Once it declares its intentions to the EC and says that it will only
contest in three constituencies, the party cannot change its mind. But the
catch here is that if the party loses in these constituencies, it will
likely face the axe and be abolished. To avoid this danger, the party
would have to field and win in more than three constituencies in order to
make sure that it remains legal in the post election period.

The second option, if the party is concerned only about its survival, is
to get registered and prepared, and to make the decision before the end of
the party registration period. This is also not without problems because
voters may punish an undecided party. There is also a possibility that the
EC, under the direct orders from the regime, might squash party
registration at the last minute, citing irregularities in the registration
process.

In this case, hard liners within the party will be proven right and the
party may go back to the same confrontation mode similar to the first “not
to contest scenario.” Under this scenario, emotion will run even higher
and a sudden confrontation with the junta is likely.

In this scenario, taking a decision to “half participate” may seem a
viable option for a short period of time, but in the long run the NLD
would be losing an opportunity to take a decisive party stand on the
issues at hand. And, unlike in 1990, the party does not have the luxury of
time to prepare for the election, and leaving the final decision to the
last minute may not be a good tactic.

Such a strategy could also make the voters believe that even though the
NLD is a party of national calibre, the party only works for its survival
and fails to put the interests of the voters and the nation first.

Scenario-3: The NLD decides to contest the election

In this case, the party will have to disown its detained leader Suu Kyi
and all other party officials and members currently serving time in
prison. The party expelled Suu Kyi and Tin Oo in 1989 under pressure from
the junta, so taking a similar step this time should not be problem
because she could be reinstated after her release from house arrest.

However, even if party Chairman Aung Shwe decides to enter the election it
will upset the hard liners within the party. As a result, the divisions
within the party will come to the fore.

Some disillusioned members might then resign although they would not
become idle. They might be radicalised because of their belief that the
party had abandoned its principled approach to democracy of the past 20
years and especially against the wishes of Suu Kyi.

Such a situation would create an acrimonious relationship among former
comrades, and lead to the two camps undermining each other in the fight
for democracy.

Under this scenario, contesting the election seems to be a good strategy
for the long run. But there is a risk that it does not provide enough
options for all with different takes on the election.

If the NLD does not know how to deal with those members who disagree with
the party’s decision to contest the election and takes drastic actions,
the resentful hard liners may undermine any meaningful work the party will
embark on after the election.

Ideally and acting according to the principles of democracy, the minority
party officials who lose to the majority in favor of  participating in the
election should go along with the decision.

However, under the conditions where stakes are high and injustice
glaringly apparent, and especially when the minority realizes that they
are confronted with only one choice, making a rational choice or
cooperating with the majority is unlikely.

In summing up, the NLD is caught between a rock and a hard place, with
problems, dissatisfaction and disappointment  present on whatever path it
chooses. And whatever the choice, the party is likely to be deeply
divided.

Yet somehow, the party must develop an all-inclusive strategy, allowing
the engagement of  moderates as well as hard liners to engage. Otherwise,
the risk is that the NLD will follow the examples of its predecessors,
such as the acrimonious split of the parliamentary-era Anti-Fascist
Peoples Freedom League, which partly paved the way for the final and
long-lasting entry of the Burmese military into the political arena.

____________________________________
INTERVIEW

March 25, Irrawaddy
Divided opinion on NLD party registration – Ba Kaung

On March 29, more than 100 National League for Democracy (NLD) party
leaders from across the country will meet at the party's Rangoon
headquarters to discuss whether to register the party under the junta's
election law. Though Aung San Suu Kyi has publicly said she is against her
party registering, the party leadership remains divided. Longtime Suu Kyi
supporter Win Tin, 80, who was released in September 2008 after more than
19 years in prison said he would probably retire if the majority decide to
register. Khin Maung Swe, 67, a leading party official who spent 14 years
in prison supports registration and joining the election even though this
means the party must expel Suu Kyi under the junta law. Both spoke to The
Irrawaddy on the party's future.

Win Tin
Question: Could you give us three specific reasons why you are for or
against party-registration?

Answer: If we register the party, we have to expel Daw Suu and other
detained party leaders. The details of the party registration laws are not
clear about whether Daw Suu could rejoin the party after her release and
it would be up to the election commission. The second reason is that if we
register the party we have to vow to protect the junta's Constitution,
which we have repeatedly said is unacceptable. The third factor is that
after registration, we will have to police the “illegal” activities of
party members and warn them they will be expelled if they continue those
activities. This will guarantee that no one in the party will dare express
his ideas at the risk of imprisonment.

Q. What will happen to the NLD if it decides to contest the elections? And
what if not?

A: If the NLD decides not to contest the elections, two things can happen.
Either the NLD will cease to be a valid and registered party or the regime
will outlaw the party, causing it to lose its identity and party flag. The
dignity of the party will increase immensely when we show we are not
giving in to the junta's unjust law. We will also have a broader space to
operate with the public because we will show that the principles the party
stands for are more important than its mere existence.

Q. Can the NLD expect to gain another landslide victory like it did 20
years ago if it decides to contest the election?

A: The 1988 uprising led by students was one of the main causes which gave
the NLD a landslide victory in the 1990 elections. Party leaders like U
Aung Shwe only got onto the political stage because of the 1988 uprising.
In addition, the military was politically quite weak at the time. The
situation is totally different now: we are tied up by various laws and if
the party contests the election, there is little or no chance for us to
win a majority of seats, much less an overwhelming victory.

Q. How do you foresee the post-election scenario in Burma?

A: This election ensures that two major groups will operate in parliament
at different levels: one will be composed of military officers and the
other members of multiple political parties made up from business cronies
like Tay Za backed by junta groups such as the Union Solidarity and
Development Association [USDA] and Swan Arr Shin [a government-organized
paramilitary group that suppresses political dissidents]. Besides, the
three candidates for the Presidency election will be nominated by the
military representatives of the bicameral parliament, but we don't know
the procedure for their election [The presidency electoral law will be
drawn up later, according to the constitution.] Moreover, the formation of
the government will be in the hands of the future President who can
appoint either members of parliament or non-elected persons as cabinet
ministers. If the president selects members of parliament from a political
party, they can't represent their party in the government because they not
only have to resign their parliamentary seats but they also have to
refrain from party activities.


Khin Maung Swe

Question: Could you give us three specific reasons why you are for or
against party-registration?

Answer: First, I wish to make it clear that we have no intention of
marginalizing Aung San Suu Kyi, who is an icon in Burmese politics. But
the reason we wish to register the party is because we want Daw Suu to be
able to continue to play in the political environment when she is released
five or six months later.  That's why we need a political party. Secondly,
we believe that only by struggling in the legal fold will it be possible
for us to fulfill our pledge to democracy, to work for changes in the
constitution and national reconciliation. Thirdly, in that process, we
don't wish to divide our party members into different groups in
contradiction to the party policy of maintaining unity. As there is no
viable exit option [if NLD does not register], we don't support not
registering the party because we don't want to be the historical culprits
blamed for letting the party die.

Q. What will happen to the NLD if it decides to contest the elections? And
what if not?

A: If the party participates in the election, it can become a competitive
force in the future parliament, contributing to a check-and-balance system
in politics that will be in the interests of people. Without political
opposition, we will only be left with a sort of one-party political
system. If we don't join the election, the people will lose a great party
born of the 1988 uprising and faithful to the struggle for democracy, and
the people will not have a party to vote for in the election.

Q. Can the NLD expect to gain another landslide victory like it did 20
years ago if it decides to contest the election?

A: I am not sure about a landslide victory, but the party still has the
potential to become a competitive force in the parliament.

Q. How do you foresee the post-election scenario in Burma?

A: With military supremacy continuing in the post-election era
notwithstanding, the rigid centralization we have today will disappear. By
that, I mean the different governmental departments will no longer be
under the control of a single person. The legislature will be in a
position to change inappropriate laws, including the unjust election law.
The more than 75 majority requirement only applies to amendments of the
Constitution, which is where the 25 percent of seats reserved for the
military will be most significant. But parliament will still have the
power to pass bills addressing human rights abuses and socio-economic
issues in our country.

A Survey of NLD Officials on the 2010 Election
By THE IRRAWADDY

The National League for Democracy now faces a critical choice and must
make a historic decision on whether it will re-register as a political
party and contest the Burmese election or face dissolution. The NLD will
discuss the issue on March 29 in a meeting of the party's central
committee at its headquarters in Rangoon. The Irrawaddy is now surveying
the opinions of NLD officials at the township level. Click here to see
result.

____________________________________
PRESS RELEASE

March 25, Christian Solidarity Worldwide
CSW welcomes UK government support for a UN inquiry into Burma’s crimes
against humanity

Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) warmly welcomes the decision by the
British Government to support the establishment of a UN Commission of
Inquiry to investigate crimes against humanity and war crimes perpetrated
by the Burmese regime.

Britain’s Ambassador to the United Nations, Mark Lyell Grant, said
yesterday that Britain would support the referral of a case to the
International Criminal Court (ICC). Responding to the recommendation made
by the UN Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in Burma earlier this month,
for the establishment of a commission of inquiry, the Ambassador said:
“Because Burma is not a state party to the ICC it would require the
Security Council to make a reference, and I don’t think the Security
Council is sufficiently unanimous in its view to allow such a reference to
happen. We of course would support such a reference.”

Speaking in the House of Lords yesterday in response to a question from
Lord Alton of Liverpool, Government minister Lord Brett said: “We strongly
support the rapporteur's recommendation, but if we are to press the issue
it is important to do so in a way that carries support within the Security
Council and not to fall victim to veto or lack of support, as that will be
seen in Rangoon as a victory for the military junta. But we are strongly
supportive of it and are seeking support.”

CSW has advocated a UN commission of inquiry for several years, and
earlier this month released fresh evidence of the regime’s gross
violations of human rights in eastern Burma following a fact-finding visit
to the Thailand-Burma border. CSW reiterated its call for a UN
investigation into crimes against humanity and war crimes in its report
released earlier this month.

CSW’s East Asia Team Leader Benedict Rogers said: “We are delighted that
the United Kingdom is showing leadership on this issue, and has pledged
strong support for the Special Rapporteur’s recommendations. We urge the
British Government now to devote energy and resources to building an
international coalition to take this forward, working with countries such
as Australia which have already expressed support. It is vital that in the
run-up to the regime’s fake elections, its crimes against humanity and the
prevailing culture of impunity in Burma are addressed by the United
Nations, and action is taken to end the regime’s campaign of rape, forced
labour, torture, destruction, killing and terror.”

For further information, a copy of the report or to arrange interviews
please contact CSW Press on +44 (0) 208 942 8810 / +44 (0)78 2332 9663,
email admin at csw.org.uk or visit www.csw.org.uk.

CSW is a human rights organisation which specialises in religious freedom,
works on behalf of those persecuted for their Christian beliefs and
promotes religious liberty for all.

____________________________________

March 25, Burma Partnership
ASEAN Human Rights Commission must address crimes against humanity in Burma

The Task Force on ASEAN and Burma (TFAB) calls on the newly formed ASEAN
Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR) to make systematic
human rights violations and crimes against humanity in Burma a priority.

On 15 March, UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Myanmar, Tomas Ojea
Quintana, told the UN Human Rights Council that human rights violations in
Burma “are the result of a State policy, originating from decisions by
authorities in the executive, military and judiciary at all levels.”
Moreover, he declared that some of the human rights violations “may entail
categories of crimes against humanity or war crimes.” Documentation of
human rights violations in Burma from many different organizations,
including Quintana himself, has been thorough and substantiated.

“We want AICHR to be a credible body. There is strong evidence of crimes
against humanity in Burma, such as forced labor, sexual violence as a
weapon of war, and massive use of child soldiers. If the new Human Rights
Commission ignores such issues, then it undeniably shows the bias and
incapacity of the body,” said Aung Myo Min, Coordinator of TFAB.

The Task Force on ASEAN and Burma is a network of civil society actors
from Burma working to promote a people-centered ASEAN that is supportive
to the cause of democracy, human rights, and peace in Burma. It is calling
on ASEAN to support a UN Commission of Inquiry into crimes against
humanity and war crimes, as suggested by Quintana, and to make the issue a
priority for AICHR. As such, TFAB is also calling on AICHR Commissioners
to conduct independent and unrestricted on-site investigations.

“ASEAN and AICHR must step up, and finally give some support to the people
of Burma who have had to deal with the harsh repercussions of these crimes
without any justice,” said Khin Ohmar, Coordinator of Burma Partnership, a
member of TFAB.

AICHR is beginning its first official meetings in Jakarta, from 28 March
to 1 April. Commissioners from ASEAN Member States will be discussing the
Rules of Procedure (RoP) for the body, as well as priority issues.  Civil
society from all over the region will hold several events in Jakarta to
highlight the need for AICHR to actually promote and protect human rights.
TFAB will join with the SAPA Task Force on ASEAN and Human Rights for a
press conference on 28 March at the Ambhara Hotel from 11:00 – 12:30pm.
For more details about the AICHR and TFAB, please download our briefer in
both Burmese and English.

For more information, please contact:

Aung Myo Min, Coordinator of the Task Force on ASEAN and Burma: +66
(0)819925293
Khin Ohmar, Coordinator of Burma Partnership: +66 (0)818840772