BurmaNet News, December 1, 2010

[Editor]

December 1, 2010 Issue #4094


INSIDE BURMA
DPA: Suu Kyi urges people to be courageous on National Day
Irrawaddy: Junta turns to Khin Nyunt for ethnic advice
Xinhua: Myanmar tightens security measures with internet cafe running

ON THE BORDER
DVB: Thai army ‘obstructing refugees’

HEALTH
Independent (UK): In Burma only one in five people with HIV are treated

ASEAN
DPA: East Timor keen to join ASEAN during Indonesian presidency

INTERNATIONAL
Canwest (Canada): NDP seeks to honour Myanmar's pro-democracy leader

OPINION / OTHER
NLM: Plans underway to implement the two remaining steps to hand over the
State power to the public Honouring the 90th Anniversary National Day;
Great success achieved in carrying out the formidable task of building a
new nation by the government, the people and the Tatmadaw is a landmark in
the history of the nation – Than Shwe

INTERVIEW
Irrawaddy: 'I want more self-awareness and direct experience' – Kyar Pauk




____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

December 1, Deustche Presse Agentur
Suu Kyi urges people to be courageous on National Day

Yangon – Myanmar's pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi urged people to be
courageous on the 90th anniversary of National Day Wednesday.

The December 1 holiday celebrates protests by Rangoon University students
in 1920 which started the independence movement.

'We need to be united, to persevere and be courageous,' opposition leader
Suu Kyi told about 200 supporters who gathered at the National League for
Democracy (NLD) party compound in Yangon.

To mark the day, military strongman and leader of the current ruling
junta, Senior General Than Shwe, emphasized 'sustained efforts to achieve
greater development of the nation,' the state-run New Light of Myanmar
reported Wednesday.

Than Shwe praised the recent 'free and fair elections' and urged Burmese
people to 'keep working with a strong sense of nationalistic spirit.'

The November 7 polls where the first in Myanmar in 20 years, but most
foreign observers said they were neither free or fair.

Suu Kyi, whose NLD was banned when they boycotted the polls, on Wednesday
said national affairs are the concern of all people and not just 'one
party's agenda.'

The Nobel Peace Prize laureate was released from house arrest about a week
after the election.

Meanwhile, the NLD is seeking a judicial order to reinstate it as a legal
political party after losing its status in May when it refused to register
for the general election
.

The party boycotted the election to protest a law that would have required
it to drop Suu Kyi as a member if the NLD were to be put on the ballot.
____________________________________

December 1, Irrawaddy
Junta turns to Khin Nyunt for ethnic advice – Wai Moe

Intelligence sources in Burma have speculated that members of the military
junta have met with former intelligence officials, including ex-spy chief
Gen Khin Nyunt, for advice about intelligence matters, particularly in
dealing with ethnic leaders.

Since a video clip of Khin Nyunt meeting with Burma's police chief Khin Yi
was posted on Facebook on Friday, the former premier and his wife have
been moved to a military guest house near Rangoon, adding fuel to the
rumors that senior military officials have been speaking with Khin Nyunt.

Other officials with the Ministry of Home Affairs, Myint Thein, Win Naing
Tun and Zaw Win, appeared in the video clip. All used to work under Khin
Nyunt when he was in power.

However, prison officials and intelligence sources said that officials
with the Military Affairs Security (MAS) which replaced Khin Nyunt’s
Military Intelligence (MI) in late 2004, have met regularly with former
intelligence officials in prison and in Rangoon to discuss ethnic issues
since 2008 when the junta began planning its Border Guard Force
proposition for ethnic armed groups.

“[MI's] Col. San Pwint met with MAS officials throughout 2008- 09 in
Thayet Prison to discuss ethnic issues, particularly in dealing with armed
cease-fire groups,” said a source close to prison authorities who spoke on
condition of anonymity. “He [San Pwint] told MAS officials that his boss
[Khin Nyunt] was in charge of the ethnic issues and that he [Khin Nyunt]
is knowledgeable about the situation.”

When the MI was in power, two intelligence officers, Brig-Gen Kyaw Thein
and Col San Pwint, were well known as negotiators with ethnic cease-fire
groups. In 1989, Khin Nyunt historically signed a cease-fire pact with
former troops of the Communist Party of Burma. It was the first of many
cease-fires the junta would agree with ethnic armies in the years to
follow.

When Khin Nyunt and his MI apparatus were usurped by Snr-Gen Than Shwe and
his clique, almost all intelligence officials and some of their family
members were arrested and sentenced to long-term imprisonment—with the
notable exception of Deputy Intelligence Chief Maj-Gen Kyaw Win and an
ethnic affairs specialist, Brig-Gen Kyaw Thein.

Although Kyaw Win and Kyaw Thein retired from their posts when the MI was
abolished, they were not arrested.

Nowadays, Kyaw Win is reportedly busy with his photo studio business in
Rangoon and enjoys painting, while Kyaw Thein is mainly involved in
religious affairs.

“Like Col. San Pwint [who is now serving a 44-year prison term on
corruption charges], Brig-Gen Kyaw Thein has also met and talked with
senior military officials, such as Lt-Gen Myint Swe, the former chief of
the Bureau of Special Operations-5, and former officials from the MAS,
including Brig-Gen Myat Tun Oo [currently commandant of the Defense
Services Academy],” said an intelligence source in Rangoon.

However, it appears that the military officials’ secret meetings with Kyaw
Thein at a military guest house in Rangoon have not yielded positive
results as the former intelligence officer in ethnic affairs was reported
to say that he was unable to negotiate with the ethnic groups without the
aid of his mentor, Khin Nyunt, and his colleagues.

Both Kyaw Thein and San Pwint are reported to have recommended that Khin
Nyunt should be a key negotiator with ethnic leaders.

Kyaw Thein and San Pwint have previously attempted to agree cease-fires
with different ethnic groups, from the Sino-Burmese border region in far
northern Burma to the Thai-Burmese border in the south, between 1989 and
2004, until a few days before the downfall of the military intelligence
apparatus.

After Khin Nyunt’s MI was removed from the junta’s power structure in
October 2004, Burma's new ruling generals and their new intelligence
department, the Military Affairs Security (MAS), failed to consolidate a
working relationship with the cease-fire groups.

Sources have said that the junta’s key negotiators and the MAS are not
savvy on ethnic issues—a significant difference from Khin Nyunt’s MI.

“The MAS is quite different from the MI. They do not seem to have files on
their ethnic counterparts like their predecessors did,” said a senior
official with the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO). “When Lt-Gen Ye
Myint [former MAS chief] started to talk about the Border Guard Force in
2009, he did not have a grasp of the details of the situation when we
questioned him.”

Most of ethnic cease-fire groups, including the United Wa State Army and
the KIO, have been resisting the junta’s plan for disarming the ethnic
armies and transforming them into BGF units.

The KIO official said that Khin Nyunt and the MI employed the same policy
on ethnic issues as the current regime, however they used a completely
different approach and negotiating tactics.

____________________________________

December 1, Xinhua
Myanmar tightens security measures with internet cafe running

Yangon – The Myanmar authorities have tightened security measures with
business running of internet cafe in Yangon following the recent timely
exposure of four time-bombs in a public access center in the city's
downtown area.

The authorities have notified all public internet cafe to install CCTV
cameras to monitor the move of users as well as to assign at least four
security staff to follow the users.

Users' downloading of online data and updating of them will also be
monitored, the 7-Day News said Wednesday.

The journal quoted an internet cafe owner as worrying that the measure may
disturb the users' privacy.

The authorities claimed that through the use of CCTV camera, it was able
to defuse four time bombs planted in a downtown internet cafe.

The four time bombs were discovered in two packages left under a table at
the Star Net internet cafe on Nov. 17 opened at the ground floor of the
City Star Hotel at the back of the City Hall in Kyauktada township.

Hunting of the bombers are underway.

There are more than 700 internet cafe legally opened in Yangon, according
to the report.

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

December 1, Democratic Voice of Burma
Thai army ‘obstructing refugees’ – Francis Wade

Reports are emerging that suggest the Thai army is blocking refugees from
escaping conflict in eastern Burma and ordering those that had fled across
the border to return.

Fighting has intensified in recent days close to the border, as the
Burmese army continues to hound a breakaway Democratic Karen Buddhist Army
(DKBA) faction. Heavy artillery fire was heard towards the end of last
week and sporadic bursts of fighting have continued.

Of the 1,200-odd refugees that crossed into Thailand over the weekend, the
majority have returned. But aid workers claim groups are continuing to
move back and forth across the border as stability in the area south of
Myawaddy remains fragile.

Moreover, refugees interviewed by the Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG),
which has been closely monitoring the situation, claim the Thai army is
obstructing their escape from Karen state.

“The Thais did not allow us to flee before the guns fired,” said a
38-year-old woman from Wawlay village, which has seen heavy fighting in
the past four weeks. She added that “when it [the fighting] became quiet,
the Thais asked [the refugees] to go back and so they had to go back.”

The KHRG said it was a case of the Thai army, which in many instances had
allowed free movement of refugees, “viewing threats to civilians in the
narrowest manner possible”.

“When fighting is audible or visible from Thailand, refugees report being
able to enter Thailand. When individual clashes end – sometimes just hours
after the sound of gunfire has subsided – refugees report being told it is
safe for them to return, and that they must do so.”

Another man from Hpalu village, which was the scene of fighting over the
weekend, said that he had had similar experiences with the Thai army.

“The Thai soldiers said [to villagers] ‘If you go back, go back and stay
there [in your villages]. Don’t travel [back and forth]. You can stay here
[in Thailand] for one or two days. But you can go back and stay there [in
your villages], and come back when the fighting happens again.’”

The latest round of conflict follows a precarious period along the border
which began on 8 November when the DKBA faction took key government
positions in Myawaddy. In the days after, heavy fighting pushed up to
20,000 refugees into Thailand’s Tak province.

Thai policy towards refugees has come under fire several times in the past
year. In February, following an exodus of up to 5000 Karen into Thailand,
the Thai government said it would force them back across the border. That
was suspended at the last minute following heavy pressure from rights
groups, and the refugees were allowed to remain.

In December last year, however, Thailand successfully deported 4,500
ethnic Hmong back to Laos in a move that drew scathing international
condemnation, given the likely persecution the minority group would face
upon their return.

The movement of refugees across the Thailand-Burma has angered the Thai
government, as well as catching the attention of the regional Association
of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) bloc. ASEAN chief Surin Pitsuwan said
last year in a rare rebuke to Burma that instability along the shared
border was a blight on the region’s image.

____________________________________
HEALTH

December 1, Independent (UK)
In Burma only one in five people with HIV are treated – Phoebe Kennedy

Rangoon – The first formal visit the Burmese democracy leader Aung San Suu
Kyi made on her release from house arrest last month was not to an
ambassador's residence or a smart United Nations office, but to a
tin-roofed HIV/Aids shelter in one of Rangoon's poorest districts.

Choosing to highlight the plight of one of the most neglected groups in
Burmese society was characteristic of Ms Suu Kyi; her eagerness to listen
to the voices of the poor and sick stood in sharp contrast to the style of
Burma's ruling generals, who prefer to remain aloof in the palaces of
their remote, newly-built capital.

Ms Suu Kyi chatted with many of the 80 residents of the shelter, which is
funded by her National League for Democracy Party and through her own
personal donations. Gaunt faces gazed up at her she clasped hands and
listened, her warmth evocative of Princess Diana's visit to an HIV/Aids
centre in London two decades ago.

In the Rangoon shelter, residents receive food, reed mats to sleep on,
HIV/Aids education and help in accessing treatment. It is a rare haven in
a country where attitudes towards HIV are firmly rooted in the past.
People infected with HIV are often considered deviant, and most don't come
forward for testing. For a long time, government officials claimed that
Burma's sexual conservatism and strong moral code of abstinence before
marriage and fidelity after could protect the country from the epidemic.
Instead, it has one of the worst HIV/Aids problems in Asia.

The visit of 65-year-old Ms Suu Kyi just days after her 13 November
release threw the spotlight on an issue that Burma's military leaders have
for a long time tried to keep hidden. It was attention the junta did not
enjoy.

The next day, local government officials came to the refuge to order the
eviction of the residents, saying they would no longer approve requests
for overnight guests that are legally required for anyone in Burma if they
wish to stay the night away from their home. A week later, after a mass of
negative publicity, the order was reversed.

"I am greatly relieved and so are the patients," said Ko Yarzar, the
shelter's manager. He said health authorities had offered to relocate the
patients to a state-run HIV centre but the patients refused to move,
saying their shelter not only offers medical care, food and accommodation
but "warmth and affection that no other centre can provide".

Phyu Phyu Thin, a well-known HIV/Aids activist and NLD supporter who
founded the shelter in 2002, told The Irrawaddy magazine that the
authorities apologised when extending the permit. "In my opinion, the
authorities retreated because media inside and outside of Burma, as well
as other organisations, focused on the issue," she said.

An estimated 240,000 people in Burma are infected with HIV virus, a figure
that comes nowhere close to the numbers infected in parts of Africa. But
it is the yawning gap between those who need treatment and those who
receive it that marks the country's HIV tragedy. Just a fifth of those in
need of anti-retroviral treatment actually get it. The remainder are
dying, or waiting to die.

The priorities of the regime lie elsewhere. The government spends nearly
half of its budget on defence, but just 0.3 per cent of GDP on healthcare.
Of that, only a tiny amount goes towards HIV/Aids.

A key donor in the health sector, the Global Fund to Fight Aids,
Tuberculosis and Malaria, pulled out of the country in 2005 citing
political interference, but earlier last year approved a new grant of
around £100m to fund HIV/Aids treatment in Burma over five years.

____________________________________
ASEAN

December 1, Deustche Presse Agentur
East Timor keen to join ASEAN during Indonesian presidency

Singapore - East Timor's president on Wednesday said his country was keen
to become a member of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN)
next year, adding it would be highly symbolic to join the regional body
during Indonesia's presidency.

The tiny state with a population of 1 million was brutally occupied by
Indonesia from 1975 to 1999 and suffered a rampage by pro-Indonesia
militias after a referendum on its independence.

It would be of 'enormous symbolism' if East Timor joined ASEAN under
Indonesia's presidency at the group summit in Jakarta in November 2011,
President Jose Ramos-Horta said in Singapore.

All ASEAN members had politically agreed to welcome East Timor, but there
were still questions about stability in the country and its commitments to
the regional body, he said.

'(But) more important is that we join now and then have a 5-year-period
whereby we take steps with ASEAN's support to fulfil any obligations
criteria,' Ramos-Horta said.

'We are determined, (we are) working towards a membership in ASEAN,' he
told a seminar.

ASEAN comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the
Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.

Ramos-Horta urged the international community to engage in dialogue with
military-ruled Myanmar after the junta released democracy icon Aung San
Suu Kyi, 65, from seven years of house detention on November 13, a week
after the country's first general election in two decades.

'She (Suu Kyi) is free now, so let's not debate what happened up to the
point when she was released,' he said.

'This is the time to talk,' Ramos-Horta said, adding that Myanmar's
military rulers and the people needed the help of the West.

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

December 1, Canwest News Service (Canada)
NDP seeks to honour Myanmar's pro-democracy leader – Norma Greenaway

OTTAWA – Prime Minister Stephen Harper should invite Myanmar's
pro-democracy heroine, Aung San Suu Kyi, to Canada so she can personally
receive the honourary Canadian citizenship awarded to her in 2007, NDP
leader Jack Layton says.

Layton and Paul Dewar, the party's foreign-affairs critic, made the appeal
in a letter sent Tuesday to Harper, telling him Canadians shared in the
celebratory mood that swept much of the world after the 65-year-old icon
was released from seven years of house arrest.

Harper hasn't responded yet to the letter, but NDP officials say they are
optimistic he will endorse the idea of inviting the winner of the 1991
Nobel Peace Prize to Canada.

"Aung San Suu Kyi has often called on the international community to 'use
your liberty to promote ours,'" the NDP letter said. "In 2007, as she
lived in captivity, Canada's Parliament stood unanimously to honour Aung
San Suu Kyi by bestowing upon her an honourary Canadian citizenship."

Layton and Dewar told Harper the treatment of pro-democracy leaders over
two decades in Myanmar - formerly known as Burma - and that government's
refusal to acknowledge the election victory of the National League for
Democracy is an affront to to democracy.

"We must act on our commitment to support the democratic ambitions of the
people of Burma. Forced labour, torture, arbitrary arrests and
imprisonment, denial of freedoms of expression and association should no
longer be a daily reality for the Burmese people," the letter said.

Norway has already invited Aung San Suu Kyi to visit Norway to accept her
Nobel Prize in person.

____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

December 1, New Light of Myanmar
Plans underway to implement the two remaining steps to hand over the State
power to the public Honouring the 90th Anniversary National Day; Great
success achieved in carrying out the formidable task of building a new
nation by the government, the people and the Tatmadaw is a landmark in the
history of the nation – Than Shwe

Nay Pyi Taw –The following is the translation of the message sent by
Chairman of the State Peace and Development Council Senior General Than
Shwe on the occasion of the 90th Anniversary National Day.

Esteemed national people,

Today is the 90th Anniversary National Day, which went down in the annals
of the history of Myanmar’s independence struggles. On this auspicious
day, I wish you national people every wellbeing and prosperity and I
extend my warmest greetings to you.

We Myanmar people are by nature strongly patriotic and equipped with
nationalistic spirit.

Myanmar people are also a people well capable of standing on its own feet.
We have a fine tradition to regain independence and sovereignty through
national solidarity.

According to the incidents that broke out in the wake of independence, Our
Three Main National Causes namely “Non-disintegration of the Union,
Non-disintegration of national solidarity, and Perpetuation of
sovereignty” is a bounden duty of the people. Today, the government, the
people and the Tatmadaw have been working in harmony, upholding Our Three
Main National Causes to transform the nation into a discipline-flourishing
democratic one.

Emergence of a constitution that is in consistence with the historical
background of the nation and can safeguard Our Three Main National Causes
unconditionally is a fundamental duty of every citizen to ensure long-term
practice of discipline-flourishing democratic system.

Therefore, the National Convention was convened in 1993 with
representatives of the people of all walks of life and representatives of
all national races to lay down fundamental principles and detailed basic
principles to formulate a constitution. However, the National Convention
was adjourned temporarily in 1996 due to varieties of difficulties and
hindrances.

The government, the people and the Tatmadaw had been striving steadfastly
together for emergence of a constitution, while making strenuous efforts
to generate fundamental factors for systematic practice of democratic
system such as restoration of community peace and the rule of law,
fulfillment of basic needs of the people, and promotion of the education
standard of the entire people. As a result, the nation enjoyed rapid
development in various sectors.

Making sustained efforts to achieve greater development of the nation, the
government announced the State’s seven-step Road Map on 30 August 2003,
and since then it has been implementing the Road Map step by step. Now,
the Union Election Commission has successfully completed the fifth step -
holding free and fair elections to form Hluttaws according to the new
constitution. So, only the sixth and seventh steps are left to be
implemented: convening conferences with Hluttaw members in accordance with
the new constitution, and building of a modern, developed democratic
nation with the Head of State elected by the hluttaw, the governing body
and administrative bodies formed by the hluttaw.

Great success achieved in carrying out the formidable task of building a
new nation by the government, the people and the Tatmadaw is a landmark in
the history of the nation, and that is certainly something to be proud of,
for the nation and the people.

Now, plans are underway to implement the two remaining steps to hand over
the State power to the public. Therefore, I would like to urge you
national people to be determined on National Day to keep working with a
strong sense of nationalistic spirit and Union Spirit to achieve the
objectives of the 90th Anniversary National Day:-

- to keep Union Spirit flourishing and uplift national prestige and integrity
- to promote national education
- to ensure perpetuation of independence and sovereignty of the State
- to successfully complete State's seven-step Road Map.

____________________________________
INTERVIEW

December 1, Irrawaddy
'I want more self-awareness and direct experience' – Kyar Pauk

On Nov. 22, a group of artists visited the HIV/AIDS shelter sponsored by
the National League for Democracy (NLD) in South Dagon Township in Rangoon
under the direction of Phyu Phyu Thin, a member of the NLD social
assistance committee. Actor Kyaw Thu and his wife, who are the founders of
the Free Funeral Service, writers Than Myint Aung and Suu Htar, film
directors Min Htin Ko Ko Gyi and Cho Too Zaw and songwriters Ko Yeh Lwin,
Anatga, Than Thar Win, Song Oo Hlaing and Han Htoo Lwin (Kyar Pauk) toured
the shelter. The Irrawaddy reporter Nayee Lin Latt interviewed singer Kyar
Pauk, who is also a medical doctor, about the visit.

Kyar Pauk is the son of a well-known singer, Ringo, and he began his own
musical career as a punk musician in 2004. "Punk for All," his first
album, was followed by eight other albums and many solo concert
performances.

Question: Please tell us how you happened to visit with the HIV/AIDS
patients at the shelter.

Answer: Min Htin Ko Ko Gyi called me and said he was going with Ko Kyaw
Thu to offer biriyani rice to people living with HIV/AIDS. I thought it
would be the place that I usually visited which is run by writer Juu,
called Thukha Yakemyone (A Paradise). So I said yes. I have been to Thukha
Yakemyone about three or four times, but this place was new to me. I was
surprised to see 80 to 100 adult patients there, and I was not prepared
for such a big group. I donated some money. I also did oral care
check-ups. I said to them I would come back again with medical donations.
Kyar Pauk, a well-known punk rock musician and a medical doctor

Q: How did you feel seeing so many patients?

A: I was really grateful to Ko Kyaw Thu and Ko Min Htin Ko Ko Gyi for
taking me there. I have got one more place to help. Otherwise, I wouldn't
know it even existed.

Q: Can you do something to make people more aware of such places?

A: The first thing is the media. People don't know where HIV/AIDS patients
live. More people should be aware of such places. There should be bold
raising funds projects presented through magazines, journals and
newspapers. I'd like to say it is not about politics. The patients there
are very vulnerable in their condition, if something comes up. I didn't go
there as an artist, but as a medical doctor. I wanted to know what their
needs were. I wanted to see with my own eyes.

Q: What can you do to make it more well-known?

A: I have been thinking about that. Some people want to set up an online
donation group to raise more funds. Many potential donors can access the
Internet, so it could work. For the time being, that's maybe the best
option.

Q: How can you as a medical doctor contribute to the patients?

A: I can't say exactly. It depends on how much I can be involved. I will
volunteer at the Tukha Free Medical Service Clinic two days per week at
the end of December. I have requested to work at the clinic for some time.
I also told the patients at the shelter to come to the clinic if they have
oral problems. Oral health is important to nurture in order to maintain
their immune systems.

Q: Do you think it's easier for well-known artists to get involved in such
projects.?

A: It could be related to people knowing that I'm a singer. Otherwise,
people might ask who I am and what I wanted to do. Now it is so much
easier. People know that I am a medical doctor. For example, after Cyclone
Nargis, once we arrived in the cyclone- affected areas, we could give
treatment without any delay. It was useful to be well known.

Q: Do you think young people should be more involved in social welfare
activities?

A: Normally, I don't really pay attention to what other people are doing.
I usually work with a small team. When Nargis struck Irrawaddy Division,
Ko Nay Myo Say (artist), Ko Mg Mg Zaw Latt (musician) and myself, and
other medical professionals, went to help. We rented a boat by ourselves.
We only concentrated on what we were doing. If you ask me what other
people are doing, I know almost nothing.

Q: Can celebrities do something to get more people involved?

A: My weak point is that I don't want to push other people. We should not
force people to donate as far as that goes. Some donate to elders' centers
or pagodas or other things. In my view, donations to needy places that are
not well known is the most effective. I don't donate to religion a lot. I
believe it is more effective to go personally to such places. I want more
self-awareness and direct experience on my part.

Actually, I planned to go the the shelter today, but I couldn’t get out as
there was road-construction around my house. I will bring medicine on my
next visit. I've asked my friends and fellow medical doctors to contribute
either with money or volunteer services.

Q: How do you see the patients needs as a result of your visit?

A: Generally, it's good. They need to pay more attention to oral care. In
terms of morale, they are happy living there. I found two patients whose
health had deteriorated and perhaps they were in an advanced stage of
illness. This was only a guess since I didn't have the results of a blood
test.