BurmaNet News, June 15, 2010

[Editor]

June 15, Issue #3982


INSIDE BURMA
Irrawaddy: Land confiscation increases with military presence

ON THE BORDER
AFP: 53 dead' in Bangladesh floods, landslides
AFP: Indian rebels lift blockade after troop threat

BUSINESS / TRADE
DVB: S Korea ups stake in Burma gas
Irrawaddy: Burma buys 50 fighter jets from China

HEALTH
IMNA: Malaria rate increases, less income limits treatment

REGIONAL
Narinjara: 666 Burmese among 1,048 foreigners in Bangladesh jails

INTERNATIONAL
DVB: Military defectors reject accusations

OPINION / OTHER
Irrawaddy: Sen. Webb, regime 'talking from same script'? – Ba Kaung

PRESS RELEASE
People in Need: Graffiti for Aung San Su Kyi: People in Need will
commemorate the sixty-fifth birthday of a Burmese dissident in Prague




____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

June 15, Irrawaddy
Land confiscation increases with military presence – Alex Ellgee

Land confiscation has increased dramatically in Arakan State in western
Burma as a result of increased military deployment, according to a report
released on Monday by the All Arakan Students’ and Youth Congress (AAYSC).

The Burmese junta has deployed more troops in order to provide increased
security at a number of governmental developments projects such as the
Shwe Gas pipeline and hydro-power projects in western Burma.

Situated on the Bay of Bengal, Arakan State enjoys an abundance of natural
resources which which accounts for the high level of land confiscation,
the report said.

Most of the land confiscation is in conjunction with development projects
by foreign countries. The troops are there “to ensure the unopposed
exploitation of natural resources,” said the report.

“The military government wants to develop more projects in Arakan State at
an increased rate, and they don't care about the human rights of the local
people,” said Aung Marn Oo of the AASYC. “More and more troops will be
deployed in the future, and we are going to see increased land
confiscation, forced labor and human rights abuses against the local
people.”

Since 1988, the number of infantry battalions based in Arakan State and
Paletwa Township of Chin State has increased from 3 to 43 battalions, said
the AASYC..

Land confiscation has also taken place in order to build barracks,
military outposts and training sites for troops. Land is also confiscated
for farming in order to provide rations and generate extra income for the
military.

Many local businesses suffered last year when authorities ordered them to
relocate their operations to a designated 515-acre “industrial zone.” The
majority of the businesses were unable to efficiently transfer their
operations because of a lack of electricity, water and infrastructure in
the zone.

Construction of the Shwe Gas pipeline through the area is a major concern
for human rights groups, who believe that land confiscation will increase.

The Shwe Gas Movement (SGM) reports that close to 44 battalions have
already been deployed around the pipeline in Arakan State. Twenty-two
townships will be affected, it said.

Although four hydro-power projects are being built in Arakan State, most
of the electricity will be sold to Bangladesh or used for military
consumption.

Another concern cited in the report is the regime’s plan to plant 8
million acres of jatropha and castor oil plants.

In 2008, Light Infantry Battalion No 542 forced  villagers to plant 48,000
castor oil plants on 40 acres of former grazing land in the Chaung-wa
village tract.

The local authorities have also leased out paddy land to Bangladesh, which
has deprived local farmers of land they have lived on for years and
affected the already poor food situation in Arakan State.

The Asian Human Right Commission reported that Burma has experienced an
increased  food shortage as a direct result of militarization. As the
number of military checkpoints increased, so does unofficial taxing of
money and food.

Another concern is the construction of the Kaladan Multi-Model Transit
Transport Facility, planned to start in late 2010. The US $120 million
seaport-highway project, which the Indian government is financing, will be
developed in a highly populated residential area near Sittwe, which
includes the area’s only major hospital.

According to AASYC, more than 200 acres of farmland was recently
confiscated from locals for the deployment of artillery battalions No. 375
and 377 in Kyauk Taw Township, which is where the highway will link India
and the seaport.

Foreign oil exploration in Arakan State has also led to land confiscation
and increased hardships for the local people, as they rarely receive
compensation, the report said.

Since 2008, India’s Essar Oil Ltd. has been drilling near Sittwe.
According to local people, rice fields, shrimp farms and plantations have
been destroyed due to
Seismic surveying last year. Some of  local residents were forcibly hired
for construction jobs but received no regular wages, sources said.

“The foreign companies from Bangladesh, China, India come to Arakan
State to exploit the resources but don’t pay attention to the suffering
their operations create for the local people,” said Aung Marn Oo.

The report noted that Article 17 of the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights states, “Everyone has the right to own property as well as
associate with others,” and “No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of their
property.”

However, Article 18 of the 1974 Constitution of Burma, in a State
Fundamental Principle, says, “The State is the ultimate owner of all
natural resources above and below the ground, above and beneath the waters
and in the atmosphere, and also of all the lands.”

The AASYC was formed in 1994 by Arkanese pro-democracy activists.

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

June 15, Agence France Presse
53 dead' in Bangladesh floods, landslides – Muazzem Shakil

COX'S BAZAAR, Bangladesh — At least 53 people have been killed after days
of heavy rain triggered flash floods and landslides in southeastern
Bangladesh, police said Tuesday.

The country's flood warning centre said most of the southeast had
experienced heavy rainfall during the past 24 hours, with 24.2 centimetres
(9.5 inches) falling in many areas.

"We've found 48 bodies, including six soldiers, in the Cox's Bazaar region
so far," said the district police chief Nibhas Chandra Majhi.

Five more bodies have been recovered in the neighbouring hill district of
Bandarban, police said.

Most of the dead were washed away by flash floods or buried alive by
landslides as Cox's Bazaar was pounded on Monday by some of the heaviest
rains in decades, Majhi told AFP.

"It was a huge flash flood, it washed everything in its path away," he
said. "At least 20,000 people have been trapped by the flash floods. We
cannot reach them as the roads are flooded or blocked with mud."

The worst affected location, Teknaf -- which is on the border with Myanmar
and home to hundreds of thousands of ethnic Rohingya refugees -- was where
at least 34 of the bodies were recovered.

Rescue workers say the death toll was high because many residents live on
hillsides in makeshift houses.

Around 15,000 Rohingya refugees living in camps -- both legal and illegal
-- around Teknaf have also been affected by the floods, Firoz Salauddin,
the government's spokesman on Rohingya issues told AFP.

Described by the United Nations as one of the most persecuted minorities
on Earth, thousands of Rohingya from Myanmar's northern Rakhine state
stream across the border into Bangladesh every year.

Bangladesh recognises 28,000 Rohingya as registered refugees, who live and
receive aid at an official UN camp in Kutupalong. This figure is a
fraction of the 200,000 to 300,000 unofficial refugees, according to
government estimates.

"I've never seen anything like it -- water was coming from everywhere,
hundreds of bamboo shacks have been washed away by the rains," Mojibur
Rahman, a Rohingya refugee who lives in an official refugee camp, told
AFP.

The refugee camps are often set up on newly cleared forest land and are
vulnerable to landslides in heavy rain, local official say.

Conditions are dire in the unofficial camps where people have been without
food for two days since the heavy rain began, said Manzural Islam, an
unregistered Rohingya refugee.

"Flash floods are the worst thing that could have happened to us," said
Islam, who fled Myanmar last year.

"People are living under the sky and we haven't had food for two days as
we can't cook in the rain with no shelter," he told AFP by telephone.

Down the coast in Cox's Bazaar, an army barracks at the foot of a hill was
destroyed by a landslide, with all of the six soldiers on duty and at
least 20 army vehicles buried in the mud.

Weather officials have forecast further rains due to a major depression in
the Bay of Bengal.

Landslides triggered by heavy rains are common in Bangladesh's
southeastern hill districts where thousands of poor people live on
deforested hill slopes.

____________________________________

June 15, Agence France Presse
Indian rebels lift blockade after troop threat

Guwahati, India — Tribal rebels in northeast India agreed on Tuesday to
lift a blockade that had cut off the remote state of Manipur for over two
months after the government threatened to send in troops.

Several Naga tribal groups had blocked highways into the state, which
borders Myanmar, to protest against a government decision preventing their
separatist leader Thuingaleng Muivah from visiting his birthplace.

"We are temporarily suspending the economic blockade following personal
requests by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh after we met him in New Delhi,"
Naga Students Federation (NSF) president Mutsiikhoyo Yhobu told AFP by
telephone.

The blockade, which was spearheaded by the NSF, led to severe shortages of
food and medical supplies as well as soaring prices.

State police said that paramilitary troops were now not needed to break
the blockade but would still be used to escort trucks into Manipur.

"In view of the NSF decision, we have decided not to use force for the
time being," a senior police official said, requesting not to be named.

On Monday, top interior ministry official G.K. Pillai had vowed to use
troops to ensure essential supplies could get in to Manipur from the
neighbouring state of Assam.

The blockage was due to be lifted on Tuesday evening and trucks were
expected to enter Manipur the following day, local officials said.

Muivah's National Socialist Council of Nagaland has been campaigning for
decades for a Naga homeland to be carved out from three of India's seven
northeastern states, including Manipur.

The state government had banned Muivah's trip to his home village, saying
it could stoke unrest. On May 6, up to six tribal protesters are said to
have been killed and 70 injured during demonstrations over the ban.

"We may resume our agitation once again if the Manipur government fails to
address our primary demands," the NSF's Yhobu warned on Tuesday.

Manipur, which has long been affected by insurgent violence, is home to
dozens of tribal groups and small guerrilla armies that resist rule from
New Delhi and often compete against each other.

____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

June 15, Democratic Voice of Burma
S Korea ups stake in Burma gas – Francis Wade

South Korea announced yesterday that investments in Burma are set to rise
following an unprecedented agreement to jointly exploit with the Burmese
government two more gas blocks.

The agreement follows a visit to Burma on 9 June by a five-member Korean
delegation composed of legislators of the ruling Grand National Party. Lee
Jong-heuk, who led the delegation, told Yonhap news agency that the joint
development of eight more offshore blocks was mooted.

Seoul has keenly targeted Burma’s gas sector, with the Korean Gas Corp
(KOGAS) and Daewoo International holding sizeable stakes in the Shwe gas
pipeline project, which will transport oil and gas across Burma to
southern China and is set to net the ruling junta nearly $US30 billion
over the next 30 years.

The B-2 gas block that is earmarked for exploitation by Seoul is in
northwestern Burma’s Sagaing division, and will be first onshore block
targeted by Korea. It is jointly operated by the state-run Myanmar Oil and
Gas Enterprise (MOGE) and Russia’s Silver Wave Energy group, which arrived
in Burma in early 2007.

The A-7 block off the coast of Burma’s western Arakan state was operated
by Indian gas company GAIL until 2007, when it withdrew after alleged
preferential by the Burmese government of Chinese companies.

Lee said that the agreement between South Korea and Burma, which he
described as “a resource-rich country trying to change into a free
democracy”, marked a “new era in our history of energy diplomacy with
Myanmar [Burma]. With this as a ground, we will work harder for energy
diplomacy in the future.”

More than 27 companies from 13 countries, including France, Australia and
the US, hold investments in Burma’s oil and gas sector. Official
government data shows that Burma has 90 trillion cubic feet (TCF) of gas
and 3.2 billion barrels of recoverable crude oil reserves, although
outside estimates of oil quantities are far less.

South Korea has played a mixed game of diplomacy with the Burmese
government, occasionally criticising its human rights record whilst
continuing to invest in the energy sector. It is currently Burma’s tenth
largest foreign investor.

“With respect to South Korea, one should ask what sort of government funds
this [investment] is using, and whether the government has any sort of
criteria that they use to determine which projects are worthy of
government funding,” said Matthew Smith, senior consultant on the Burma
program at EarthRights International (ERI).

“My sense, from meetings we’ve had in Korea in the past, is that the
Korean government doesn’t have adequate social and environmental criteria
and obviously with Burma, that’s a big problem.”

Rights groups, including ERI, have accused governments and companies
investing in Burma’s energy sector of providing an economic crutch for the
regime in the face of US and EU sanctions, as well as being complicit in
human rights abuses that occur close to gas and oil pipelines.

____________________________________

June 15, Irrawaddy
Burma buys 50 fighter jets from China

The Burmese air force continues to expand with the recent procurement of
50 K-8 jet trainer aircraft from China, according to sources within the
air force in Meikhtila.

“Parts of the K-8 aircraft were transported by cargo ship from China and
are being assembled at the Aircraft Production and Maintenance Base in
Meikhtila,” said one of the sources.

K-8 Karakorum jet trainers from Sri Lanka air force. (Source:www.armybase.us)
The purchase of the 50 aircraft comes after Burma’s air force chief Lt-Gen
Myat Hein traveled to China in November to negotiate an upgrade to the
fleet of Chinese-made military aircraft already owned by Burma.

“There are two reasons to purchase K-8 trainers,” said the source. “Either
for training exercises or for counter-insurgency.”

The K-8 jet trainer, sometimes called the K-8 Karakorum or the Hongdu
JL-8, is a joint venture between China and Pakistan, and is fitted with
air-to-air missiles and rockets.

In 1998-9, the Burmese air force bought 12 K-8 jet trainers from China,
which are now stationed at Taungoo Air Base in Pegu Division.

In addition to purchasing Chinese-made fighters and trainer aircraft,
Naypyidaw signed a contract in late 2009 to buy 20 MiG-29 jet fighters
from Russia at a cost of nearly US $570 million.

“The parts of the MiG-29 jet fighters will arrive in July and September by
cargo ship and by plane,” said an officer close to Col. Tun Aung, a key
figure in the Burmese air force. He said that the 20 Russian aircraft will
be assembled in Meikhtila.

Meanwhile, Burma's main air base for maintenance, the Aircraft Production
and Maintenance Air Base (APMAB) in Panchangone in Mingaladon Township has
been relocated to Nyaunggone, close to the regime's Flying Training Base
in Shante in Meikhtila Township, according to a source from the air base.

“The APMAB got the order from Naypyidaw in January to relocate to the new
location,” he said, but said he did not know why the relocation took
place.

Military sources from Rangoon said that Burmese ruling military council
upgraded the air force’s facilities and expanded airfields, as well as two
air force bases in Bassein and Homemalin in 2006, to fulfill operational
capabilities.

Burma has brought 280 aircraft from China, Russia, Yugoslavia and Poland,
including trainers and fighters, since the military took power in 1988.

The Burmese air force was founded in 1947 before Burmese independence. Its
main objective has since been counter campaigns against the Communist
Party of Burma and several ethnic armies.

Burma has 10 air force headquarters: Bassein Air Base in Irrawaddy
Division; Mingaladon Air Base in Rangoon Division; Myitkyina Air Base in
Kachin State; Myike Air Base in Tenasserim Division; Namsang Air Base in
Shan State; Taungoo Air Base in Pegu Division; Meikhtila (Shante) Flying
Training Base; Meikthila Grounding Training Base in Mandalay Division;
Magwe Air Base in Magwe Division; and Homemalin Air Base in Sagaing
Division.

____________________________________
HEALTH

June 15, Independent Mon News Agency
Malaria rate increases, less income limits treatment

Larger numbers of people have been suffering from Malaria in eastern Ye
Township [NMSP territory] according to doctors from local health clinics
and facilities run by the New Mon State Party (NMSP).

Adults and children have been admitted to clinics as the start of rainy
season has created an environment ideal for breading mosquitoes. “The
residence who got sick, including children, [are] about 30 per day, half
of them [with] malaria,” explained Mi Pakao Rot who works with the NMSP
health department in Pa Nan Paing village. “When we tested 10 patients
blood, about 5 to 7 people have malaria. This disease started at the
beginning of the raining season;  [There was]
not so much at the
beginning, but now the disease increase around the villages under the
control of the NMSP territory.”

The villages around NMSP territory, including Pa Nan Paing, Joe Kha Bru,
Nyi Sar, Chait Teak, Palh Don Phite and Khalocknee, have reported
increases in the number of residents stricken with malaria so far this
year.

But while rainy season generally begins early every May, this year’s rise
in malaria cases appears to be linked with financial difficulties amongst
residents, likely caused by poor harvests and increases in inflation due
to the military government’s pay hikes for civil servants. Thinking their
illness not serious enough to justify the cost of a trip clinic, residents
instead opt to visit the local pharmacy for medicine.

“Some people, they do not want to go to meet with the health department
when they got sick, they just used the medicine from the shop [with out
diagnosis].” a doctor who preferred to remain anonymous said of villagers
living around NMSP territory. “Some of them do not have malaria but when
they get sick they think, ‘this disease is malaria’, and they use malaria
medicine; sometimes they get more sick because they use the wrong
medicine.”

Residents who have the lowest incomes are also often more exposed to
mosquitoes due to their work as day laborers and field hands. These jobs
frequently expose workers to outside conditions or require them to sleep
in fields and jungles, often with out protection, that contain pools of
standing water.

“Most people who got malaria are day laborers [who work on plantations and
farms] because many of [these] people, they start their jobs at this time
[of year] during the change in season,” Mi Pakao Rot added. “If they get
sick they [don’t know their disease], if they should meet with the doctor
or the health department, that they need to use mosquito-nets, [or]
 use
the clean water.”

____________________________________
REGIONAL

June 15, Narinjara
666 Burmese among 1,048 foreigners in Bangladesh jails

Dhaka Center JailDhaka: There are 666 Burmese prisoners among the 1,048
foreign nationals in several prisons in Bangladesh, Bangladesh Home
Minister Sahara Khatun told parliament on Monday.

Among all foreign inmates, 666 are Burmese, 349 are Indian, 21 are
Pakistani, 6 are Nepali, 3 are Tanzanian, and 3 are from Japan, Malaysia,
and Hungary. The figures include all prisoners who have either been
convicted or are waiting for trial, the minister said.

According to a local Burmese source, most of the Burmese prisoners in
Bangladesh have been languishing for many years as they have been unable
to return back to Burma after their jail terms have been served.

Burma's immigration officials have refused to accept the Burmese prisoners
who have no permanent address in Burma or solid documents to prove their
status as Burmese citizens.

Among the Burmese prisoners, most were arrested by Bangladesh authorities
for entering Bangladesh without documentation.

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

June 15, Democratic Voice of Burma
Military defectors reject accusations

Two men who leaked information on Burma’s nuclear programme and were
subsequently attacked by Burmese state media as “slanderous” frauds have
defended their actions.

Sai Thein Win and Aung Lin Htut, two former majors in the Burmese army who
featured prominently in DVB’s exposé of Burma’s nuclear weapons programme,
were last week slammed as mere “deserters and fugitives” by the state-run
New Light of Myanmar newspaper.
Sai Thein Win had worked in a factory that built prototypes for nuclear
missiles, and provided DVB with the bulk of information about the nuclear
programme for the documentary, Burma’s Nuclear Ambitions. Aung Lin Htut,
who worked in the government’s Military Intelligence Service during the
Khin Nyunt era and was Burma’s ambassador to the US, spoke at length of
the regime’s military projects.

Both men were accused in the article of being criminals; Aung Lin Htut
“was declared a fugitive on 20 May 2005 after a lawsuit had been filed
against him
for misappropriating a State budget worth $US4,525”, as well
as other charges “for high treason”, the article said.

Sai Thein Win meanwhile had apparently lied about his position as major in
the army. “As he is not only a deserter but also an offender having
committed other crimes, plans are underway to take action against him.”

It said that DVB, which was formed in 1992 and became the first non-state
television station to broadcast in Burma, “is a killer broadcasting
station that is hateching [sic] evil plots and sowing hatred between
Myanmar and the international community and among the Myanmar national
people”.

Sai Thein Win responded to the accusation by sending DVB a document from
Naypyidaw’s Defence Services office in 2009 which formalised his promotion
from captain to temporary commanding officer (major rank) in the military
factory near to Thabeikkyin.

Thabeikkyin has become the focus of analysis into Burma’s nuclear
programme: seven miles north of the town lies the so-called Nuclear
Battalion, home of the Science and Technology Regiment. Sai Thein Win
claims that it was developed for the sole purpose of producing a nuclear
weapon.

Aung Lin Htut similarly claims that the accusations against him are
untrue. A receipt from the Burmese embassy in Washington appears to show
the transfer by Aung Lin Htut of $US85,000 to Min Lwin, the new military
attaché that replaced him at the embassy in 2005.

Reports from exiled Burmese media claim that intelligence officers have
regularly visited Sai Thein Win’s hometown of Kyaukme in Shan state. The
New Light of Myanmar article claimed however that “no authorities
concerned [with the leak] have detained or arrested their family members”.

____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

June 15, Irrawaddy
Sen. Webb, regime 'talking from same script'? – Ba Kaung

It's now clear that the relationship between the Burmese regime and US
Sen. Jim Webb is unique, and his position as a strong advocate for US
engagement with the generals has not changed, in spite of recent
allegations that the junta is trying to acquire nuclear weapons. Webb's
relationship with the regime might even have been strengthened.

Many wondered if the relationship was damaged after the Democratic
lawmaker said he would seek clarification on the report that Burma was
acquiring a nuclear program—a report which compelled him to cancel his
scheduled visit to Burma early this month, when he also called for the
appointment of a US special envoy to Burma.

But, last week both Webb and the regime spoke out in rejecting the
conclusions of the report, citing similar reasons as if they were talking
from the same script.

On Thursday, Webb pointed out in a letter to Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton that the Oslo-based Burmese exiled news service Democratic Voice
of Burma (DVB), which alleged that Burma had a nuclear program, is a
US-funded media organization, insinuating that the US government should be
held accountable for the nuclear report.

Three days later, on Friday, the Burmese Ministry of Foreign Affairs
described the DVB as “a killer broadcasting station” that survives on US
aid from the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) and that the report
was issued by anti-Burma elements in collaboration with other news media
for a political purpose.

The DVB deputy executive in Norway defended the station's report, saying
that the organization functions independently, and, although 10 to 15
percent of the organization's funds comes from the US government, its main
financial backers are European countries such as the Netherlands.

Some observers noted that while it is not uncommon for the regime to
accuse Burmese exiled newsgroups in such a way, it is unusual for an
American senator to make a similar point.

Also, regarding an earlier news report that Burma might have violated UN
Security Resolution 1874 imposed on North Korea by receiving alleged
shipments of military items from North Korea in 2009, Webb said that it
was an “unsubstantiated” allegation raised by the US top diplomat for
Asia, Kurt Campbell. By the same token, the regime defended itself by
saying that it had only imported cement from North Korea during the
alleged transaction.

While Webb said that the new nuclear allegations had “frozen any prospect
of further engagement with Burma,” the regime's media noted on Friday that
the “unfounded” nuclear allegations surfaced at a time of resumption of
engagement between Burma and the United States.

Even though there may have been no direct discussions between Webb and
Burmese government officials, informed sources said that there is regular
contact between him and the regime aided by overseas Burmese who support
the junta.

Based on his sources, Webb told the Asia Society last week that Burma's
election, whose date is yet to be announced, would probably be held on
Oct. 10, adding that the election should be viewed as a step forward for
Burma.

When Webb made his first official visit to Burma in 2009 and met with the
reclusive regime's chief Snr-Gen Than Shwe, opposition figures said he did
not mention the more than 2,000 political prisoners languishing in prisons
and human rights violations against ethnic minorities.

Since that visit, Webb has not enjoyed support among many Burmese
democracy activists, who say that his primary concern is countering
Chinese influence in Burma through US economic investment in the country.

Nevertheless, Webb is not mistaken in pointing out the growing Chinese
influence in Burma, as seen by the recent visit by Chinese Primer Wen
Jiabao, during which 15 cooperation agreements were signed covering areas
such as natural gas imports, a trans-Burma gas pipeline, hydro-power dams
and foreign aid.

And according to the latest reports, Chinese political influence might
have been a factor in the regime's recent easing of pressure on ethnic
cease-fire groups on the China-Burma border to join the regime's border
guard force plan.

Given these realities, Webb's position for greater engagement with the
regime to counter China's growing influence is not likely to change. In
doing so, Webb frustrates Burmese pro-democracy activists and delights the
regime, which will soon probably reward him with another personal meeting
with Snr-Gen. Than Shwe.

____________________________________
PRESS RELEASE

June 15, People in Need
Graffiti for Aung San Su Kyi: People in Need will commemorate the
sixty-fifth birthday of a Burmese dissident in Prague

Prague - Graffiti wall in the center of Prague at Těšnov will be
decorated by a large portrait of imprisoned Burmese dissident and Nobel
Peace Prize laureate Aung San Su Kyi from this Friday. People will be able
to leave a short note and a birthday wish on the wall as well. Public
happening organized by People in Need will be held on Friday June 18, 2010
at 5pm at Těšnov, Prague 1 (at the graffiti wall near tram stop
Těšnov). A photo from the event will be sent to Czech, European and
Burmese exile media and also to Su Kyi as an expression of Czech support.
People in Need want to call the attention to the violations of human
rights in one of the most severe authoritarian regimes of present time.

Public figures will hold short speeches at this gathering such as MP Marek
Benda (member of the Czech parliamentary group for Democracy in Burma),
former MP Petr Bratský, the director of the Czech Helsinki Council Anna
Šabatová and others. In paralel there is a campaign on Facebook where
supporters are asked to leave a birthday wish on the Facebook wall of the
Czech groups in support of democracy in Burma (Svobodu pro Su Ťij!!
Svobodu pro Barmu!!
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=82234729378&ref=ts)

The leading Burmese dissident is celebrating her sixty-fifth birthday on
June 19. For already fifteen years she has been celebrating them under
house arrest. Currently the only detained Nobel Peace Prize laureate Su
Kyi won a landslide victory in Burmese elections in 1990 as a leader of a
political party National League for Demcoracy (NLD). But the results of
these elections were never recognized by the Burmese junta and the members
of NLD and the democratic opposition are since then persecuted and even
imprisoned. For this year the junta has announced first elections since
1990 but the rules by which the elections will be organized denied
democratic principles and basic rights of citizens.

 “It seems that the goal of these elections is to legitimize the military
rule since Su Kyi and more then 2100 of other political prisoners cannot
take part. People in Need organization therefore consider the planned
elections as non-compliant with international standards of democratic
elections and thus non-democratic,” stated Marie Peřinová, the head
of the Burmese projects of People in Need organization.

The legal framework of Burma – new constitution issued by the junta in
2008 and the election laws issue in March 2010 – discriminate the
opposition political representatives. For example they do not allow
running for the elections of those who are under prosecution or imprisoned
which is a tool against Suu Kyi and other imprisoned opposition members.
They also do not allow the candidacy of more then 400 000 of Buddhist
monks and other members of religious groups. The international community
together with the Czech republic must therefore keep the pressure on the
Burmese junta and demand the release of all the political prisoners, start
up of a dialogue about the future of the country with Su Kyi and the
representatives of the ethnic grupd and stop the violence aimed at the
ethnic groups.

For more information please contact Kristina Prunerova at
kristina.prunerova at clovekvtisni.cz or 420 777 787 917.