BurmaNet News, April 14, 2010

[Editor]

April 14, 2010, Issue #3940


ON THE BORDER
The Independent (UK): Burmese music: Sound of the underground

HEALTH
Narinjara: Unknown disease spreads on Western Burma Border

DRUGS
Kachin News Group: Burmese Army extorts money from opium growers

INTERNATIONAL
The Leader (US): Burmese photojournalist recounts story of oppression,
exploitation

OPINION / OTHER
The Daily Beast: The next nuclear nightmare – Philip Shenon
Business Mirror (Philippines): Their time will come – Editorial

INTERVIEW
The Jakarta Post: Indonesia’s ‘credibility to play role’ in Myanmar
transition

PRESS RELEASE
PEN American Center: Imprisoned Burmese blogger Nay Phone Latt to receive
top PEN honor




____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

April 14, The Independent (UK)
Burmese music: Sound of the underground

When the junta banned traditional protest songs, its leading exponents
chose a life of exile rather than fall silent. Andrew Buncombe meets them
in Delhi.

First comes the sound of hand drums, followed by a voice that is steady
and persistent. As Ngwe Toe leans back and angles his words towards the
microphone, his lines are met by a chanting group which takes up his theme
and sings back at him, as a call and response.

"The religion in our country," sings Toe, as the group answers for him,
"is Theravada Buddhism". The activist continues: "The colour saffron is
growing everywhere."

The group responds: "The monks are very graceful, but now their power has
been drained. They are hiding in the remote areas."

As the drums continue in a dreamy loop, Toe implores: "Tell me why." The
chanters tell him: "The military devil is rising up."

This is a traditional Burmese protest song with a modern twist. For
generations, the people of Burma marked their new year by performing
Thangyat - songs and skits that gave voice to local grievances.

In 1988, the year in which the military authorities violently crushed a
series of democracy demonstrations with the death of at least 3,000
people, the junta decided it had endured enough protest and banned the
tradition, threatening jail for anyone who dared to disobey.

But the generals could not stop Thangyat, merely drive it overseas. Now,
communities of exiled Burmese around the world put together their own
collections of protest songs, which are sold on CDs and even broadcast
back into Burma where residents listen secretly on their radios.

One of the most famous and popular groups, of which Ngwe Toe is a member,
is based in the west of Delhi. Ahead of the traditional four-day new year
celebrations, or water festival, which begins today, the activists
recorded and released a new collection of songs, music and poetry entitled
Gaining Victory for Us and Defeat for Them.

"During the festival, it is a tradition that if there is something the
people do not like, it will be criticised - be it politics, social affairs
or food," said Zin Naing, who escaped to India from Burma after the 1988
uprising and who helped produce the recording.

"Now, inside Burma, Thangyat is not allowed, so ours has become one of the
only ones that people can get. We produce it on CD as well as cassettes,
which are smuggled into Burma."

There are an estimated 6,000 Burmese exiles in Delhi, most of them from
Chin state, on India's north-eastern border. Many of them took part in the
1988 uprisings and came to India, which at the time was critical of the
military authorities and welcomed the refugees. Most have never dared to
even visit their home country since.

Ngwe Toe, the 40-year-old lead singer, fled when he was just 19, leaving
behind all his relatives. His father died in 2003, but he dreams of
returning to the country with his wife and young son, and of being able to
show his child to his mother.

In the meantime, he takes some measure of comfort from imagining his
family furtively listening to the songs of protest that he and his friends
have recorded. "It's like a rap," he said. "I say the first line and then
the others respond with the second. It's a call and response, and when I
am singing, I am shouting these slogans with emotion. I am very focused on
the song. I would be happy if my mother hears it, and would then be able
to give the message that her son is involved in the politics."

The lyrics for the song performed by Ngwe Toe were written by a Buddhist
monk, forced to escape to India after taking part in the so-called Saffron
Revolution of September 2007, when tens of thousands of monks and citizens
took to the streets of Rangoon and other major cities, demanding
democratic reforms.

The monk, U Dhamma, a smiling, round-faced 23-year-old, fled after he and
several other monks from his monastery joined the demonstrations in the
northern city of Mandalay. "I took part in the marches. I thought there
would be a revolution. I believed in democratic rule for Burma," said the
monk, who crossed into north-eastern India in January 2008 and now lives
in the same dusty Delhi neighbourhood as many other exiles. "After the
marches, I stayed at the monastery for some months, but then a minister
came to give food. We were very angry and refused to accept this. The
minister put pressure on the abbot to expel us, and the next day our names
were put in the newspaper, saying that we were to be expelled. We had no
chance to stay in Burma."

Those who wrote the collection of protest songs have had no shortage of
material to inspire them over the past 12 months. Last year, the junta
extended the house arrest of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi for 18
months, after she was convicted of breaching the terms of her detention
when an uninvited US tourist swam to her lakeside home.

Then, last month, the regime announced new rules governing the
controversial election due to be held later this year. The rules
effectively bar Ms Suu Kyi from standing and say that her party, the
National League for Democracy, (NLD), would have to oust her if it wished
to field candidates. The NLD has announced it is boycotting the election.

It is not just the junta that comes in for criticism in the Thangyat.
While the songs indeed condemn the regime's alleged nuclear ambitions, the
election and the country's poverty, the NLD and even politicians in exile
are also subjects of satire.

Such humour has long been a tradition of subtle dissent in Burma. One of
the country's best-known comics, Zarganar, spent many years making barbed
puns about the regime. Eventually, in 2008, the junta ran out of patience
with him and seized on an interview he had given to the BBC criticising
the authorities' response of the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis. He was
jailed for 59 years, a sentence reduced to 35 on appeal.

Likewise, in Mandalay, members of a famous comic troupe known as the
Moustache Brothers have been in and out of jail as a result of their
performances making fun of the junta.

The Burmese exiles who put together the protest album remain confident
that change can come. The song performed by Ngwe Toe says the monks will
lead the transformation.

Its last lines, sung as call-and-response, conclude: "If the monks unite -
the military becomes afraid. If the monks unite - the religion will be
glowing. If the monks take to the front lines - we will escape from
poverty. If the monks speak the truth - they will speak to the whole
world."

____________________________________
HEALTH

April 14, Narinjara
Unknown disease spreads on Western Burma Border

Maungdaw – An unknown disease has broken out and is spreading on the
western Burma border, affecting many people in the area, according to
local journal and residents.

A weekly eleven journal published a story related to the disease last week
and referred to the illness as "Chikan Gannya", but no one knows what the
disease actually is.

A housemaid from Maungdaw told Narinjara over the phone that a group of
physicians from the Maungdaw general hospital visited many houses recently
to investigate the disease, but she had no further details about the
illness.

Narinjara called the Maungdaw hospital to inquire about the disease but
the physician on the phone refused to reveal any information, saying, "A
senior doctor is not in the hospital now. If you want to know of the
disease, come to the hospital to ask."

According to a local source, the disease first causes a high fever, and
the patient then becomes ill and his body bruised as though he was beaten
by sticks. The victim can't walk and his face and legs become swollen.

A local doctor told Narinjara on the condition of anonymity that the
disease is related to the flu but seems to be transmitted by mosquitoes,
but he could offer no further detail.

Many people in several wards and villages in Maungdaw have fallen ill with
the disease, but are unable to receive treatment at the government
hospital in Maungdaw.

A daughter of one victim reported seeking treatment at a private clinic
and being given some tablets and insecticides, but nothing else.

____________________________________
DRUGS

April 14, Kachin News Group
Burmese Army extorts money from opium growers

Burmese Army battalions have been extorting sums of money from opium
growers in Sadung region in east Kachin State, northern Burma while
ostensibly on an opium eradication mission, said Sadung sources.

Sadung happens to be the largest opium-producing region in Kachin State.
There was a joint opium elimination operation by Burma’s ruling junta and
the Kachin Independence Organization in February and March.

Now, both the operation and the opium harvesting season are over. Yet
Burmese troops near Lajawng village near the border town Kambaiti have
stayed put and are demanding money from the opium field owners, said
Lajawng villagers.

According to Lajawng villagers, two Burmese Army battalions in Waingmaw
township--- Waingmaw-based Infantry Battalion No. 58 and Shwe Nyaung
Pyin-based Light Infantry Battalion No. 321 are now demanding 50,000 Kyat
(US$51) for each opium field in Lajawng area.

Earlier, Burmese troops into the opium eradication operation in Lajawng
areas demanded money from growers instead of uprooting opium, said Lajawng
villagers.

A KIO officer told Kachin News Group, in the latest joint opium
eradication operation they destroyed some opium fields along the major
roads and demanded opium tax from other field owners.

Burmese Army sources said troops made money during the two-month opium
eradication programme in Sadung region.

On December 14, last year, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime
(UNODC) reported that opium cultivation in Burma rose in the third
straight year, and Kachin and Wa bought weapons from the sale of drugs to
prepare to take on the Burmese Army in the event of civil war.

The agency report was rejected by the KIO and United Wa State Army (UWSA),
which have refused to toe the junta’s line on the Border Guard Force
issue.

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

April 14, The Leader (US)
Burmese photojournalist recounts story of oppression, exploitation –
Morgan Burns

Millions of people are displaced from their homelands every year. These
refugees seek asylum in countries far away from their persecution.

Law Eh Soe, a Burmese refugee who fled Burma in 2008 with the help of the
International Institute of Buffalo, told his story last Thursday, April 7
in room S102 of the Williams Center. The event was organized by Lynday
Harris of Sigma Iota Rho – the Honor Society of International Relations at
Fredonia.

According to Soe, the official classifications of refugee status were
drafted in a convention in 1951 by a United Nations panel. The convention
defined a refugee as “any person persecuted against based on race,
religion, nationality, membership in a social group or political opinion
who is outside their country of origin and is unable to return based on
fears of such persecution.”

Recent rioting in 2008, the cause of Soe’s flight from Burma, has centered
around government crackdowns. The State Peace and Development Council
(SPDC) hindered United Nations relief efforts after a devastating
hurricane swept through the country, killing approximately 200,000 people.
Soe’s work as a photojournalist covering the demonstrations by students
and monks has received international attention. After distribution of
Soe’s photographs reached newspapers around the world, the SPDC hunted him
like a fugitive. Under the threat of death or imprisonment, Soe was
advised by the American diplomat to Burma to flee.

“They may imprison our people, but they can never hold our spirit,” Soe
said. “This is the silence before the storm, there will be war soon. The
tidal wave of democracy will come and encourage the freedom of everyone’s
spirit.”

Soe said the people of Burma are committed to democracy and will settle
for nothing less. “We do not want to copy the systems of other governments
exactly,” he said. “We will use ideas from all over and shape them to best
fit the unique beauty of Burma.”

The National Democratic Party, led by 1991 Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung
San Suu Kyi is a unifying force among the diversity of Burmese people,
which spans eight main ethnic groups and 151 subgroups. “[Burma’s
diversity] is like a garden, but it takes work to make a garden
beautiful,” Soe said.

The British Empire occupied the country of Burma from 1886 until it was
granted independence in 1948. The country prospered under democracy until
1962 when General Ne Win led a military coup that seized power. The
Burmese Socialist Programme Party ruled autocratically as the only
political party. According to Sue, this was a dark time for Burma,
transforming it into one of the most impoverished nations in the world.

According to Soe, the current junta took power in 1988, when the country
was amidst social upheaval following a protest against the reigning
socialist regime. The SPDC changed the name of the country to Myanmar and
have ruled since then. The SPDC does not permit the freedom of speech or
press, nor does it provide the people with education. The political
ideologies of the SPDC differ only superficially from the BSPP. According
to the International Labor Organization, the SPDC allows faux elections
and religious freedom but continues to perpetrate human rights violations
and abuses of power.

According to Soe, this sordid history has left the people of Burma in a
struggle for autonomy. Abandoned by the British Raj and afloat between the
eastern powers of Russia and China and Western influences from the United
States, the Burmese citizen is caught in the cross fire.

In addition to internal and external forces vying for a piece of Burma,
there are international corporations like the French company, Total Oil,
who have vested interest in the capital gains that could be made from the
exploitation of Burmese citizens.

“Many people outside of Burma don’t want to see any change happen,” Soe
said. “If the junta was deposed, countries like China and Russia and these
corporations would lose a lot of money.” Total Oil is currently on defense
from a lawsuit filed by French and Belgian courts for their use of Burmese
slaves to construct a pipeline from Burma to Thailand, according to the
SPDC.

The SPDC tries to separate the citizens of Burma, making them impotent
against the ruling government. “It is the young people that change the
world,” Soe said. He added that there are two groups of youth: those that
have been indoctrinated by the government to be power hungry and oppose
reform, and those who seek to unify Burma under democracy to end the cycle
of violence “It is those that understand the struggle, those that have
gone out and spoken with ordinary people that know the best way to
change,” Soe added.

Soe currently lives in Buffalo, NY and is attending Erie County Community
college. He is studying English and hopes to pursue social sciences, as
well as honing his skills as a professional photographer. Soe received a
university education in law while in Burma. He hopes to someday return to
Burma to train photographers there.

____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

April 14, The Daily Beast
The next nuclear nightmare – Philip Shenon

New York – As Obama calls for reduced nukes, a surprising new rogue state
looms. Philip Shenon reports U.S. spy agencies fear Burma is trying to buy
nuclear weapons technology from North Korea.

Even as President Obama won agreement from world leaders this week to
block the spread of nuclear weapons, the United States is facing a new—and
unexpected—nuclear foe: Burma.

National-security officials tell The Daily Beast that U.S. spy agencies
and their Asian counterparts have stepped up surveillance of potential
nuclear sites in Burma in recent weeks in light of evidence that suggests
the country’s brutal junta is trying to buy nuclear-weapons technology
from North Korea.

“Burma can become the second hermit kingdom in Asia with nuclear weapons,
able to deflect any outside threat,” says one senior American diplomat.

Intelligence officials fear the paranoid, iron-fisted generals who run
Burma see a nuclear program—and ultimately, a nuclear bomb—as a way of
securing their hold on power forever. There can be little doubting their
will to dominate the political stage; the nation’s leading dissident,
Nobel Prize- winning pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, has been under
house arrest for most of the last 20 years.

“The Burmese have a model in North Korea,” said a senior American
diplomat. “Burma can become the second hermit kingdom in Asia with nuclear
weapons, able to deflect any outside threat.”

He added: “Unfortunately for us, Burma has the hard currency to buy what
Pyongyang is selling—it may be rubies for atoms.”

While most of Burma’s 50 million people live in shocking poverty, the
country is rich in natural resources; the junta earns hundreds of millions
of dollars a year from the sale of natural gas, hardwood and the fabled
Burmese rubies cherished by the global gem dealers.

Although it denies interest in a nuclear weapon, Burma does not hide all
of its nuclear ambitions. In 2007, it signed an agreement with Russia for
the construction of a small nuclear reactor on Burmese soil.

A new study by the Institute for Science and International Security, a
respected Washington think tank, described Burma as a “nuclear wannabe”
and said there were “sound reasons to suspect that the military regime in
Burma might be pursuing a long-term strategy to make nuclear weapons”—with
North Korea’s help.

The study noted that the military government in Burma, one of the most
economically and technologically backward nations in Southeast Asia, had
recently attempted to purchase sophisticated industrial equipment that
could be converted to use in a nuclear program.

Last June, Japanese authorities announced that they had broken up a
criminal smuggling ring that was attempting to export a high-tech
magnetometer to Burma via Malaysia.

The purchase of the device, which can be used to make gas-centrifuges for
processing uranium, was organized through a trading company long
affiliated with the North Korean government.

That same month, American warships forced a North Korean cargo ship bound
for Burma to return home. U.S. officials suggested that ship was carrying
weapons that had been sold to the Burmese military in violation of a
United Nations embargo.

David Albright, a former U.N. weapons inspector in Iraq who was an author
of the recent study, told The Daily Beast that he saw disturbing parallels
between North Korea’s cooperation with Burma and Pyongyang’s recent
activities in Syria.

In 2007, Israeli warplanes destroyed an underground facility in Syria
that, according to American intelligence officials, was being built
secretly by North Korea to manufacture and store nuclear weapons.

“What happened in Syria tells us that we have to take the situation in
Burma seriously,” Albright said. “We can’t turn a blind eye to this.”

In 2007, Burma and North Korean restored diplomatic and military relations
after a 24-year break.

The growing ties between the two countries have alarmed Burma’s neighbors.
India, which shares a 1,600-mile border with Burma to its east, already
faces nuclear-armed neighbors to its west, in Pakistan, and to its north,
in China.

The alliance between the Burmese and North Koreans brings together two of
the world’s most isolated, repressive and,—some would say—loony
governments.

Like their North Korean counterparts, Burmese leaders operate out of an
acute fear of threats from the outside world, especially from the United
States. The repressiveness of the Burmese junta is overlaid with mysticism
that can often border on the bizarre.

The junta’s top leader, General Than Shwe, is known to make few important
decisions without consulting astrologists and numerologists; his mentor,
former prime minister Ne Win, liked to dress is royal gowns and is
reported to have bathed in dolphins’ blood on the advice of soothsayers
who promised it would keep him young.

David Steinberg, a Burma specialist at Georgetown University who is
director of Asian studies at the university’s School of Foreign Policy,
said he was not surprised by the Burmese junta might want an nuclear
program given its paranoia about the United States.

He said that for Burma’s leaders, like their North Korean counterparts,
there was a “palpable fear” of an invasion by the United States military.
“I think it’s crazy, of course, but they think it’s possible,” he said.

Professor Steinberg suggested the Burmese might seek nuclear warheads that
could be mounted on short-range ballistic missiles aimed at American
military bases in neighboring Thailand, creating a nuclear umbrella
against American attack. “They may feel that it’s the only way to protect
themselves,” he said of the Burmese generals.

That Burma would resume any sort of diplomatic and military relations with
North Korea may signal the Burmese military’s desperation for an alliance
that might offer protection from outside threats.

Burma broke off all relations with Pyongyang in 1983 after North Korean
spies were accused of setting off a huge bomb in Rangoon, the Burmese
capital, that was intended to kill members of a delegation of South Korean
visitors. The bomb killed 17 South Koreans and four Burmese.

Philip Shenon, a former investigative reporter at The New York Times, is
the author of The Commission: The Uncensored History of the 9/11
Investigation.

____________________________________

April 14, Business Mirror (Philippines)
Their time will come – Editorial

IT’S unfortunate that the Asean summit ended recently in Hanoi without a
clear signal from the nine Southeast Asian neighbors of Burma/Myanmar that
the steps it has taken to ensure the credibility of this year’s elections
are far from satisfactory.

The 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), long
criticized for its policy of constructive engagement with the junta that
has held in its tight grip a hapless nation for decades, had given out
some signal that it might be prepared to drum the human-rights and
democracy issue into such a controversial regime when it adopted its
charter last year and then moved to set up its own human-rights body. 
Since then, however, little progress seems to have been made as far as
Burma is concerned.

At the end of last week’s summit in Hanoi, the chairman’s statement simply
said: “We underscored the importance of national reconciliation in Myanmar
and the holding of a general election in a free, fair and inclusive
manner, thus contributing to Myanmar’s stability and development.”

Inter Press Service (IPS) quoted Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan
Dung, summit chairman, as telling reporters at the meeting’s end: “The
elections should be free and democratic, with the participation of all
parties involved, and lead to real national reconciliation.” This, he
added, would “help stabilize the country, creating a base for economic
development.”

That’s it? No mention, IPS noted, of the National League for Democracy or
its most famous leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who is boycotting the election
after the regime found new reason to extend her detention with the charges
related to harboring an American man who swam in a lake to access her
house and stayed there overnight, “to warn her,” supposedly, of risks to
her life.

At the Hanoi summit’s end, Asean Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan, was
quoted as saying that “on the Myanmar issue, we just have to have
patience.”

Well, patience is running out among a people who were deprived of the
chance to be ruled by the party and leaders they voted for in a free
election in 1990. In fact, even among Asean leaders, there has been an
edge of irritation of late. Singapore, Indonesia and Thailand, according
to IPS, seem bent on nudging the junta, “at least privately,” to ensure
that the elections aren’t a joke—in short, an embarrassment to Asean.
Manila’s Foreign Minister Alberto Romulo was even more blunt. He was
widely quoted as saying a few weeks back that at the rate things are
going, the upcoming Burma elections seemed to be a mockery of democracy.
He mentioned the Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Suu Kyi by name as a crucial
factor to proving that the elections are fair and free. But then, that’s
just one member lamenting the state of things in Burma.

The junta was lucky that focus on it was overshadowed by Thailand’s
turmoil while the summit was going on. Sooner or later, however, there
will be a time of reckoning, and for the sake of our Burmese brothers, it
is hoped that real change would come peacefully. As the now-ailing Suu Kyi
once told a feisty Australian journalist who did a secret documentary of
the Burmese saga, “Our time will come.”

____________________________________
INTERVIEW

April 14, The Jakarta Post
Indonesia’s ‘credibility to play role’ in Myanmar transition – Lilian
Budianto

A number of observers have suggested that initiatives to encourage
Myanmar’s military junta to hand over power to civilians include
guaranteeing that they will not be prosecuted after stepping down. The
Jakarta Post’s
Lilian Budianto talks about the issue with the president of
Washington-based National Endowment for Democracy, Carl Gershman,
currently in Jakarta for the 6th symposium of the “World Movement for
Democracy”. Gershman also said Indonesia could play a significant role in
Myanmar’s transition to democracy. Below are excerpts of the interview:

Question: Does providing guarantee that Myanmar’s generals will be free
from prosecution after they are not in power help lead to transition to
democracy?

Answer: Yes, the generals in Myanmar want to know that they have a future
after they are no longer in power.

They want some compromise. Just like in Indonesia; the military was moved
out of politics but they retain some influence here.

In South Africa, (in the aftermath of apartheid system), not everybody was
punished. Some peopleneed to be punished, such as those who committed
crimes against humanity.

There are different levels of crimes but it is important to limit
vengeance and retribution because if you go too far, you will destabilize
the democratic transition.

Former rulers will fight and so you must find the middle ground. It is
hard. Human rights activists sometimes are more interested in retribution
than finding the middle ground because it involves compromise. You have to
find a balance.

Is it acceptable for the international community to allow perpetrators of
human rights crimes to walk free?

It will need compromise and constitutional reforms factoring in how to
include the minority and how much power to give to the military (after the
end of dictatorship). In Chile in 1989, you had (president Augusto)
Pinochet out of office but the military had some influence afterward. In
Poland in 1989, some radical activists were against some guarantees that
were given to communists. But compromises are sometimes necessary.

You must deal with the past, which can arise in different ways.

What role can Indonesia play in Myanmar?

Indonesia has the authority and credibility to play a role in the
transition of Burma considering that it is the largest country in
Southeast Asia. It is a democracy ruled by the former military general.
Indonesia has the authority to enter Burma more than we do. Indonesia
believes in quiet diplomacy.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is a sophisticated man. He doesn’t
believe in imposing the will of Indonesia on Burma. Indonesia believes in
a quiet diplomacy. He can use that to encourage a change in Burma,
Indochina as well. Indonesia has a role to play beyond his border. We are
engaging with Indonesia to spread democracy.

The relation between Indonesia and the US is one of the most important
relations we have in the world in terms of democracy development. We have
difficult relations with authoritarian countries. We must look together
for a change to work together in Burma. It is important for the US to work
with Indonesia on Burma.

What can push change in Myanmar?

Domestic drive. International push can only provide some aid but the drive
has to come from within.

But the domestic factor is too weak?

It is not that the domestic factor is too weak but the military regime is
too severe.

You have thousands of people who took to the streets in 2007 for
revolutions, but they were repressed. One thing that was different in
Burma: In the 1988 uprising, 3,000 people were killed while in the 2007
uprising, 100 were killed. There is space for a democratic voice in Burma.

What options does it have to lead to change?

It is possible that the people, like in the Philippines, have a
non-violent revolution. However, that is not possible in Burma.

Indonesia has to play a role. The Indonesian President is from the
military. He can show the Burmese that it is possible to make a transition
to democracy and you have to pressure them but also enable them see that
there is a future. Dictators tend to be very nervous because they
committed crimes and are afraid the people will seek revenge.

____________________________________
PRESS RELEASE

April 14, PEN American Center
Imprisoned Burmese blogger Nay Phone Latt to receive top PEN honor

New York City, April 14, 2010—PEN American Center today named Nay Phone
Latt, one of Burma’s leading bloggers, as the recipient of its 2010
PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Award. Nay Phone Latt, who is also
a poet, was arrested on January 29, 2008, following the monks’ protests in
Rangoon and elsewhere in the country, and is serving a 12-year sentence
for distributing news and views via his blog.

The award, which honors international literary figures who have been
persecuted or imprisoned for exercising or defending the right to freedom
of expression, will be presented at PEN’s Annual Gala on April 27, 2010,
at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. Writer,
historian, and PEN member Barbara Goldsmith underwrites the award.

“Nay Phone Latt represents a younger generation of Burmese who are longing
for freedom and willing to pay the cost of speaking out in its defense,”
said Kwame Anthony Appiah, president of PEN American Center. “That he is a
blogger reflects the global truth that Internet censorship is one of the
great threats to free expression today. That Nay Phone Latt is also a poet
reminds us that every society speaks with the voice of the imagination as
well as through its non-fiction writers. We honor him. We thank him. We
ask all who have any influence on the government of Burma to press for his
release.”

Nay Phone Latt, 29, is an influential Burmese blogger and political
dissident. He is a youth member of the National League for Democracy, the
opposition party in Burma that will soon be dissolved by new election
laws, and also a young entrepreneur who owns several Internet cafes in
Rangoon. His Burmese language blog was praised by the BBC and other
foreign media outlets for providing invaluable news regarding the military
crackdown in Myanmar (Burma) in 2007 during a period of particularly
strong censorship.

Nay Phone Latt was arrested on January 29, 2008, under section 5 (J) of
the 1950 Emergency Provision Act, which criminalizes any attempt to
“disrupt morality” or to “disrupt security, stability or the restoration
of order.” Initially held at the Interior Ministry, he was transferred in
early February 2008 to Insein Prison, famous for its inhumane conditions,
where he had restricted contact to his family and legal assistance. After
being held for over nine months, Nay Phone Latt was sentenced by a
specially-assembled court to a combined 20 years and six months in prison
on November 10, 2008. The court, formed to prosecute political dissidents
within prison walls, was closed to the public, and Nay Phone Latt’s mother
was banned from attending the hearing. Nay Phone Latt was not allowed
legal representation after his lawyer was sentenced to prison time for
contempt while protesting unfair hearings.

The total sentence imposed upon Nay Phone Latt consisted of two years for
violating Article 505 (b) of the Criminal Code, which punishes defamation
of the state, three years and six months for violating Article 32 (b) of
the Video Act, and 15 years for violating Article 33 (a) of the
Electronics Act. The Electronics Act, which contains provisions
establishing long prison terms for disseminating news that is considered
to tarnish the image of the government, has been used increasingly to
silence political voices since the protests in 2007.

On November 16, 2008, Nay Phone Latt was transferred from Insein Prison to
Pa-an Prison in Karen state, 135 miles from Rangoon. He joins the ranks of
political dissidents who have been transferred to isolated regional
prisons with poor or nonexistent medical care and limited food. Many
families of these prisoners have reportedly been prevented from visiting.
On February 20, 2009, a court in Rangoon reduced Nay Phone Latt’s sentence
by eight and a half years, leaving him to serve 12 years in prison. Family
members continue to express concern for Nay Phone Latt’s health.

In announcing the award today in New York, Freedom to Write Program
Director Larry Siems praised Nay Phone Latt’s “courageous use of new media
to convey critical information and articulate the frustrations and hopes
of his generation.” Siems urged the Obama administration to press the
ruling junta to release Nay Phone Latt and all political prisoners in
advance of Myanmar’s upcoming elections—the first in 22 years. “Nay Phone
Latt’s blog called attention not only to the despotism of the ruling
junta, but to Myanmar’s vibrant youth and creative culture; in it, we
glimpse the promising future that could accompany an easing of
restrictions on freedom of expression in his country. The Obama
administration should seize this critical moment in Myanmar’s history to
advance U.S. promises to defend Internet freedom around the world and to
ensure that people like Nay Phone Latt are free to help shape their
country’s future.”

This is the 24th year that the PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write
Award has honored an international literary figure who has been persecuted
or imprisoned for exercising or defending the right to freedom of
expression. Candidates are nominated by International PEN and any of its
145 constituent PEN centers around the world, and screened by PEN American
Center and an Advisory Board comprising some of the most distinguished
experts in the field. The Advisory Board for the PEN/Barbara Goldsmith
Freedom to Write Award includes Carroll Bogert, Associate Director of
Human Rights Watch; Vartan Gregorian, President of the Carnegie
Corporation; Joanne Leedom-Ackerman, International Vice-President of
International PEN; Aryeh Neier, President of the Open Society Institute;
and Joel Simon, Executive Director of the Committee to Protect
Journalists.

The Freedom to Write Award is an extension of PEN’s year-round advocacy on
behalf of the more than 900 writers and journalists who are currently
threatened or in prison. Forty-five women and men have received the award
since 1987; 31 of the 35 honorees who were in prison at the time they were
honored were subsequently released.

PEN American Center is the largest of the 145 centers of International
PEN, the world’s oldest human rights organization and the oldest
international literary organization. The Freedom to Write Program of PEN
American Center works to protect the freedom of the written word wherever
it is imperiled. It defends writers and journalists from all over the
world who are imprisoned, threatened, persecuted, or attacked in the
course of carrying out their profession. For more information on PEN’s
work, please visit www.pen.org

For more information contact:
Larry Siems, (212) 334-1660 ext. 105 (office), (646) 359-0594 (mobile),
lsiems at pen.org
Sarah Hoffman, (212) 334-1669 ext. 111, sarah at pen.org