BurmaNet News, June 25, 2010

[Editor]

June 25, 2010 Issue #3990


INSIDE BURMA
Irrawaddy: Junta interrogates political prisoners on election
DVB: Wa army switch ‘inevitable’

ON THE BORDER
Bangkok Post: Kasit offers EU help in retraining migrants
DVB: Food aid cut to Thailand refugee camps – Naw Noreen

BUSINESS / TRADE
Irrawaddy: Burma increases airport tax as tourism jumps

DRUGS
IRIN: Myanmar: Producing drugs for the region, fuelling addiction at home

INTERNATIONAL
Mizzima News: No big policy shifts from new Australian PM, activists say

OPINION / OTHER
Asia Times: Myanmar elections mute ethnic voices – Brian McCartan
Asia Times: Life and times of a dictator – Bertil Lintner

ANNOUNCEMENT
Women’s League of Burma and Human Rights Now: Peoples’ Tribunal on the
crimes against women of Burma (Japan)





____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

June 25, Irrawaddy
Junta interrogates political prisoners on election – Zarni Mann

The Burmese military junta has been interrogating political prisoners
since early June about their opinions of the upcoming election and their
intentions for future political activity, according to the families of
political prisoners.

Than Than Win, the wife of Shwe Maung, a political prisoner being held in
Mandalay Division, told The Irrawaddy that her husband said the special
police came to his prison and asked him to give his opinion on the
election and tell them whether he will continue his political activity
when he gets released.

She said her husband, who was sentenced to six years in prison for his
involvement in the 2007 Saffron Revolution, told the special police that,
if necessary, he will enter politics again.

Family members of prisoners wait for their release in front of the Insein
prison gate in Rangoon last year. (Photo: Reuters)
Shwe Maung was tortured when he was arrested, and now has a heart
condition and back pain. His wife requested that the prison authorities
give him a medical  examination outside the prison, but the authorities
refused.

The family of another political prisoner, Zaw Thet Htwe, also said the
police have recently interrogated him. “The police asked Zaw Thet Htwe
about his opinion of the election and what he is going to do when he gets
outside,” they said.

Zaw Thet Htwe is being detained in Taungyi Township, the capital of Shan
State. He was chief sports editor at a journal in Rangoon when he was
sentenced in 2008 to nine years in prison for helping Cyclone Nargis
victims in the Irrawaddy delta.

Ashin Gambira, a prominent monk and leader of the Saffron Revolution, has
also been asked the same questions by authorities. Gambira was sentenced
to 63 years in prison and is being held in Kalay prison, Sagaing Division.

There are 2,157 political prisoners in Burma, according to the
Thailand-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners-Burma
(AAPP). Many of them were arrested in 2007 during the Saffron Revolution.

Many in the international community have called on the junta to release
all political prisoners, including pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi,
before the election to be held late this year—the first election in Burma
since 1990.

Although some political observers believe the junta will release a number
of political prisoners before the election to improve its credibility with
the international community, most believe the junta will release only
low-profile political prisoners who won't oppose the junta or the
election.

____________________________________

June 25, Democratic Voice of Burma
Wa army switch ‘inevitable’ – Nan Kham Kaew

The Wa army in northeastern Burma will one day have to join with the
ruling military government because a country with more than one army is
unacceptable, the junta has warned the group.

A government delegation led by the head of Burma’s Northern Military
Command, Win Thein, met with the 30,000-strong United Wa State Army (UWSA)
on Tuesday after a bi-annual visit to China to discuss border security
with officials in the country’s southern Yunnan province.

Beijing has urged the Burmese government to maintain stability along its
shared border following escalating tension over the UWSA’s reluctance to
transform into a Border Guard Force, which would bring it under the wing
of the Burmese army. Reports earlier this month of government workers
returning to the volatile Wa region in Shan state suggests however that
tension had eased.

“[Win Thein] said there shouldn’t be various armed groups in one country;
that is not supposed to happen,” a Wa official told DVB on condition of
anonymity. “He said that sooner or later, we will definitely have to
transform [into a border force] – there is supposed to be only one army in
the country.”

The government is desperately trying to shore up its support base prior to
elections this year as it draws up a grand design for a future Union of
Burma, with ethnic armies either assimilated into the Burmese army, or
otherwise eliminated.

The Wa official said that although the UWSA did not formally respond to
the statement, it continues to urge peace with the government. The UWSA is
Burma’s largest armed ethnic group and signed a ceasefire agreement with
the government in 1989, although that is now looking tenuous.

The group has also been labelled by the US government as one of the
world’s top opium producers, although its output has significantly
declined in the past decade. It has now reportedly switched to
methamphetamine production, and a UN report released yesterday said
Burma’s output of the drug has soared in the past year.

“We wish for development in the region and more crops to be grown here,
rather than poppy fields [for opium],” said the Wa official. “We asked the
government whether they wanted peace or war with us.”

He added that the group “has been busy” as it prepares for a visit by
Chinese authorities to inspect whether poppy cultivation has been
eliminated, but refused to elaborate on exactly how the group was
preparing.The Shan Herald Agency for News reported however that it was
organising a ‘”drug bonfire” to mark the International Day against Drug
Abuse and Illicit Trafficking on 26 June.

The Wa also claims it is being assisted by the Chinese in the development
of rubber plantations as a substitute for opium, with Beijing supplying
farming equipment.

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

June 24, Bangkok Post
Kasit offers EU help in retraining migrants – Thanida Tansubhapol and
Achara Ashayagachat

Brussels – Burmese migrants hoping to return to their homeland after
elections this year should be given retraining first, Foreign Minister
Kasit Piromya says.

The government will offer the European Union help in providing training to
Burmese migrants in Thailand, Mr Kasit said here yesterday at the EU
headquarters.

Mr Kasit presented his proposal to the European commissioner on
international cooperation, humanitarian aid & crisis response, Kristalina
Georgieva, during an official visit to Belgium, which ended yesterday.

Three Burmese groups which need help are Burmese intellectuals, workers
and refugees living along the Thai-Burmese border, Mr Kasit said.

"As the Burmese government is holding elections later this year, we should
help those who live outside their country to return home and resume their
lives in Burma," he said.

The EU agreed with the Thai proposal.

Mr Kasit will raise the issue in talks with EU ambassadors in Bangkok and
the National Security Council on his return home.

Both the EU and Thailand see the election in Burma as a first step towards
democracy, but still want the Burmese government to release all political
prisoners to make the election transparent. "The success of the Burmese
election could create more stability in Burma and Asean," Mr Kasit said.

On the thousands of ethnic Hmong who were deported to Laos from Thailand
last year, Mr Kasit told Ms Georgieva EU representatives in Laos could
talk to the Lao government directly if the Hmong wanted to settle in a
third country.

"As far as I know, the Lao Hmong who returned to their country are happy
to stay in Laos," he said.

Mr Kasit also told Ms Georgieva about Thailand's recent political
troubles, including the red shirt protests. He said they were engineered
mainly by a combination of "Marxist-Leninist" elements, disaffected
military men and "slum dwellers", all funded and inspired by former prime
minister Thaksin Shinawatra who is now in self-exile.

The EU commissioners are concerned about the prospect of reconciliation in
Thailand, sources said.

Mr Kasit also told the commissioner: "The time for compromise has passed,
and Thaksin can return only if he is prepared to face justice."

Thailand and the EU were unable in their talks yesterday to make progress
on the the sensitive Partnership Cooperation Agreement (PCA), a source
said.

"I believe that a rapid conclusion of the PCA with Thailand would be in
our mutual interest," Ms Georgieva said.

____________________________________

June 25, Democratic Voice of Burma
Food aid cut to Thailand refugee camps – Naw Noreen

Events have conspired to create a shortfall in funding for a prominent
Thailand border aid group, meaning that food supplies to Burmese refugees
in camps along the border is to be reduced.

A doubling in price of yellow bean, a critical foodstuff in camps along
the Thai-Burma border that house some 140,000 refugees, means that from
August this year the supply will be cut. The Thailand Burma Border
Consortium (TBBC) says that it hopes the measure will only be temporary,
but the group is facing a US$2.5 million shortfall in funding for this
year.

“It’s largely down the change in exchange rate [that has caused the
price-rise], but while some donors have increased our funding, others have
reduced it,” said Sally Thompson, deputy director of TBBC.

The absence of yellow bean, one of the three main foodstuffs in the camps,
will reduce daily energy content to just below 2000 kilocalories, Thompson
said, adding that the figure was “still within the maintenance level for
the population”.

“In the short-term we do not expect to see a deterioration in the health
of the refugees, but we will monitor this through various health
agencies.”

Refugees continue to arrive in the camps on an almost daily basis, the
majority from Karen state in eastern Burma where the opposition Karen
National Liberation Army (KNLA) has been fighting a 60-year war against
the Burmese military government.

Thompson said that “it is essential that Thai authorities allow these
people to seek asylum on Thai soil”, and that TBBC would look for ways to
maintain donor interest in the refugee situation “because it is  likely to
be ongoing”.

But a man called Jipsy, who lives in the Mae La camp in Thailand’s Tha
Song Yan district, said that the cut in food aid “will be difficult for
the refugees who don’t have jobs”.

“Here, when you are given flour, then flour is your only food – the same
thing applies to beans, whether some like eating it or not. So if [food]
is no longer given, then it will be difficult for some people,” he said.

It mirrors a similar situation during the world food crisis in 2007 when
TBBC, which has been active on the Thai-Burma border in various forms
since 1984, was forced to cut supplies to camps. This year’s food
rationing will begin in August but implementation will be staggered across
the camps, Thompson said.

____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

June 25, Irrawaddy
Burma increases airport tax as tourism jumps – Wai Moe

Burmese authorities will double the airport tax for foreigners and
increase it six times for Burmese citizens, two months after a new visa
on-arrival was unveiled to boost tourism.

The Department of Civil Aviation said on Wednesday that the airport
passenger service charge  will be increased to US $10 for each departing
international passenger and 3,000 kyat ($3) for Burmese nationals starting
on Thursday.

Hot air balloons fly over the temple-studded plains of Pagan in January.
Pagan, the ancient capital of Burma, is the popular tourist attraction of
the country. (Photo: Reuters
According to travel agents in Rangoon, the current airport tax for
foreigner is $5 and  500 kyat for Burmese. However, travel agents said
that the visa on-arrival, which started on May 1, has increased foreign
arrivals by an estimated 100 percent.

“Since the new visa regulations, tourism has been more developed,” said a
travel agent staffer who spoke on condition of anonymity.

She estimated that “more than double the number of tourists now visit.”

Meanwhile, the London-based Cox & Kings global travel company said it will
reintroduce tours to military-ruled Burma offering the first 13-day
escorted trip leaving in October. The company previously withdrew from the
country after Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi said tourism
would prolong military rule and human rights violations in Burma.

Cox & Kings said it changed its policy because Suu Kyi is reported to have
said tourism should be encouraged if it is run through private firms with
no link to the junta, according to Travel Trade Gazette.

Visas to Burma were tightly restricted through for nearly five decades
following a military coup in 1962.

Foreigners who wanted to enter the country had to apply for a visa at a
Burmese embassy and wait at least one week for approval, and they were
frequently turned down.

“I visited Burma two years ago,” recalled one Canadian tourist. “I applied
at the Burmese embassy in Bangkok. The embassy said I had to wait for a
week. I couldn't wait, so I gave an agent money to get a visa in one day.”

According to a notice at the Burmese immigration office, a visa on-arrival
is $30 for a 28-day, non-extendable visa; $40 for a 70-day, extendable
business visa or a 28-day extendable social visa; and $18 for a 24-hour
transit visa.

An individual must have a minimum of $300 and a family must have $600 to
enter the country. The overstay fee for a tourist with a 28-day visa is $3
a day.

Burma’s visa on-arrival carries a limitation in that foreigners are
restricted from going to certain areas of the country.

____________________________________
DRUGS

June 25, IRIN (UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs)
MYANMAR: Producing drugs for the region, fuelling addiction at home

Yangon – In northeastern Shan State, opium farmers have a special welcome
for visitors.

“Serving opium or methamphetamines to guests is a tradition of local poppy
farmers in the area. Some poppy farmers are drug addicts,” said Yarzar*, a
drug addict in his 30s from Shan State, where he used to farm poppy and
work in opium factories.

Myanmar is one of the world’s main sources of opiates and
methamphetamines, and this production fuels rampant addiction in the
country.

Opiates, especially heroin, are the most prevalent drug in Myanmar,
feeding the habits of some 66,000 heroin users and 67,000 opium users,
according to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime’s (UNODC) 2010 World Drug
Report released this week.

In 2009, the country produced 330 tons of opiates, accounting for 17
percent of global cultivation, while methamphetamine seizures skyrocketed
from one million tablets in 2008 to 23 million in 2009.

In the border areas of Shan and Kachin states, the region where most of
the opium is produced, about 1.5 percent of the adult population is
addicted.

“There are as many drug stalls in the border areas as there are betel
shops or teashops in the cities,” Yarzar said in Yangon.

The primary drug of choice is heroin, followed by opium and
methamphetamine, the UNODC said. Methamphetamine use increased for six
years up to 2008, while heroin use has dipped, and opium has remained
stable. Methamphetamine use is hard to gauge, but may be reflected in the
number of seizures.

“There are clear indications of the increase in the seizures and
production of ATS [amphetamine-type stimulants],” said Deepika Naruka, who
coordinates UNODC’s programmes in Myanmar and East Asia.

She said figures on drug use are hard to come by because of the stigma and
illegality, but “even with the limited data that is available there is an
indication that ATS use is problematic”.

However, a Myanmar physician working with drug addicts in the country sees
a clear trend.

“Drug users in the area of North Shan, South Shan and Mandalay are still
on the rise,” said Myo Nyunt Aung, who works on the harm reduction
programme of the UN and Myanmar Anti-Narcotics Association (MANA).

Cheap, easy to find

Opium production in Myanmar has decreased dramatically since the mid-90s -
when about 1,700 tons of opium was produced annually. In 2009, UNODC
estimated 330 tons was produced.

The agency says 95 percent of Myanmar’s opium is grown in Shan State. In
that region, the prevalence rate of adult daily opium use is higher in
opium-growing villages - 1.7 percent, compared to 0.5 percent in
non-growing villages.

Drugs are widely available along the China-Myanmar border, like in the
city of Lashio.

“In Lashio, we can buy one dose of heroin [with a penicillin bottle] for
US$8-12. The price of the drug is three times cheaper than buying in a big
city like Mandalay,” Yarzar said. “The closer you get to the border areas,
the cheaper the drugs are and the stronger the taste.”

In Mandalay, Myanmar’s second largest city, north of Yangon, there is a
steady drug supply for, and demand from, migrants from different parts of
the country.

“It is not difficult to get heroin in Mandalay if you have money,” said
36-year-old Min Thura, a former drug addict from Mandalay who is now
working with the National Drug User Network Myanmar (NDNM).

Many drug addicts are migrant labourers toiling in jade mines or along the
China-Myanmar border, but also people from wealthy families in Mandalay,
he said.

In the 1990s, Min Thura regularly shared needles with other drug users in
Mandalay.

“About 50 drug users were queuing up and giving their arms to inject
heroin with only one needle. Many of my friends with whom I shared needles
to inject drugs have already died,” said Min Thura, who has been clean for
four years.

Now, he said, there is more awareness about HIV and clean needles.

Methadone therapy

Myanmar’s first methadone therapy programme was established in March 2006,
set up in drug treatment centres in several cities and towns across the
country.

There is only one methadone clinic in Yangon, at the San Pya Hospital, and
patients make daily appointments for treatment.

“It’s not easy for the drug users living on the outskirts of Yangon to go
to the hospital every day to take methadone. It would be better if there
were more drug treatment centres,” said Bae Lay, a member of NDNM.

Htoo Wint Kyaw, another NDNM member, agreed: “There are many drug users
who would quit using drugs if treatment were available.”

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

June 25, Mizzima News
No big policy shifts from new Australian PM, activists say – Kyaw Mya

New Delhi – Burmese activists in Australia are not expecting any big
foreign policy shifts on Burma, they said, after Julia Gillard was sworn
in as the country’s first woman prime minister, vowing to bring changes to
the government on the domestic front.

Labor Party incumbent Kevin Rudd stepped aside for his former deputy
Gillard to take power early yesterday in an apparent bid to save face
ahead of a party leadership vote he was assured he would lose.

It was a speedy exit for the first Labor prime minister to be ousted in
his first term, spurred by party fears over recent polls that put the
opposition ahead of Labor for the first time since January 2006, according
to a June 3 Nielsen poll. National broadcaster ABC’s PM programme last
night reported that: “A little under 24 hours passed between the time Ms
Gillard was convinced to run and the moment she was elected unopposed.”

“The only change is the deputy prime minister and the prime minister so I
don’t think there will be any dynamic changes in Burmese-related issues,”
Dr. Myint Cho, a spokesman for Burma Campaign Australia, said.

Dr. Myint Cho added that Rudd’s position towards military-ruled Burma had
been satisfactory because of his depth of knowledge on Burmese issues from
his previous stint as shadow minister of foreign affairs.

“He worked very hard to draw [the] attention of parliamentarians and
government to focus on Burmese issues,” he said. “When he was the
opposition leader he promised me that if he restores [Labor to] the
administration, he would try to lobby international communities to
introduce the idea of a global arms embargo and commissions of inquiry
into crimes against humanity and war crimes committed by the Burmese
regime. When he became prime minister he did as he had spoken.”

Foreign Affairs Minister Stephen Smith told Parliament in an update on
Burma in February that Australia had placed financial sanctions on the
military regime in 2007 – a response to the violent crackdown on protests
led by monks against the junta,  the “saffron revolution”. It also
recently began engaging the regime on counter-narcotics, human trafficking
and disaster relief challenges.

He said Australia welcomed the US approach that combined engagement,
sanctions and humanitarian assistance, and outlined that Australian aid
was to increase over the next three years to A$50 million (US$43.3
million) annually. Last year, Aung Sang Suu Kyi asked the junta for a
meeting with representatives from the European Union, the US and Australia
to discuss the withdrawal of international sanctions.

Australia agreed with US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton that to
lift sanctions would send the wrong message but agreed not to expand them.
Australia continues to push for dialogue with the Burmese authorities,
Smith said.

Though Gillard is expected to leave Australia’s external relations
unchanged, she is under pressure from the Labor Party, keen to yet again
appeal to key voters – sections of the Australian working and lower-middle
classes – in a crackdown on asylum-seeking boatpeople. Gillard said she
understood Australians’ concerns over the number of boat arrivals and
pledged stronger border control, according to a report in The Sydney
Morning Herald.

Unlike Rudd, a former diplomat and foreign policy expert, Gillard has
little experience in the field. Gillard’s holding of the portfolios of
education, employment and workplace relations and social inclusion, led
Dr. Myint Cho to conclude that she would not be as interested in Burmese
issues as was her predecessor.

“But the good thing is there are lots of Labor MPs [members of parliament]
who are interested in Burmese issues,” he said. “As long as foreign
minister Stephen Smith is in position, I don’t worry about their
[Australia’s] position on Burma issues.”

But activist groups working on Burmese issues disagree with Australia’s
stasis regarding sanctions, and have sought their widening, citing
Australian investment in Burma’s energy resources, which they said
supported a brutal regime.

Australia’s Twinza Oil is the parent company of Danford Equities
Corporation, which is conducting tests in the Yetagun East Block, in the
Gulf of Martaban, after signing a production exploration contract with the
state-owned Burma (Myanmar) Oil and Gas Enterprise in November 2006,
according to Burma Campaign Australia.

Twinza Oil’s project will provide the military regime with an estimated
US$2.5 billion, and it is believed that with the help of such investments
the regime’s nuclear ambitions are also proceeding, it said.

On the deal, Sharan Burrow, president of the Australian Council of Trade
Unions wrote in the New Matilda online journal last year that: “By itself,
this contract with an Australian company promises the Burmese junta enough
money to run roughly one quarter of its military – the world’s
12th-largest – for a decade.”

That is also a lot of money that will never reach Burmese people.

Smith also told the Australian Parliament in February that half of Burma’s
roughly 50 million people live in extreme poverty, which means they cannot
meet the basic needs for food, water, shelter, sanitation, and health
care. The World Bank defines extreme poverty as living on less than
US$1.25 per day.

Additional reporting by Perry Santanchote

____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

June 25, Asia Times
Myanmar elections mute ethnic voices – Brian McCartan

BANGKOK - Elections slated for later this year in Myanmar seem
increasingly unlikely to democratically empower the country's various
ethnic minority groups, which combined account for over 30% of the
population.

While the ruling generals have touted the inclusiveness of their tightly
controlled democratic transition, critics say the new constitution ignores
ethnic demands for federalism while junta-drafted election laws prohibit
the participation of the largest ethnic parties, some of which are
attached to armed insurgent groups who for decades have fought for greater
autonomy.

The ruling junta has yet to announce a date for the elections, but many
observers believe they will he held sometime in October. They will be the
first polls held in Myanmar since 1990, when the opposition led by the
National League for Democracy (NLD) swept to victory against
military-sponsored parties, only to see the results annulled by the
military before they could take power.

The generals have made clear their intention to hold new polls and that
the participation of the NLD and ethnic ceasefire and non-ceasefire groups
is not essential to their credibility. The NLD announced on March 29 that
it would not re-register under the new election laws, which it considered
unfair because of regulations that bar Aung San Suu Kyi, the party's
detained leader, from contesting the polls.

A number of NLD party leaders and other members have argued that
non-participation plays into the regime's hands by not providing an
alternative to the junta-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party
(USDP) and the National Unity Party (NUP).

At least 39 other political parties have so far applied for registration
with the newly formed election commission. Of those, only 15 are
considered national parties, while many of the rest aim specifically to
represent the interests of ethnic groups, including the Kachin, Kayin, Mon
and Shan.

The question of whether to participate in the elections has been as
contentious an issue among ethnic political groups as it was with the NLD.
Some see the electoral process as a sham for perpetuating military rule
under the guise of democracy and advocate a boycott of the polls. Others
believe the elections offer an unique chance to work from within the
system and an alternative to the confrontation and armed struggle that has
plagued Myanmar politics since independence from the UK in 1948.

The second and third most successful parties in the 1990 elections after
the NLD, the Shan National League for Democracy (SNLD) and the Arakan
League for Democracy, have both supported the NLD's stand and opted not to
re-register their parties for the upcoming election. The SNLD's decision
was also based on the junta's refusal to free its two top leaders, who
were both arrested on political charges in 2005.

Local contests
Significantly, many of the ethnic-based parties are looking to contest
seats in local legislatures rather than at the national level. With their
relative small sizes, the high cost of party registration and their lack
of a national voice, many aspiring ethnic politicians feel that their
chances of success and ability to effect change are better on the local
level.

Parties representing larger ethnic groups, such as the Kachin State
Progressive Party (KSPP), are seeking to contest the elections at all
levels within their own states. Still other parties representing ethnic
groups with much wider geographic coverage, such as the Kayin People's
Party (KPP) and the Shan Nationals Democratic Party (SNDP), intend to
contest the election for both local legislatures and at the national level
across several states and divisions.

Competing for seats on state legislatures may have some real, if limited,
advantages for ethnic aspirations. The new legislatures mandated by the
2008 constitution are a departure from the military-dominated "Peace and
Development Committees" that currently decide policy in ethnic minority
areas and are often a direct arm of the central government.

Ethnic politicians hope that the local legislative bodies will be more
representative of local communities and give them more say over affairs
that matter to their ethnic constituents. With popular representation,
there may be more opportunities for the promotion of local cultures and
languages though influence over the media and education. Also important is
to gain more influence and scrutiny over the exploitation of natural
resources in ethnic minority areas.

According to a recent report on the elections by the Transnational
Institute, "Nevertheless, many ethnic leaders point out that they will
have a legitimate voice for the first time. This will allow ethnic
grievances, in the past too easily dismissed as the seditious rumblings of
separatist insurgents, to be openly raised."

Without ethnic participation, the government backed, and largely ethnic
Myanmar USDP and NUP will be calling the shots not only nationally, but
also in the regional legislatures. While a far cry from the federalism
that many ethnic leaders aspire for, the local legislatures offer the
first forms of local autonomy since the post 1962 coup government of
General Ne Win abolished ethnic councils established under the 1947
constitution.

A post-independence federal system was promised as a result of a
conference held at the town of Panglong in northern Myanmar between
independence leader General Aung San and representatives of several ethnic
groups. Federal principles agreed to at the conference were enshrined in
the 1947 constitution, but by the late 1950's many felt they had not been
adequately implemented. Agitation for a more truly federalist system was a
major cause of the 1962 military coup, which was carried out in the name
of preserving national unity.

Myanmar's 2008 constitution keeps the seven ethnic states and creates
seven new self-administered zones for less numerous ethnic groups such as
the Pa-O, Kokang and Wa. However, it makes few other concessions to ethnic
aspirations for federalism and power sharing between ethnic groups and the
majority Myanmar population. During the 1993-2008 National Convention that
drafted the constitution, calls by ethnic representatives for a federal
union were ignored.

There is growing evidence that the generals are seeking to undermine and
split the ethnic vote at the upcoming elections. This is being done
largely through the junta's mass organization, the United Solidarity
Development Association (USDA), and its newly formed political party, the
USDP.

Many members of the USDP are former military officers and current members
of government who have resigned their ranks to participate in the polls.
They have actively courted ethnic minorities to join the junta-backed
USDP. In the case of the disenfranchised Muslim Rohingya in western
Myanmar, that has taken the form of offering identity cards granting them
formal citizenship in exchange for their votes.

According to the exile-run media group Shan Herald Agency for News, USDP
members have used the USDA and local government officials to canvass for
votes and to pressure villagers in Shan State to sign their names on the
party's rolls. Shan leaders in Mandalay Division, where there are
significant Shan populations, were approached in March to run as part of
the USDP.

The junta has also effectively blocked several of the major ethnic
political players from taking part in the elections due to an impasse over
the transformation of armed ceasefire groups into army-controlled border
guard units. The regime's seven-step "roadmap to democracy" had originally
envisioned that the groups would either hand over their weapons or join
the border guard force as a prelude to forming political parties and
contesting the election.

Pre-election tension
That step was supposed to be accomplished before an election date was
announced. Instead tensions have spiked between the junta and the ethnic
militias as several deadlines have passed - the latest on April 28 - and
the issue still remains unresolved. Over 20 ethnic insurgent groups have
agreed to ceasefires with the junta since 1989 and have since largely run
their own affairs. They consider retaining their weapons as a necessary
protection until the generals can prove the sincerity of their political
promises.

Only a few, mostly small groups have agreed to the junta's terms,
including the National Democratic Army - Kachin (NDA-K) and the Kachin
Defence Army (KDA). However, their political leaders have resigned and are
now seeking to register respectively as the Union Democracy Party (Kachin
State) and the Northern Shan State Progressive Party.

The Kokang only agreed after a short offensive by the army drove out the
Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) in August 2009 and
brought in new leadership. The new leadership quickly declared its support
for the 2010 elections and formed a political party.

Larger groups such as the United Wa State Party (UWSP), Kachin
Independence Organization (KIO) and the New Mon State Party (NMSP) have
not been allowed to register parties for the election. Instead the regime
has threatened to revoke the ceasefire status of groups and declare them
illegal. Most recently tensions have increased in Mon State, where the
NMSP has refused to meet with the military's intelligence head Lieutenant
General Ye Myint to discuss the border guard issue. The junta has
threatened to use force if the Mon does not agree to a meeting.

Keeping the ceasefire groups out of the polls may work to the generals'
electoral advantage. A June 2010 report by the Transnational Institute on
the ethnic political situation described the ethnic ceasefire
organizations, "in terms of history, membership, finance, and territorial
control, the ceasefire forces far outweigh electoral parties in their
ability to operate independently and, with an estimated 40,000 troops
under arms, their existence was a continued reminder of the need for
conflict resolution."

Both the Wa and the Kachin have said that they would like to support
ethnic parties in the polls and negotiate the decommissioning of their
armed wings with the new government after the elections. After two decades
of unresolved political issues and disappointment in the 2008
constitution, they want to see proof of real political reform before
agreeing to hand over their weapons.

Indeed, the election commission has so far refused to accept the
registration of three Kachin political parties. While two of the parties
represent former ceasefire groups who have now become border guards, the
KSPP has several former KIO members, including its leader, former KIO vice
chairman Tu Ja. Some observers believe the party's registration has yet to
be approved because of these links.

There is also a fear that the government will declare a state of emergency
in the ceasefire areas, which would prohibit people standing for elections
and voting. Already areas of southern Shan State and Karen State are
unlikely to be allowed to vote due to a legal provision that says
elections can only be held in areas free of conflict. This would mean that
large portions of Myanmar would not be allowed to elect representatives to
local or national legislatures.

Border-based ethnic political organizations, many of which are attached to
armed insurgent groups still fighting the government, will not be able to
take part in the elections. Although they have seemingly declined in
strength and influence in recent years, their message of equal rights and
justice still resonates with many people who see the newly formed parties
as junta stooges.

Peace talks with the government will also have to wait until a new
government is formed following the elections. A section of the Political
Parties Registration Law prohibits registration to any party that is
involved with groups engaged in armed rebellion or involved with groups
declared as "unlawful associations".

The generals will be hard-pressed to prove the legitimacy of the elections
without the participation of ethnic opposition parties or adequate ethnic
representation. Should the ethnic groups continue to feel disempowered and
a democratically elected pro-military government maintain the junta's
current confrontational policies, further conflict will be almost
unavoidable and hinder the country's supposed democratic transition.

Brian McCartan is a Bangkok-based freelance journalist. He may be reached
at brianpm at comcast.net

____________________________________

June 25, Asia Times
Life and times of a dictator – Bertil Lintner

Chiang Mai – When Myanmar military dictator General Ne Win was still
alive, foreign pundits often postulated that the country would change for
the better once he passed from the scene. The country would still be ruled
by the military, they predicted, but by a younger generation of more
reform-minded officers that would bring Myanmar, also known as Burma, out
of the Dark Ages.

Ne Win relinquished formal power in the late 1980s and pulled strings from
behind the scenes leading up to his death in 2002. Did Myanmar change
after that? Yes - but arguably for the worse. Repression intensified, with
the number of political prisoners reaching into the thousands. Economic
reforms put more money in circulation, but intensified already rampant
corruption. The government spent even less on health and education while
ramping up military spending.

Today, the Myanmar military is more firmly entrenched in power than at any
time since Ne Win's coup d'etat in 1962, which ended a 14-year period of
weak but functioning parliamentary democracy. Now the era of Myanmar's
current strongman, General Than Shwe, is drawing to an end. The
77-year-old general will soon retire and he has promised the country's
first democratic elections in 20 years to mark the transition.

A new generation of pundits has predicted hopefully that Myanmar is on the
cusp of positive change. They believe a hitherto unknown generation of
Young Turks and other supposed closet liberals within the military will
come to the fore and push the country in a more democratic direction.
Elections, they predict, will at long last give civilian leaders some say
over the country's governance.

In all likelihood, however, foreign pundits will be proven wrong yet
again. Benedict Rogers' highly readable new book shows why Myanmar's
military, even with Than Shwe's imminent retirement, has no intention of
giving up power any time soon. After this year's polls Than Shwe may no
longer be Myanmar's de facto head of state, but he has ensured through
that he and his by now immensely wealthy family will be well protected
when the next generation of soldiers assume power.

"Motivated by power and a determination to hold onto it," Rogers writes,
"Than Shwe will use any tool necessary, from detention, torture and
violence against his opponents, to lies, deceit, delay and false promises
to the international community, or the manipulation of astrology and
religion to convince his own people."

There is scant evidence that the next generation of military officers will
be any more liberal in their outlook than their predecessors - in the same
way as Than Shwe's generation certainly was no more broadminded after
taking over from Ne Win. After half a century of wielding absolute power,
the Myanmar military has developed its own ways of dealing with internal
dissent and external criticism.

And democratic reforms, even minor and gradual ones, are not part of that
mindset, as Rogers' book thoughtfully illustrates. Ne Win set the
repressive agenda when he and the army seized power 48 years ago, and
those ways have survived him through several of his successors.

To be sure, Rogers does not feign objectivity in his assessment of Than
Shwe's life and times. As a member of Christian Solidarity Worldwide, a
human-rights organization that specializes in religious freedoms, he has
been a Myanmar activist for many years and openly declared his support for
the country's pro-democracy opposition. But that does not detract from
this well-researched book.

To the contrary, it is the first thorough study of Myanmar's undisputed
strongman. It chronicles with detail how Than Shwe rose from a lowly
position as a junior postal clerk to the most powerful soldier in the
military-run country. Joining the military as a teenager, he was always
immensely loyal to his commanders, a trait the book argues was a key to
his eventual success. Those who questioned their superiors and official
policies were ruthlessly purged under the new military order that Ne Win
introduced after 1962.

Despite claims in his own official glorified biography, Than Shwe did not
see as much combat as other top army officers who fought in jungle
battlefields against ethnic insurgent groups. Rather he was attached to
the military's Psychological Warfare Department and, later, the grandly
named Central School of Political Science, where officers and other
soldiers were taught Ne Win's "Burmese Way to Socialism" ideology.

Rogers quotes one of his inside sources as saying that Than Shwe "never
talked about the country and its prospects with me. He seemed only focused
on pleasing the higher officers and leaders. He always praised the leaders
and never showed any ambition. He was certainly proud of being a soldier.
He followed orders ... very carefully."

Rogers traces Than Shwe's rise through Myanmar's post-World War II period,
the short-lived democratic era in the 1950s, and the disastrous years of
austere socialism in the 1960s and 1970s which brought on the 1988 popular
uprising and its bloody suppression. In 1992, Than Shwe became chairman of
the ruling junta, known then as the State Law and Order Restoration
Council, or SLORC. He was promoted following the resignation of his
predecessor General Saw Maung, who had become increasingly erratic.

Once in a position of absolute power, the postman-cum-tyrant, to use
Rogers' description of Than Shwe, was surprisingly durable. Over the years
he displayed an unprecedented megalomania among Myanmar military leaders.
Few could have guessed that the often sullen and always taciturn soldier
would endeavor to build a new capital city, Naypyidaw, or "the Abode of
Kings", from an obscure patch in the jungle.

Nor did many foresee that he would replace Myanmar's original national
philosophy of "unity in diversity" with a new concept of a unitary state
in honor of the country's ancient warrior kings and empire-builders,
Anawratha, Bayinnaung and Alaungpaya. Many believe his construction of the
new capital city aims to leave behind a "Fourth Myanmar Empire" as a
legacy of his rule.

It is unclear how Than Shwe's promised democratic transition fits with
those kingly designs. Whether Myanmar holds elections this year, next
year, or never, all the structures he put in place signal that the
military is geared to remain in power for the foreseeable future. Rogers
correctly portrays Than Shwe and his military henchmen as modern-day
"tyrants" - and history shows that from a position of power tyrants have
seldom negotiated their own demise.

Anyone who believes that a post-Than Shwe Myanmar is headed in a
democratic direction should read this valuable book.

Than Shwe: Unmasking Burma's Tyrant by Benedict Rogers with a foreword by
Vaclav Havel. Silkworm Books (May 2010). ISBN - 978-974-9511-91-6. Price
US$20, 256 pages.

Bertil Lintner is a former correspondent with the Far Eastern Economic
Review. He is currently a writer with Asia Pacific Media Services.

____________________________________
ANNOUNCEMENT

June 25, Women’s League of Burma and Human Rights Now
Peoples’ Tribunal on the crimes against women of Burma (Japan)

Date: 27 June 2010 (Sunday)
Time: 1 pm to 5 pm.
Venue: Aoyama Gakuin University, Building No. (6), Shubuya
4‐4‐25, Tokyo, Japan (opposite of UN office)

In the reign of the Burmese military regime, the women of Burma have been
suffering from various form of violation brutally committed by the regime
until today. The women of Burma in particular are enduring the sexual
violence from inhuman treatment by the military regime because there is no
protection by law or by the State to the women rights entitled from birth
in Burma.

Moreover the women in Burma are experiencing various forms of forced labor
and porter like their male counterparts and like in some cases; the women
are experiencing sexual violence while serving as forced porter in the
frontlines.

Meanwhile, the military regime imprisoned Burmese pro‐democracy
leader and Nobel peace laureate Daw Aung San Suu Kyi by their unfair and
non‐independent trials many times and she is under house arrest
until today. Moreover the regime is forcibly recruiting child soldiers in
their army and is exceedingly violating the political and civil rights of
the people of Burma.

Despite the repeated condemnations and pressures given by UN and
International Community against the brutal Burmese military regime, in the
official name of ‘State Peace and Development Council’ (SPDC), continues
to commit brutal human rights violations. They oppressed and restricted
the opposition parties and political activists by inhumane conducts and
treating them as if these people were their enemy.

After suffering the loss of human rights and women rights under the rule
of military dictatorship for many decades, the women in Burma are
determined to bravely face the military dictatorship and have started
their systematic struggle against the regime rather than passive
resistance by tightening their belts.

Women League of Burma and Nobel Women’s Initiatives led in conducting the
court proceedings of ‘Peoples’ Tribunal’ in New York State on March 2nd,
2010. This ‘Peoples’ Tribunal’ passed its guilty verdict of committing
grave crimes against humanity against their own people.

As a second step taken by Burmese women in elimination and prevention of
violence committed by the military regime, the judge panel consists of
Japanese judges and lawyers will conduct the court proceeding by hearing
the testimonies of the victims who had suffered from the violence. This is
the first ever Peoples’ Tribunal on crime against women of Burma in Japan
which will hear the cases with sympathy to the Burmese people and in the
respect of the rule of law.

Implementing Organizations
Women’s League of Burma (WLB) and Human Rights Now (HRN)
Supporting organizations
Burmese political organizations in Japan
The People’s Forum on Burma (PFB)
All Japan Feminist Representatives
Amnesty International (Japan)
Human Rights Watch
Asian Women Resources Center
Burma Info
Sponsored by Lush Japan Co. Ltd.

Contact Person:
Ms. Kazuko Ito – Secretary General, Human Rights Now (81)
03‐3835‐2110
Ms. Thin Thin Aung – Presidium Board member, Women’s League of Burma (81)
08031703258