BurmaNet News, August 18, 2010

[Editor]

August 18, 2010 Issue #4022

INSIDE BURMA
Mizzima: Win Tin presses Canada to support UN inquiry
DPA: Breakaway party expects to field 100 candidates in Myanmar polls
Irrawaddy: Election boycott campaign heats up

BUSINESS / TRADE
Irrawaddy: Border closure costing millions
Xinhua: 4 new private banks open in Myanmar's new capital

REGIONAL
Narinjara: Burmese in Japan stage protest
Japan Times: With help, some refugees find niche

INTERNATIONAL
Washington Post: U.S. supports creation of U.N. commission of inquiry into
war crimes in Burma
Guardian (UK): Judge criticises US over 'soft' fine for Barclays Bank

OPINION / OTHER
Times of India: UN set to appoint a war crimes commission against Myanmar

PRESS RELEASE
USCB: U.S. supports UN investigation on crimes against humanity in Burma;
Activists demand Canada and EU to join the U.S and call for UN resolutions
to establish Commission of Inquiry
Burma Campaign UK: USA backs UN Burma crimes inquiry – Now EU must support
Christian Solidarity Worldwide: CSW welcomes US support for commission of
inquiry on Burma and urges EU action



____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

August 18, Mizzima News
Win Tin presses Canada to support UN inquiry – Thomas Maung Shwe

Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – Win Tin, co-founder of Burma’s National League for
Democracy, in an interview last week called on the government of Canada
and other nations to support the appeal for a UN commission of inquiry
into human rights abuses committed by the Burmese regime.

Australia, Britain, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and yesterday the United
States, have pledged their support for such an investigation.

Win Tin told Mizzima: “In Burma human rights violations are very severe
and this why we need such an investigation to document what has happened.”
 The close ally of Aung San Suu Kyi, who has spent a total of 19 years in
detention for his defiance of Burma’s rulers, said the military regime’s
violence had also “taken a sharp toll on the country’s ethnic people”.

Noting that 63 elected Canadian members of Parliament and 12 Senators had
signed a petition urging the Canadian government to push the UN for such
an inquiry, Win Tin said: “I hope Canada takes this opportunity to
advocate for a UN commission of inquiry because this is what Burma needs.”

In March, the UN special rapporteur on the human rights situation in
Burma, Tomas Ojea Quintana, issued a report to the UN Human Rights
Council, which stated that in Burma there existed a pattern of “gross and
systematic” human rights abuses that suggested the abuses were a state
policy that involved authorities at all levels of the executive, military
and judiciary. It also stated that the “possibility exists that some of
these human rights violations may entail categories of crimes against
humanity or war crimes under the terms of the Statute of the International
Criminal Court”.

Quintana urged the UN to further look into rights abuses committed by the
Burmese regime and consider launching a “commission of inquiry with a
specific fact-finding mandate to address the question of international
crimes”.

Tin Maung Htoo Executive director of the Canadian Friends of Burma (CFOB)
told Mizzima that: “Quintana’s thorough report strongly suggests that the
UN further investigate the systematic human rights violations in Burma.
His report shouldn’t just be ignored; member states of the UN including
Canada must push the UN to follow through on Quintana’s recommendations
and further investigate the human rights violations which have occurred.”

Last week, the CFOB issued a joint statement with colleagues at the Burma
Campaign UK to publicly ask Canadian foreign minister Lawrence Cannon to
come out in favour of such an inquiry. The government of Prime Minister
Stephen Harper, usually a strong advocate for Burma’s opposition, has yet
to respond to Quintana’s recommendations.

Burma Campaign director Mark Farmaner was quoted in the statement as
saying: “It is very surprising Canada has not publicly stated that it
supports the recommendation of the special rapporteur for a commission of
inquiry. We need as many countries as possible on the record with their
support. Canada’s silence will encourage the dictatorship that they can
continue to get away with their crimes.”

Laura Markle, a spokeswoman for Canada’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and
International Trade, had indicated to Mizzima that Canada was going to
release a statement regarding the issues raised by Win Tin, but no such
statement has to date been forthcoming.
Win Tin also urges Canada to investigate Ivanhoe Mines

Win Tin also called on the Canadian government to investigate whether
Vancouver-based Ivanhoe Mines had committed human rights abuses in Burma
and violated Canada’s targeted sanctions against the regime led by Senior
General Than Shwe.

Mizzima reported in June that the secretive trust established to oversee
Ivanhoe’s Burmese holdings sold the firm’s 50 per cent stake in the
Myanmar Ivanhoe Copper Company Limited (MICCL), the joint venture that
operated Burma’s Monywa copper mine, to cronies of the Burmese regime
acting as middle men for Chinese state-run weapon’s firm Nornico and
mining giant Chinalco.

Win Tin, said he was deeply concerned by reports that Ivanhoe used
businessmen closely connected to Burma’s despotic leader Than Shwe to sell
its stake in Monywa in a manner that had violated Canadian sanctions.
“While we don’t know the details, we know that Ivanhoe sold their share to
the Chinese and Canada should look into this” he said.

The internationally recognised former political prisoner said he agreed
with calls from rights groups that Ivanhoe’s senior executives should
appear before the Canadian Parliament to answer questions about the firm’s
Burmese operations and its apparent departure from the country.

Last month, NLD MP-elect Khun Myint Tun wrote formally to foreign minister
Cannon and asked the Canadian government to investigate the circumstances
surrounding the arrest and subsequent jailing of Ivanhoe’s Burmese driver
Thet Lwin. He was detained after his boss Andrew Mitchell, a senior
Ivanhoe geologist in Burma, demanded to be driven to the home of NLD
general secretary Suu Kyi, who remains under house arrest.

After driving to the lakeside residence both Thet Lwin and Mitchell were
detained by the soldiers who act as her jailers. Mitchell, a British
national was quickly released, but Thet Lwin, according to his family, was
sentenced to seven years in prison for doing what his superior had
foolishly ordered him to do.

Rights activists such as Khun Myint Tun fear that Thet Lwin died in Insein
Prison and want the Canadian government to force Ivanhoe to disclose all
it knows about the incident that led to his arrest.

In his letter to the Canadian government, Khun Myint Tun condemned Ivanhoe
and the firm’s chairman, Robert Friedland, for taking more than five years
to publicly acknowledge that they were familiar with the case. Khun Myint
Tun, himself a political prisoner from 1996 to 2003, told Mizzima that
“had Ivanhoe been more forthcoming with what happened to Ko Thet Lwin
immediately following his arrest, it is very likely he and his family
could have been spared great suffering, the way Ivanhoe has dealt with
this case is criminal”.

____________________________________

August 18, Deustche Presse Agentur
Breakaway party expects to field 100 candidates in Myanmar polls

Yangon – A breakaway faction of Myanmar's main opposition party expected
to field more than 100 candidates in the November 7 election, the party
chief said Wednesday.

"I think we will field over 100 candidates nationwide," National
Democratic Front (NDF) chairman Khin Maung Swe said. Myanmar's junta
recently announced the creation of 330 political constituencies.

The NDF is a breakaway faction of the National League for Democracy (NLD),
led by Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, which has decided to
boycott the polls this year. Khin Maung Swe is to preside Thursday over
the opening of his party's second office in Mandalay, Myanmar's second
biggest city.

"We expect to do the best in Yangon and Mandalay," Khin Maung Swe said.

He said it was too early to say whether the polls would be "free and fair"
in the military-run country although he complained of the high cost of
registering candidates and of his party events being dogged by security
personnel.

Each candidate must pay a 500,000-kyat (500-dollar) registration fee,
deemed a huge amount in a country where minimum wage is about 30 dollars a
month.

Myanmar election authorities have so far permitted 40 parties to register
to contest the general election. Seven others that have applied are still
under the scrutiny of the Union Election Commission, state-run media
reported Wednesday.

Myanmar last held a general election in 1990, which the NLD won by a
landslide. The ruling military junta, however, has blocked the NLD from
power.

The party decided to boycott this year's polls to protest election
regulations that would have forced it to throw Suu Kyi out of the party to
qualify as a contestant.

The regulations barred anyone currently in prison from being a member of a
political party. Suu Kyi is now serving her latest sentence, an 18-month
house detention period that was expected to expire on November 13 or
November 27, depending on when authorities decide her term began.

Few observers expected the polls to bring drastic changes to Myanmar,
which has been under military rule since 1962.

A clause in the new constitution allows the military control over any
future elected government by making the upper house of the National
Parliament a partially junta-appointed body with veto power over
legislation.

____________________________________

August 17, Irrawaddy
Election boycott campaign heats up – Ko Htwe

Stickers bearing the portrait of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and
urging people not to vote in the November election are appearing
throughout Rangoon.

The stickers, bearing the message "It is our right to vote or not to vote
in the 2010 election," are part of a boycott campaign launched by the
activist movement Generation Wave. They are appearing in public places
ranging from bus shelters to shopping centers.

Generation Wave launched the campaign on August 12 in various parts of
Rangoon, including Dagon Myothit, Insein, Hlaing Tharyar, and Mingaladon
Townships, and Bayint-Naung wholesale market, Yuzana Plaza and Dagon
shopping centers.

The group's spokesman, Pyae Sone Win, told The Irrawaddy on Tuesday: “The
objective of our campaign is to give a message to people, especially the
youth, that they have the right not to vote."

Generation Wave was formed by young activists, who secretly record and
distribute anti-government music albums across Burma. It claims allegiance
to no political party or movement, although its members have one thing in
common, a deep respect for Suu Kyi.

The election laws prohibit Suu Kyi and more than 2,000 other political
prisoners from participating in the election.

Suu Kyi has said the election is “absolutely unlikely” to be free and
fair, and political parties will not have enough time to campaign.

In March, her National League for Democracy, decided not to register as a
political party for the election, saying it would not be free and fair.

Some registered political parties are facing chicanery by the Election
Commission (EC). One, the Democratic Party, has written to the EC
complaining of official intimidation after the EC passed the list of the
party's members to the police Special Branch. The Union Democratic Party
chairman, Phyo Min Thein, has resigned, saying the election will not be
free and fair.

____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

August 18, Irrawaddy
Border closure costing millions – Lawi Weng

Border sources say the ongoing halt of trade across the Thai-Burmese
border for more than one month is causing increasing unemployment and
economic hardship, and no knows when the border will reopen again.

The impact of the closure is particularly strong at the main overland
border crossing point between Myawaddy in Karen State in Burma and Mae Sot
in Tak Province of northern Thailand.

Nai Tain, a truck driver who lives in Myawaddy Township said many people
who have come to work at Myawaddy are no longer able to pay monthly rents
of around 30,000 kyat [US $300] for apartments and increasingly are having
to share.

A Burmese money changer in Myawaddy said that after the border closed,
many Burmese workers in Thailand no longer use the Myawaddy crossing to
return to their homes.

“I used to earn 3,000 kyat [$100] a day. But, no one is coming to exchange
money now so I have no income, but who can I complain to?” he said, adding
that people are wondering how long they will be able to go on if the
border remains closed and there is no work.

People who have lost jobs are having to go out into the country to dig for
bamboo shoots to sell in town, earning two dollars a day for hard work
that many do not want to do, local sources said.

The closure is affecting almost everyone, whether truck drivers, taxi
drivers, market stall-holders, restaurant owners or traders.

One guesthouse owner in Myawaddy said few people stay now the border is
closed.

Mahn Bala Sein, a Karen businessman, who own a restaurant in Mae Sot, said
he earns around 1,500 baht a day [$48], half of what his restaurant
brought in when the border was open.

“Many of them [border traders] have disappeared since the border closed,”
he said.

The Burmese regime closed the border, stopping all trade, on July 8,
ostensibly in protest at Thai government construction to prevent erosion
of the river bank on the Thai side of the River Moei that separates the
two countries.

The closure is costing Thailand an estimated 88 million baht a day [$2.8
million] and Thai authorities say the closure is causing large problems.

The Thai border authorities have held talks with the Burmese Deputy
Foreign Minister, Maung Myint, several times in Myawaddy but have failed
to persuade the Burmese to reopen the border and restore trade to normal.

The Burmese authorities have closed more than 20 illegal crossing routes
along the Moei River and they continue to block the majority of goods
including food, clothing, cars, furniture, bicycles, automobile parts,
consumer electronics and vegetable oil.

Burmese exports to Mae Sot such as teak, furniture, jade, rice, sea food,
potatoes and other goods have also halted.

The Burmese authorities are not allowing people to cross the border and
people in Myawaddy said they have to pay about 400 baht [$13] to cross the
river clandestinely on a return trip to Mae Sot.

After the border closed, many traders have stopped doing business. Only
some of the bigger traders have been able to continue by paying double the
fees to the authorities, or by crossing over at night at Gate 6, which is
under the control of the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA).

No one understands what is causing the Burmese authorities to enforce such
a prolongued closure.

Local sources suggest it might be to put pressure on the armed ethnic
groups along the border, in particular the DKBA, to force compliance with
the border guard force plan by disrupting cash flow from border trade.

Another theory is that the Burmese authorities want to increase security
along the border and prevent  any threats to the smooth running of the
Nov. 7 election.

The closure has lead to increased commodity prices across Burma, and
sources report that prices on electronic items in Rangoon have doubled.

____________________________________

August 18, Xinhua
4 new private banks open in Myanmar's new capital

Yangon – Four new private banks opened in Myanmar's new capital of Nay Pyi
Taw and start business operation this month, the local weekly Popular News
reported Wednesday.

The four new private banks are Asia Green, Myanma Apex Bank, United Amera
and Ayeyarwaddy, respectively owned by four giant entrepreneurs -- U Tay
Za (Htoo trading company group), U Zaw Zaw (Max Myanmar Co.Ltd), U Nay
Aung (IGE) and U Chit Khine ( Ayedin Co. Ltd).

Myanma Apex bank and United Amera Bank are located in Oaktarathiri
township while Asia Green Development Bank and Ayeyawaddy Bank in
Zabuthiri township in the capital region.

There are 15 private banks in operation in Myanmar, 13 of which are
located in the former capital city of Yangon.

Private banks were once nationalized in Myanmar in 1963 during the
previous government but after the country started to adopt the
market-oriented economic system in late 1988, private banks were allowed
to operate again since 1992.

There are also four state banks in addition to the 15 private ones in
Myanmar, which are all governed by the government's Central Bank.

____________________________________
REGIONAL

August 18, Narinjara
Burmese in Japan stage protest

Dhaka: Nearly 100 Burmese living in Japan staged a protest on Tuesday in
front of the Burmese embassy in Tokyo, Japan, demanding the release of a
well-known Arakanese historian monk and 11 Arakanese youths, in addition
to the release of seized artifacts and 100 relocated Arakanese orphans.

The protest was led by Arakanese political party, Arakan League for
Democracy (Japan), and took place after the Burmese military junta
recently arrested a well-known Arakanese historian monk and sentenced 11
Arakanese youths to 3 to 9 years in prison.

Ko Kyaw Than Hlaing, who is a member of the group, said, "We staged our
protest in front of the Burmese embassy in Tokyo from 4 to 5 pm, against
the military junta who arrested our respected monk and sentenced 11 youths
to 3 to 9 years. The arrest and sentence of our people by the junta are
baseless and unjust. So we demanded the release of them immediately."

The protesters stood in front of the embassy holding many posters and
portraits of monks during the protest, and shouted many slogans demanding
the release of the monk and the 11 youth.

"We also demanded that the military government send back the 100 Arakanese
orphans to Arakan State from Burma proper, return the many precious
ancient Arakanese antiques to Arakan, and re-open the orphanage that was
sealed off by authorities," he said.

The Burmese military authority arrested well-known Arakanese historian
monk Ashon Pyinya Sara in Sittwe on 27 July on several accusations,
including abuse of religious principles.

After the incident, the military authorities closed and sealed off the
orphanage led by Ashon Pyinya Sara and sent 100 orphans to undisclosed
locations in Burma proper. At the same time, the authority seized many
precious ancient antiques, including ancient silver and gold Arakanese
coins, Buddha statues, and palm-leaf inscriptions that had been collection
by Ashon Pyinya Sara over the years.

The Maha Muni Buddha Vihara orphanage is located at suburban Sittwe, the
capital of Arakan and it was biggest orphanage in Sittwe.

On 11 August, 2010, the authority sentenced 11 Arakanese youth who have
been detained since 2009 to three to nine years in prison on several
charges in a trial held in the notorious Insein Prison court, during which
no evidence of their guilt was presented before the court.

The youths, all aged around 20 years old, were arrested in Rangoon and
Arakan State on 4 September, 2009, on multiple charges, including
possession of explosives, connections with outside organizations, and
crossing the border illegally.

After the incident, not only Arakanese people but also others throughout
Burma were displeased with the junta's actions against the monk and the
youth.

During the protest, a leading member from the Arakan League for Democracy
(Japan), gave a statement to the Burmese ambassador related to the arrest
and sentencing of the monk and youth.

In the statement, the organization demanded the military authority release
the monk and 11 youth, as well as return the precious Arakanese antiques
and send back the 100 orphans to their orphanage in Sittwe.

____________________________________

August 18, The Japan Times
With help, some refugees find niche – Natsuko Kukue

Nail salons are ubiquitous, as are the intricate, artistic designs women
sport after visiting them. Careerwise, being a manicurist is also popular.

For Nang Sie Hom, 41, a refugee from Myanmar living in Japan for 19 years,
it is a dream job. She started working as a manicurist at Arusha, which
opened in May in Tokyo. The nail salon is named after a city in Tanzania.

"I love it. I used to manicure my nails when I was back in Myanmar," said
Hom, who worked at a vending machine factory before she could understand
Japanese, and then later mostly at a restaurant.

Arusha was started by entrepreneur Kanako Iwase to support refugees.
Currently two women from Myanmar and one from Thailand work there, and
each has two to three customers a day. A basic manicure course runs ¥3,150
and gel nails cost only ¥2,625, a discount because the shop is newly
opened.

Iwase, 35, said she didn't know much about the situation of refugees until
recently.

"I kind of started it impulsively," she said.

It all began when Iwase, who has been interested in nonprofit
organizations and the fair-trade concept, suddenly in 2008 floated the
idea of a nail salon to a friend who sells bead accessories made by
refugees.

Iwase was an independent consultant giving business advice to her friend
at the time.

"I just said to her, why not open a nail salon (to help refugees)?"

Within a week, Iwase's idea spread and was shared by other friends who run
nonprofit organizations to support refugees. They encouraged her to start
the business.

"They were so eager. It was a point of no return," Iwase said.

She took two-hour lessons every day for two months at a manicure school to
learn the trade. Then she organized an orientation for eight trainee
applicants, but more than 20 foreigners showed up, she said.

"I realized there aren't many jobs for them," Iwase said.

Even after getting a visa, refugees in Japan still face financial
problems, said Mihoko Kashima, public relations director at Japan
Associations for Refugees.

"The lack of language skill is a major problem" to get a job other than
physical labor, she said. The government provides Japanese lessons only
after refugee status is obtained.

People seeking refugee status can take lessons offered by NPOs during the
years of waiting for their applications to be processed, but when they
actually start working and look to lay out long-term life plans, their
Japanese is not good enough, according to Kashima.

"Many of them work at restaurants or factories," she said.

Kashima added that language shortcomings also prevent refugees from
landing normal office work, and thus public authorities should provide
more language training.

The "special activity" work visa given to refugees also tends to
discourage employers who are uncertain if this implies job limitations,
she said.

Iwase taught 17 trainees in Japanese, and when someone didn't understand,
classmates helped translate into their language or into French, which is
spoken in many parts of Africa.

The trainees are from Angola, Congo, Cameroon, Iran, Myanmar and Thailand,
ranging in age from their 20s to 40s.

"It was tough" to teach the manicure trade to refugees partly because of
cultural differences, she said.

"For example, I had to teach them that the color must stay on the nails,
and not spill out on the skin" because some didn't find it a problem. "But
nobody quit the training."

In the end, four became manicurists and Iwase said she got to know more
about their situation a few months before opening the salon.

With other refugees, Iwase went to see the Oscar-nominated documentary
"Burma VJ," featuring local journalists who covered the antigovernment
movement in 2007 at the risk of their lives.

She said she also got to know, through other NPO members and the
manicurists, about the protests in 1988 calling for democracy in Myanmar.
"Did we ever learn about it in our history class? I don't think so."

Both manicurists from Myanmar lost family members because they were
against the military regime, they said.

As for Hom, she fled to Thailand shortly after the 1988 protests. Her
mother thought it would be dangerous for her to stay in Myanmar, she said.
Hundreds of thousands of people took part in the demonstrations that
summer, and the army fired into the crowds. Some people were taken away by
soldiers and never seen again.

The junta put Aung San Suu Kyi under house arrest in 1989 because of her
quest for democracy.

Hom said she feels safe in Japan, but life is hard financially. "The rent
is high, and the living expenses are high. It's not easy to make a living
here" (as a refugee), she said.

A 44-year-old manicurist from Myanmar, who declined to reveal her name,
agreed. "There are not many jobs" for refugees, said the woman, whose
parents were killed. She fled the country after the 1988 protests.

Both manicurists would like to open their own shop in Myanmar if peace
returns to the country.

"I also hope one day my mother (now in a Thai hospital) can visit me. I
want to show her I'm working hard," said Hom.

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

August 18, Washington Post
U.S. supports creation of U.N. commission of inquiry into war crimes in
Burma – John Pomfret

The Obama administration decided Tuesday to support the creation of a
United Nations commission of inquiry into crimes against humanity and war
crimes in Burma, a sign of a tougher U.S. policy against a regime long
accused of murdering and raping its political foes.

U.S. officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, also said the
administration is considering tightening financial sanctions against the
regime as part of an effort to force it to open its authoritarian
political system and free thousands of political prisoners.

By supporting the commission of inquiry, the Obama administration is
committing itself to backing a U.N. investigation of the military junta
led since 1992 by Senior Gen. Than Shwe.

The 77-year-old dictator has been accused of leading brutal campaigns
against ethnic insurgencies and Burmese dissidents, such as the 2007
crackdown on the "Saffron Revolution," during which scores of protesters,
including Buddhist monks, were killed and thousands jailed. Than Shwe's
State Peace and Development Council also overturned election results in
1990 that favored the political party of Aung San Suu Kyi. Suu Kyi, who
was named a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, remains under house arrest.

"What's important here is that this is not aimed at the people of Burma
but at its leadership, particularly at Than Shwe," said a senior
administration official.

Human rights organizations welcomed the news.

"I think this is an extremely smart move," said Tom Malinowski, director
of the Washington office of Human Rights Watch. "So long as Burma's
military elite believe that their leader's strategy of defying his people
and the world is working for them personally, they will continue to resist
political compromise at home and engagement with the U.S."

The Obama administration entered office with a desire to shift course on
Burma -- both as part of a strategy to improve relations with all the
nations of Southeast Asia and as part of a belief that Burma, also known
as Myanmar, should not be allowed to become a client state of China.

The administration decided last fall to begin to engage with the Burmese
regime. It dispatched high-ranking diplomats and held out the prospect of
the resumption of some aid. It opened discussions about Burma's planned
upcoming elections in the hope that the regime would allow some measure of
democracy. The administration also raised its concerns with Burma about
its military relationship with North Korea following reports that Burma
was exploring the possibility of a nuclear weapons program.

But Burma has rebuffed the outreach and announced a series of severe
restrictions on campaigning ahead of coming elections, prompting the
regime's opposition to all but withdraw.

Added another senior administration official: "There have been no positive
results on democracy and human rights in our diplomatic engagement."

The commission of inquiry has been urged by the U.N. special rapporteur
for human rights in Burma, Tomás Ojea Quintana. Commissions can be
established directly by the U.N. secretary general -- as happened in the
case of the Bosnian war crimes commission in the early 1990s. They also
could be established by a vote of the Security Council, although China
would probably block such a move.

Some debate whether the prospect of a war crimes charge can change the
behavior of a regime. Sudan's leader, Omar Hassan Ahmad al-Bashir, was
indicted in 2008 and has yet to be arrested.

Slobodan Milosevic, the former leader of Serbia and one of the main forces
behind the devastation of Bosnia and Croatia in the early 1990s, was
arrested after leaving office and went before the war crimes tribunal at
The Hague, although he died during his trial. Liberian ex-president
Charles Taylor is on trial at The Hague for alleged war crimes.

Malinowski said the U.S. decision Tuesday probably won't much change the
calculations of a dictator such as Than Shwe but could cause some concern
among younger members of the junta.

"There's a whole generation of military elites in Burma who will be making
choices in the next few years," he said. "This is aimed at them."

____________________________________

August 18, The Guardian (UK)
Judge criticises US over 'soft' fine for Barclays Bank – Andrew Clark

Washington court criticises 'sweetheart deal' and $298m fine for bank that
flouted international sanctions.

A judge has attacked the US government for striking a "sweetheart deal"
with Barclays to settle criminal charges that the British bank flouted
international sanctions by doing clandestine business with Iran, Cuba,
Libya, Sudan and Burma.

At a court hearing in Washington yesterday, judge Emmet Sullivan refused
to rubber-stamp an agreement under which Barclays consented to pay $298m
to settle charges that its staff deliberately concealed transactions with
financial institutions in regimes frozen out by US foreign policy.

"Why isn't the government getting tough with the banks?" Sullivan asked,
pointing out that no individuals were being charged or sent to prison over
the breaches. The judge's unexpected resistance threw the settlement into
doubt pending a more detailed hearing, scheduled for Wednesday.

Barclays is anxious to move beyond a scandal in which it owned up to
sanctions-busting between 1995 and 2006. The bank has joined Lloyds TSB,
Credit Suisse and ABN Amro among overseas financial institutions caught by
US rules which cover them because they have branch operations in New York.

Plea bargains to settle criminal charges are common in the US and are
often nodded through by the bench. But in the latest of several shows of
judicial scepticism towards hasty settlements of Wall Street
misdemeanours, Sullivan described the agreement as "an accommodation to a
foreign bank" and pointed out that the average American caught robbing a
bank is not given a deferred prosecution deal or an opportunity to refund
the proceeds from crime.

Prosecutors say Barclays staff stripped identifying names from payment
information in a deliberate ruse to defy US sanctions against repressive
regimes, including countries accused of being state sponsors of terrorism.

Court documents say much of the subterfuge took place at a payment centre
in Poole, Dorset, where an "interdiction filter" was installed to spot
mentions of countries covered by sanctions. Once spotted, the wording on
payments was changed to blur the source or direction of funds.

Among the challenged transactions are 46 fund transfers worth $490,000
involving Burma, 61 transactions worth $6.71m concerning Cuba, three
payments amounting to $60,000 involving Iran and 1,175 transfers of $105m
benefiting individuals or government entities in Sudan.

Lloyds TSB settled similar sanctions-busting charges in January last year
by paying fines of $350m. Credit Suisse faced penalties of $536m and ABN
Amro, now owned by RBS, forfeited $500m in May.

____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

August 18, Times of India
UN set to appoint a war crimes commission against Myanmar

Washington: The United Nations is to set up a Commission of Inquiry into
war crimes by the Myanmar's military rulers, a move which is being
strongly backed by the Obama administration.

The move to set up Commission of Inquiry is part of an effort to force the
military junta to open its authoritarian political system and free
thousands of political prisoners, The Washington Post reported.

Quoting top US officials, the paper said this indicated a toughening of
stance against the military junta led by Senior General Than Shwe, who has
been ruling Myanmar uninterrupted since 1992.

The Obama administration is also considering tightening financial
sanctions against the regime, and these developments come just months
before the November 7 general elections announced by the Myanmar
government, which has been rejected by US and other western nations as
flawed.

The paper said the 77-year-old dictator has been accused of leading brutal
campaigns against ethnic insurgencies and Burmese dissidents, such as the
2007 crackdown on the "Saffron Revolution", during which scores of
protesters, including Buddhist monks, were killed and thousands jailed.

Than Shwe's State Peace and Development Council also overturned election
results in 1990 that favoured the political party of pro-democracy leader
Aung San Suu Kyi, who remains under house arrest.

"What's important here is that this is not aimed at the people of Burma
but at its leadership, particularly at Than Shwe," said a senior
administration official.

The Obama administration entered office with a desire to shift course on
Burma -- both as part of a strategy to improve relations with all the
nations of Southeast Asia and as part of a belief that Burma, also known
as Myanmar, should not be allowed to become a client state of China, the
Post said.

The administration decided last fall to begin to engage with the Burmese
regime. It dispatched high-ranking diplomats and held out the prospect of
the resumption of some aid.

It opened discussions about Burma's upcoming elections in the hope that
the regime would allow some measure of democracy.

____________________________________
PRESS RELEASE

August 18, U.S. Campaign for Burma
U.S. supports UN investigation on crimes against humanity in Burma;
Activists demand Canada and EU to join the U.S and call for UN resolutions
to establish Commission of Inquiry

Washington, DC – After months of rigorous grassroots campaign led by
United States Campaign for Burma (USCB) and repeated requests from the
U.S. lawmakers, the Obama administration finally agreed to support the
establishment of an UN-led Commission of Inquiry to investigate crimes
against humanity and war crimes taking place in the Southeast Asian
country of Burma.

The USCB, a leading coalition of Burmese activists in exile and American
human rights supporters working to promote freedom, justice and democracy
in Burma, welcomes and supports the decision of the U.S. administration,
reported by the Washington Post and Foreign Policy Blog today. Aung Din,
former political prisoner and Executive Director of USCB said, “This is
the right and timely action by the Obama administration responding to the
power hungry and brutal military generals in Nay Pyi Taw, who are seeking
to wipe clean their bloody hands and obtain underserved legitimacy through
a sham constitution put into effect through a sham election.”

“This is a clear message that the United States will not recognize the
generals’ show-case election and will hold them accountable for their
human rights abuses against their own citizens, especially against ethnic
minorities of Burma,” Aung Din continues. He demands, “the U.S., along
with the Czech Republic, United Kingdom, Australia, and Slovakia, which
have expressed support for the UN-led Commission of Inquiry, should call
on the European Union and Canada to work together to organize UN
resolutions, asking UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to set up the
Commission, in the upcoming UN General Assembly and Human Rights Council
meetings in September, where China and Russia cannot exercise veto powers
to kill the resolution.”

Three weeks ago, on July 30, a bipartisan group of 32 Senators, led by
Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Judd Gregg (R-NH), sent a letter to
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, calling for the U.S government “to
support the establishment of a UN-led Commission of Inquiry to investigate
crimes against humanity and war crimes” in Burma. In June 2009, nearly 60
members of the U.S. House of Representatives, led by Congressman Joseph
Crowley (D-NY), wrote to President Obama urging him to take action on
Burma at the UN Security Council. Since last May, the USCB has organized
campaigns and rallied thousands of free Burma activists to send emails to
President Obama to support the UN-led commission of Inquiry in Burma.

In May 2009, the International Human Rights Clinic at Harvard Law School
released a groundbreaking report; entitled “Crimes in Burma” commissioned
by five prominent international judges and war crimes prosecutors. The
report concluded that for years the United Nations has documented
widespread and systematic human rights abuses in Burma committed by
successive military regimes, but has failed to take effective action.
Detailed information about crimes against humanity perpetrated by Burma’s
military regime can be found at
http://uscampaignforburma.org/crimesagainsthumanityinburma.

In March 2010, at the 13th regular session of the UN Human Rights Council
in Geneva, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of Human Rights in
Burma, Mr. Tomas Ojea Quintana of Argentina endorsed the call of Burma
activists around the world and urged the United Nations “to consider the
possibility to establish a commission of inquiry with a specific fact
finding mandate to address the question of international crimes” in Burma.
Mr. Quintana’s recommendation to establish a UN Commission of Inquiry is
supported by his two predecessors, Professor Paulo Sergio Pinheiro
(2000-2008) of Brazil (“End Burma’s System of Impunity, Opinion, The New
York Times, May 27, 2009), and Professor Yozo Yokoda (1992-1996) of Japan
(“Challenging Impunity in Myanmar, Opinion, The Jakarta Post, June 6,
2010).

Media Contact: Mike Haack at (202) 234-8022

____________________________________

August 18, Burma Campaign UK
USA backs UN Burma crimes inquiry – Now EU must support

Burma Campaign UK today welcomed US backing for a UN Commission of Inquiry
into war crimes and crimes against humanity in Burma, and called on
European Union members to also express support.

On 17th August the USA became the fifth county to publicly support a UN
Commission of Inquiry into war crimes and crimes against humanity in
Burma. The other countries are Australia, UK, Czech Republic and Slovakia.

The EU has so far remained silent on the March recommendation of the UN
Special Rapporteur on Burma that the UN establish an Inquiry. Some EU
members which favour a softer line towards Burma’s generals, such as
Germany, Austria and Italy, as well as Commission officials, effectively
play down the seriousness of human rights abuses in Burma by remaining
silent about them. This may be because the seriousness of abuses taking
place undermines their agenda to relax pressure and increase trade.

“The EU must end its silence on crimes against humanity in Burma, and
publicly support a UN Inquiry,” said Mark Farmaner, Director of Burma
Campaign UK. “The EU is currently drafting the UN General Assembly
resolution on Burma and must ensure the establishment of a UN Inquiry is
in the resolution which is adopted.”

The Burma Campaign UK has published a detailed briefing on the UN General
Assembly and Burma, available at:
http://www.burmacampaign.org.uk/index.php/news-and-reports/burma-briefing/title/the-united-nations-general-assembly-burma

Burma Campaign groups from across Europe have this week written to their
governments asking them to support the establishment of an Inquiry in the
UN General Assembly resolution.

For more information contact Mark Farmaner on 07941239640
____________________________________

August 18, Christian Solidarity Worldwide
CSW welcomes US support for commission of inquiry on Burma and urges EU
action

Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) today welcomed the decision by the
United States to support the establishment of a United Nations Commission
of Inquiry to investigate crimes against humanity in Burma. CSW is calling
on members of the European Union to pledge their support at the UN.

The United States is the fifth nation to support the proposal for an
investigation into crimes against humanity in Burma, following the United
Kingdom, Australia, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. In March, the UN
Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Burma, Tomas Ojea Quintana,
concluded that human rights violations in Burma may amount to crimes
against humanity and recommended the establishment of a Commission of
Inquiry.

Yesterday CSW wrote to Foreign Ministers of EU member states, urging them
to support the initiative. In a letter to the British Foreign Secretary
William Hague, CSW welcomed the United Kingdom’s support and urged the new
British Government to work proactively within the UN to secure wording in
the UN General Assembly resolution later this year.

Benedict Rogers, CSW’s East Asia Team Leader and author of Than Shwe:
Unmasking Burma’s Tyrant, said: “We warmly welcome the decision by the
United States to support a Commission of Inquiry. This now gives
significant momentum to the international campaign to end impunity in
Burma. The military regime in Burma has one of the worst human rights
records in the world, and is accused of crimes against humanity and war
crimes, including the widespread and systematic use of rape as a weapon of
war, forced labour, the forcible recruitment of child soldiers, killings,
torture and the destruction of over 3,500 villages in eastern Burma alone.
The UN has spent twenty years urging the regime to end its violations,
which it has described in numerous resolutions as violating international
humanitarian law. It is time now for the UN to act, and for the EU,
including the United Kingdom, to work closely with the United States to
build support in the General Assembly for a Commission of Inquiry.”

For further information or to arrange interviews please contact Kiri
Kankhwende, Press Officer at Christian Solidarity Worldwide on +44 (0)20
8329 0045 / +44 (0) 78 2332 9663, email kiri at csw.org.uk or visit
www.csw.org.uk.

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