BurmaNet News, January 26, 2011

[Editor]

Dear BurmaNet Readers and Subscribers,

In an effort to ensure that the BurmaNet News is consistently serving the
needs of our readership, we ask that you take a moment to complete our
10-question survey. The survey should take 5 – 10 minutes to complete and
all responses and comments will be kept confidential. Please visit:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/HWPMRCV. Again, thank you for helping us
improve the BurmaNet News.

Sincerely,
BurmaNet News editors



January 26, 2011 Issue #4127

INSIDE BURMA
Irrawaddy: End of an era, or beginning of a dynasty?
SHAN: Land confiscation emerges in area under new command
KNG: Burmese Army stockpiles weapons in Yuzana Company, Hukawng Valley

ON THE BORDER
Himal South Asian: Burmese songs of exile

BUSINESS / TRADE
DVB: Tavoy port sparks house price surge

HEALTH
Xinhua: Thousands of chickens wiped out in Myanmar in wake of avian
influenza recurrence

ASEAN
Jakarta Post: US says ASEAN has role to play in Myanmar and Koreas

INTERNATIONAL
Irrawaddy: Burmese FM to submit human rights report
Irrawaddy: US says 'no' to lifting sanctions on junta

OPINION / OTHER
International Security Network (Zurich): Is Burma finally poised for
change? – David I Steinberg
Manitoban (Canada): Thanks for the invite Canada... but I’m busy bringing
democracy to Burma – Noreen Mae Ritsema

PRESS RELEASE
HRW: Burma: UN should tackle rights crisis as new parliament convenes





____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

January 26, Irrawaddy
End of an era, or beginning of a dynasty?

When the new Parliament convenes in Naypyidaw at the end of this month,
some say it will be a political transition marking the end of decades of
military rule in Burma—at least symbolically.

However, the majority of Burmese people view the event as nothing more
than an attempt by junta chief Than Shwe to maintain his hold on power and
secure the wealth and influence of his close family members and loyalists
in the name of “disciplined democracy.”

Speculation has been rife that the new government will be headed by Than
Shwe himself or one of his core loyalists, including Thura Shwe Mann, Tin
Aung Myint Oo and Prime Minister Thein Sein.

Whoever becomes either president or vice-president, however, he will be
required to declare all of his family assets, including land, houses,
businesses, savings and other valuables, to the Parliament, according to
the Constitution.

It is doubtful, however, that Than Shwe or his loyalists will ever
disclose the full extent of the wealth they have acquired over the past
two decades. But as Parliament prepares to convene on Jan. 31, it may be
worthwhile to examine some of the evidence of their ill-gotten gains.

In this first in a series of reports, we look at the fortunes of the first
family of military-ruled Burma, the Than Shwe clan.

Burma's Ali Baba and his Family

It is said that Than Shwe believes himself to be a reincarnation of an
ancient Burmese monarch. Whether this rumor is true or not, the junta
chief has certainly styled himself in that way, for example by having his
wife, children and his favorite grandchild take the most important seats
at official ceremonies.

In keeping with this status, Than Shwe and his family have amassed
enormous wealth. In part he has done this by treating Burma's revenues
from the sale of oil and natural gas as his own personal fortune. By
recording these revenues at the official exchange rate (six kyat to the US
dollar, in contrast to the real rate of 815 kyat to the dollar), he and
his closest loyalists have been able to keep most of the money earned from
the sale of Burma's resources for themselves.

Most of this money has ended up in overseas bank accounts. Than Shwe has
even assigned former Lt-Gen Tin Aye, one of his closest military
loyalists, to manage these bank accounts. He has also reportedly bought
several houses in Beijing and Shanghai with these secret funds.

But the Than Shwe clan's pilfering of wealth is not limited to stealing
from the country. Sources in the Ministry of Defense said that when Than
Shwe's wife, Kyaing Kyaing, and daughters make trips to other parts of the
country unaccompanied by the senior general, the wives of regional
military commanders have to present them with “diamonds, gold and valuable
jewelery” on a tray.

“They take what they like most from the trays and leave the rest. But they
never walk away without taking at least 200,000,000 kyat (US$ 245,000)
worth of the precious stones and other items,” said a source.

The first family's appetite for the finer things in life was already in
evidence five years ago, when Than Shwe's youngest daughter, Thandar Shwe,
was showered with diamonds and other expensive gifts at her wedding.

These days, they are more likely to be seen plundering shopping malls.
“They just point at any item they desire and the wives of the regional
military commanders have to pick up the tab,” said the source.

Following in the tradition of Burmese monarchs, Than Shwe's family
controls the ownership of lucrative hand-dug oil wells in Magwe and Monywa
divisions and also gold mines in Kawlin and Wuntho townships in Sagaing
Division.

The licenses for operating those oil wells and gold mines have to be
obtained from regional commanders. Since the average license fee for an
acre of these gold mines or oil wells is 3,000,000 kyat (US 3,680), those
working on those sites have to pay nearly one billion kyat ($1.2 million)
annually.

It was Honda Tin Maung in Mandalay, a man often associated with the
Chinese business group Great Wall in Burma, who bought licenses for those
mines and oil wells.

Unsatisfied with ownership of several of the finest houses in Naypyidaw
and Maymyo, Than Shwe's family has also controlled state-owned houses and
lands in the vicinity of Rangoon's Inya Lake, alongside which opposition
leader Aung San Suu Kyi lives.

A few years ago, a residential compound on Pyay Road and near Inya Lake,
whose ownership had been disputed in a legal family feud, was given to
Khin Than Nwet, the wife of former Lt-Gen Tin Oo, who was killed in a
mysterious helicopter crash in 2001.

When Khin Than Nwet refused to accept it, Kyaing Kyaing, Than Shwe's wife,
asked Tay Za, Burma's best-known business tycoon, to grab the estate for
her.

In Burma's business circle, Tay Za is well known as an agent for the
business affairs of Than Shwe's family.

Than Shwe's daughters have shares in Tay Za's hotels in the popular beach
resort towns of Chaung Tha and Ngwe Saung in Lower Burma. They are also
shareholders in a hospital near Inya Lake named Kantharyar, which was sold
off to Tay Za as part of the government's recent privatization process.

Even Than Shwe's favorite grandson, Nay Shwe Thwe Aung (nicknamed Pho La
Pyae), has recently become a commercial broker. One of his money-making
activities is helping companies to clear customs at the country's ports,
enabling them to illegally import goods upon receipt of a “tax” payable
directly to him.

He is also known as a middleman between government ministers and business
owners who wish to open new businesses on Rangoon estates. In one notable
case, he helped a group of Indian businessmen, called Naing Group, to win
permission to work on a large estate next to the Thai embassy in Rangoon,
after they were earlier denied a permit by Rangoon's mayor, Aung Thein
Lin. In exchange for Nay Shwe Thwe Aung's assistance, the Indian
businessmen paid him 500,000,000 kyat ($610,000).

The children and grandchildren of other members of the military elite are
also involved in such shady deals, but Nay Shwe Thwe Aung always makes
sure that he remains dominant among them. For example, in 2009, he ordered
the closure of a coffee shop in Rangoon called “Seven Lekkers,” which was
owned by Tay Za Saw Oo, the son of the junta's fourth-ranking official,
Tin Aung Myint Oo.

It is also known that he ordered his followers to physically beat Win
Hlaing Htwe, the son of Gen Win Hlaing, a former director general in the
Ministry of Defense, over a a tussle involving an estate in People's Park
near Shwedagon Pagoda in Rangoon.

On another occasion, he ordered police to arrest one of his former friends
for writing something bad about him on Facebook while the latter was
studying in a foreign country. In a similar incident in 2009, he was
unable to order the arrest of another former friend for writing something
negative about him on the Internet because he was studying in Singapore,
so he had his ex-friend's parents arrested.

“Before those arrests were made, a group of men went and threw stones at
his friend's house in Rangoon under orders from Pho La Pyae,” said a
source.

When the parents of his friend were brought before him, Nay Shwe Thwe Aung
ordered them to kneel down and pay respects to him and ask for his pardon
for their son's wrongdoing to him. Out of fear for their son's personal
safety, the parents did as they were told, sources said.

In another incident last November, a military captain working as the
personal assistant of Foreign Minister Nyan Win incurred Nay Shwe Thwe
Aung's wrath by inadvertently blocking his car in front of the office of
the Union of Myanmar Economic Holdings Ltd, a business conglomerate
controlled by the military. Than Shwe's grandchild reportedly responded by
ordering the officer to stand at attention while he lectured him about the
code of conduct for civil officers.

More recently, Aung Thet Mann, the son of the junta's third-ranking
official, Thura Shwe Mann, had to give up an already booked VIP seat on a
local Air Bagan flight to Naypyidaw when Nay Shwe Thwe Aung and his
followers suddenly appeared on the same plane.

While Than Shwe's daughters hold senior positions in foreign embassies
(where they reportedly do little more than collect bags of money at the
end of the day), his sons, namely Kyaing San Shwe and Tun Naing Shwe, own
hotel businesses in Naypyidaw and control gas stations which have
mushroomed across the country.

Tun Naing Shwe is also the owner the J-Donuts, a popular chain of donut
shops, and a business partner of Myanmar VES Joint Venture Co, Ltd, a
leading gems company.

“What's really bizarre is that Than Shwe's family believe that they're
entitled to everything they've got because of their good karma in the
past,” said a military source.

Notwithstanding their belief that they are merely enjoying the fruits of
their own merit, Than Shwe's family members have also been careful to
guard the real source of their privileges. That is why Kyaing Kyaing urged
her husband last year not to retire from the military, and even asked
Burmese Buddhist monks in India to talk him into staying in power when the
couple made a pilgrimage to Bodhgaya last July.

Military sources said that Than Shwe is also wary of stepping aside to
make way for a new generation of leaders. They say he doesn't trust
top-ranking officials like Tin Aung Myint Oo, and his greatest fear is a
fate similar to that of his predecessor, Ne Win, who died under house
arrest after his son-in-law and grandsons were accused of plotting against
the current regime.

As the author of Ne Win's eventual downfall, Than Shwe knows only too well
how quickly trust can turn to treachery once a dictator begins to lose his
grip.

The Burmese people will soon know what role Than Shwe intends to play in
the future government, which is expected to be formed by the end of next
month. Whatever the outcome, there is no doubt that Than Shwe will always
go to great lengths to ensure his own safety and that of his family.

One sign that he is preparing for the worst is a recent report that he has
established his own private security company to protect himself and his
family. The company, Eagle Security, is headed by Thein Han, a retired
colonel who was one of the military officers involved in the
junta-orchestrated deadly ambush on Aung San Suu Kyi and her convoy in
Depayin, Sagaing Division, in 2003.

In a forthcoming article, The Irrawaddy will reveal the personal secrets
of the junta's third-ranking official, Thura Shwe Mann, and the extent of
the wealth owned by his family.
____________________________________

January 26, Shan Herald Agency for News
Land confiscation emerges in area under new command – Hseng Khio Fah

Farms and lands of local villagers in Shan State South’s Kunhing Township,
have been reportedly confiscated for the use of local authorities under
the recently installed regional command, according to local sources.

kali-mapTotally about 300 acres, originally owned by 40 people in Nawng
Ngeun village have been seized. The village is situated northeast of Kali
sub-township, Kunhing, on the way to the Shan State Army (SSA)’s 7th
Brigade’s Headquarters that accepted the junta-run Border Guard Force
(BGF) program.

One acre for uncultivated land was paid Kyat 100,000 (US$ 120) while
cultivated land was paid Kyat 200,000 (US$240).

“We knew that it is little money but we could not complain. They [the
junta] said they would take it free if we did not satisfy with the amount
they pay us,” a local villager in Kali said.

Local villagers say the lands will be used for military expansion project.
They further add that the newly installed “Middle East” regional command’s
Headquarters (HQ) will be based at Kali, 8 miles east of Kunhing with the
purpose of overseeing areas between Shan State South’s Taunggyi and Shan
State East’s Kengtung. One of its battalions is a new formed Infantry
Battalion (IB) # 151.

“They [junta authorities] are going to construct more roads from Kali,
Hopang and Mongzang. They are currently constructing their [junta
authorities] camps. They have started building their camps, trenches and
bunkers since 10 January.”

The Burma Army’s camp constructions have been conducted in Kali and
Mongzang of Monghsu township where the SSA North’s First Brigade that
spurned the ruling junta’s demand to go along with the BGF program is
active.

Earlier, there were reports that it [the new command’s HQ] would be based
at Kholam, 33 miles southwest of Kunhing.

At present, the number of people in the areas has dramatically decreased
after hearing that the new command’s HQ will be based at Kali. It is
apparent that people, in fear of army recruitments, are trying to flee
while others may plan to escape forced labor.

During these days, hundreds of local residents from Kali, Kunghin and Kesi
have fled to the bordering town of Tachilek, opposite Thailand’s Maesai
district, while many others have migrated to Thailand’s Mae Hong Son
province.

Previously, Kali was crowded of people and traders as they did not have to
pay any taxes because the area was controlled by the SSA’s 7th
Brigade-turned-junta’s militia force.
____________________________________

January 25, Kachin News Group
Burmese Army stockpiles weapons in Yuzana Company, Hukawng Valley

The Burmese military junta is stockpiling weapons in Yuzana Company’s crop
plantation area in Hukawng Valley in the country’s northern Kachin State
to take on the Kachin ethnic army, said local sources close to company
insiders.

041009-yuzana1Yuzana company's Thai-styled factory is under construction
near Ban Kawk village beside Stilwell Road between Myitkyina-Danai.

Yuzana company's Thai-styled factory is under construction near Ban Kawk
village beside Stilwell Road between Myitkyina-Danai.
The weaponry, including small arms and artillery, are being stockpiled
inside the company’s compound. It is likely to be in preparation to launch
an onslaught on the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) and its armed
wing the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), a valley resident told Kachin
News Group.

Yuzana company's Thai-styled factory is under construction near Ban Kawk
village beside Stilwell Road between Myitkyina-Danai.

The company has dozens of workers houses and buildings, where weapons can
easily be stored by the Burmese Army. These buildings have been
constructed between Ban Kawk (Bangkok) and Wara Zup villages on Stilwell
Road, also known as Ledo Road between Myitkyina-Danai in the valley, said
the sources.

The 14th battalion of the 2nd Brigade of the KIA is based near Nam Byu.
This is the point closest to the Yuzana Company infrastructure in the
valley, making it easy for the Burmese Army to launch an attack, it is
learnt.

When the Burmese Army attacked the Kokang rebels known as the Myanmar
National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) in August 2009, dozens of
government personnel in Danai (Tanai) township in the valley were hastily
evacuated to Kachin’s capital Myitkyina by Burmese soldiers.

The government personnel were evacuated because war was about to break out
between the KIA and Burmese Army related to the Kokang onslaught.

In the wake of this situation, hundreds of the company’s workers were
given short but intensive military training and provided arms batch by
batch by the Burmese Army’s Infantry Battalion No. 297 based in Sahtu Zup
under the Regional Operation Command (ROC) in Danai.

With the blessings of the Burman-led junta leaders, the Rangoon-based
Yuzana Company chaired by U Htay Myint has seized over 400,000 acres of
land for sugar cane and cassava plantations, from farmers in Kachin soil
-- the Hukawng Valley since 2006.

The company is also transporting tens of thousands of Burman people from
southern Burma to the valley in the guise of company workers.

These Yuzana Company’s activities have been opposed by native Kachin
people, Kachin organizations and environmentalists.

In April last year, Burmese junta despatched over 18 tanks to Kachin State
from Mandalay along the Mandalay-Bhamo-Myitkyina Road as part of the
preparation of an attack on the KIO.

The ceasefire between KIO and Burmese junta broke down on September 1 last
year. However, both sides are avoiding a fresh civil war before a new
Burmese government is installed in the country.

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

January 26, Himal South Asian
Burmese songs of exile – Jack Chance

Forced from their homes, languishing in camps in Thailand, Karen refugees
bring in their new year with musical traditions old and new.

Until recently, Burma has generally had a way of staying out of the news.
Burma? Myanmar? Many do not even know what to call the country. Maybe on a
slow news day we will catch glimpses of a devastating cyclone, a Potemkin
election or a once-famous political prisoner’s release. Since taking
control of the government in 1962, the military junta has taken one of the
most highly educated and economically successful countries in the region
and turned it into an impoverished backwater, complete with a totalitarian
grip that would make George Orwell blush. Burma has gotten very good at
being forgotten.

The same goes for its music. Even compared to Southasia’s traditions,
Burmese classical music might be some of the least accessible around.
Complex rhythmic patterns often seem to descend into chaos. Melodies chase
each other down forest paths and over cheerful streams to the fields of
ancient pagodas, but then take a sharp tumble into pandemonium. It is
fascinating music, but difficult to grasp. I once recorded a Burmese
batala (xylophone) player, who sat down at his instrument and performed
for over an hour without a break. His melodies and rhythms varied wildly,
and I assumed he was improvising the entire work (or perhaps just banging
the keys haphazardly). But once he had finished, he pointed out the three
mistakes he would like to fix and where the track marks on the CD should
go. He had known the entire 12-part composition by heart all along.

Geographically, Burma lies between the seats of three great music
traditions – China, India and Indonesia – but Burmese classical music
bears little resemblance to any of these. Sure, there are tuned metal
gongs reminiscent of Indonesian gamelan, upright violins like the Chinese
er hu, and reeded wind instruments like Southasia’s shehnai. The melodic
scales might be familiar, but classical Burmese music has a meter, melody
and structure unique among its neighbouring traditions. Full of abrupt and
unpredictable movements, this music has moments of loveliness, but to the
uninitiated it often can sound like a train wreck.

An explanation for these sudden shifts in rhythmic course might be found
in Burmese folk ensembles, or saing waing. These are often performed to
accompany, or perhaps follow, the movements of animated dancers, puppet
shows or the frenzied worship of local nat – supernatural spirits. Perhaps
the most unique instrument in Burmese folk ensembles is the pat waing.
Picture an elaborately decorated circular fence, from which hang a few
octaves’ worth of tuned drums, with the performer seated in the centre.
Each drum is tuned by applying a small amount of rice paste to the skin.
The buoyant sound is thought to mimic the plunk of a mangosteen fruit
falling into a river.

With over a century of British colonial influence, Western instruments –
including the piano, violin and even folk instruments such as the
mandolin, banjo and lap-steel guitar – have all found local players, who
quickly adapted these instruments to Burma’s complex musical structure.
The masterful piano playing of artists such as the late U Ko Ko might be
one of the most original methods of tickling the ivories, blending
traditional Burmese classical structure with international technique. My
favourite Burmese instrument, however, is the harp. The handheld saung
gauk, ornately decorated with a dozen or so silk or nylon strings, has a
lovely mellow sound. Its peaceful tones sing of a slower time, perhaps
before the chaos of modernity and military rule.


>From Kawthoolei


It is hard not to get political when talking about music in Burma. And it
is equally difficult to have straight talk about politics in places like
Rangoon, where the presence of spies and informers tends to mute such
conversations before they begin. Yet, in the peripheral regions of the
country, such as along the Thai-Burma border, one can often get a better
picture of the situation of Burma’s citizens, and an uncommon perspective
on its musical arts.

On a recent winter morning, the Mae La refugee camp, in Thailand, looked
like a Chinese painting, as mist flowed between steep jungle peaks to
reveal rolling hillsides teeming with thousands of small bamboo huts. In a
clearing by a makeshift football field, a group of musicians warmed their
drums around a fire, as they practiced harmonies on pairs of bamboo
flutes. Handheld gongs chimed in steady rhythm, and a dancer pulled two
wooden swords stuck into the red earth, swinging them in a bit of a
warrior dance. A buffalo’s horn was blown to call in the beginning of the
new year.

Tucked into the mountains about 90 km north of the Thai border town of Mae
Sot, this camp is home to at least 40,000 Burmese ethnic minorities and
political exiles. It is one of nine Burmese camps officially allowed by
Thai authorities, some of which have existed since the mid-1980s, among
the longest-running refugee camps in the world. About half of the refugees
in camps such as Mae La, including these early-morning musicians, are
ethnic Karen. The origins of the Karen people are shrouded in mystery.
Having no written language until the mid-1800s, folk stories, or hta, form
the backbone of Karen culture and history. Migrating from Mongolia through
Tibet and down the Salween River to settle in the mountains of northern
Thailand and eastern Burma, the Karen claim to have been around long
before the Burmans founded Bagan along the Irrawaddy River in central
Burma, around the ninth century AD. The Karen named their homeland
Kawthoolei, a land of purity and simple living in harmony with nature,
free from their troubles
of today.

Knowledge of just how long Karen and Burman peoples have been fighting has
also been lost to the ages. The gwe, a buffalo horn, is sounded as a call
to gather villagers together, such as at today’s Karen New Year
celebrations. Or, it can be used as a call to battle. The story goes that
the first gwe was created after a Karen buffalo successfully gored a
Burmese general, possibly centuries before the arrival of the British.
During British colonial rule, the Karen and other Burmese ethnic groups
enjoyed a reasonable level of social equality, and members of rural tribes
such as the Karen became educated and rose in the ranks of government and
military.

The situation changed during World War II, when the Karen and other ethnic
minorities sided with the Allies while the Burman majority initially sided
with Japanese occupying forces. Japanese commanders were surprised at the
level of violence against Karen villagers by Burman soldiers under their
watch. A British promise of autonomy to the ethnic groups was forgotten
shortly after the war ended. Once Burma was released from colonial
control, the Karen National Union declared itself independent, and has
been fighting since 1949. After more than 60 years of civil war, the
Karen’s aspirations for autonomy and self-defence are now considered the
longest-running internal military conflict on earth. Today, the forests of
Kawthoolei are dotted with landmines, laid by both Burmese and Karen
soldiers. For more than 100,000 refugees living in camps on Thai soil or
hiding in the jungles back in Burma, it is a life of uncertainty and
seemingly endless waiting.

Yet, with time on their hands, the Karen refugees make the most of their
music and folklore. Lyrical hta storytelling is often best accompanied by
the melody of the Karen harp, the tha’na. It has anywhere from five to 12
strings and is played in various tunings, some more similar to a western
blues scale than an East Asian pentatonic. Less ornate than the Burmese
saung gauk, it is usually in the hands of a storyteller rather than an
instrumental virtuoso. Younger players traditionally also used the tha’na
for courtship. A mouth harp, indistinguishable from Nepal’s murchunga, is
sometimes employed similarly, with a lover’s poetry whispered between the
rhythmic twangs. These days, however, guitars are probably more popular
flirting accompaniments, and the same homogenous pop, metal, and hip-hop
that pervades many a modern music scene is undoubtedly influencing Karen
music.

On the border

In the course of modern human migration and today’s rapid spread of
information, the loss of traditional culture is perhaps one of the more
lamentable sacrifices. While no culture remains static for very long, it
is unsure where the rich traditions of the Karen will be in twenty years,
as Western countries begin to resettle Burmese and Karen refugees into a
global diaspora, far from their community traditions and native forests.
The haunting tones of the tha’na, or the visionary poetry of the hta,
might not last more than a generation in the suburbs of Australia or the
United States.

But still, on special occasions like the Karen New Year, traditional
culture remains strong. A large bronze drum, or klo, makes a rare
appearance on the main stage. Played with a mallet and a handful of thin
reed brushes, the drum’s head is marked by four frogs representing the
Karen people, meant to follow each other in peace and unity. Other drums
and cymbals accompany dohn dances during special events. These vibrant,
intricately choreographed numbers feature dancers belting out songs
lasting a quarter of an hour each. The lyrics often describe the misdeeds
of a neighbour, or neighbouring army.

As the morning celebrations continue, a group of youngsters hold
four-metre-long segments of bamboo, arranged to form a grid a few inches
above the ground. Once the singing begins, the segments are rhythmically
clapped open and shut while dancers leap through the spaces in a
precarious game of hopscotch. Similar bamboo dances take place in southern
China and as far west as Arunachal Pradesh.

Late that afternoon, as I leave the barbed-wire gates of Mae La camp, and
bid farewell to a refugee friend and guide. He gestures with his eyes to
an angry-looking gentleman staring at us down from across the road. We
overhear words describing us as he chats on a cell phone in Burmese. Even
on Thai soil, it is by no means safe for those on the junta’s watch list,
even traditional musicians with no political agenda. After a winding
motorbike ride down the border to Mae Sot, I am invited by a group of
Burmese and Karen human-rights activists to check out an impromptu evening
rock concert, held in a field about a mile from the Burmese border.

Things have been especially tense on the border lately. Since the November
2010 elections, renewed fighting between Burmese and Karen forces has sent
thousands of (mostly Karen) villagers across the river to hide in the
fields of sympathetic Thai farmers while 80-mm shells wreak havoc in their
villages, their own fields left unharvested and full of shrapnel. Since
late November there are several thousand new Karen refugees on Thai soil,
staying with a minimum of shelter and care, unable to return safely. The
fighting is expected to worsen in 2011.

But tonight on the border it is rock & roll, with several local Karen and
Burmese bands performing with a passion few Western punks could hope to
match. Thai soldiers stand guard near the stage, as many Karen are
concerned that the Burmese army might try something fiendish during this
public celebration. But the concert goes along without a hitch, teenagers
with their sweethearts, texting and headbanging, drinking beer and singing
along. You could almost forget there was a war across the river, and most
people do.

____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

January 26, Democratic Voice of Burma
Tavoy port sparks house price surge – Shwe Aung

House and land prices close to Tavoy in southern Burma where the building
of a multi-billion dollar port project will gain momentum have increased
up to ten-fold in recent months.

A resident of Tavoy in Tenasserim division, which lies on the isthmus
shared by Burma and Thailand, said that most of the new property buyers
were businesspeople from Rangoon and Mandalay who could afford the 500
million kyat ($US500,000) that some homeowners were now asking.

Around 30 properties in Tavoy town centre, particularly around Tavoy
market and on the main thoroughfares such as Arzarni Road, have so far
been sold at the inflated prices. Houses in the area had gone for 50 to 60
million kyat ($US50 to 60) prior to the signing of the port deal.

The buyers are likely looking to the future when the $US8 billion deep-sea
port opens up major business opportunities in the area. Led by
Bangkok-based engineering giant Italian-Thai, it is the largest foreign
investment in Burma, and at 250 square kilometres will create by far the
single biggest industrial zone the country has seen

Job opportunities are thus likely to open up on a massive scale, with
workers needed to operate the factories, refineries and coal-fired power
plant that comprise the project.

The Thai government has set the finish date for 2015, by which time it
will be able to accommodate giant ships with cargo destined for countries
the length and breadth of Southeast Asia.

Completion of the port would allow Thai exports to bypass the congested
Straits of Malacca, south of Singapore. Key to the project is construction
of a 160-kilometre highway and rail link between Kanchanburi and Tavoy.
The route is a major component of the Southern Economic Corridor, which
will link Tavoy with Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam.

Burmese policy-makers, including apparently junta chief Than Shwe, see the
project as a possible small-scale version of the special economic zones
(SEZ) that have been such successes in China and Vietnam, and the lure is
apparently too much for Burma’s business elite to resist.

Tavoy locals however may not see the rosy side of the venture, with heavy
industry and the construction of chemical plants that would be resisted in
Thailand threatening to increase levels of pollution.

____________________________________
HEALTH

January 26, Xinhua
Thousands of chickens wiped out in Myanmar in wake of avian influenza
recurrence

Yangon – Over 50,000 chickens suspected of carrying virulent avian
influenza were wiped out following the discovery of unusual death of 700
three-month-old chickens in a poultry farm in Sittway, Myanmar's western
Rakhine state, recently, the local weekly Popular News reported Wednesday.

On confirmation that H5N1 recurred in the area, 52,000 fowls and over
1,000 ducks from 75 nearby poultry farms were destroyed in the state's
Bumay village-tract as part of the authorities' measures to prevent the
spread of the influenza.

The authorities are making investigation into the cause of the case if it
was infected by migratory birds or through import of chickens from the
border areas .

According to earlier report, a number of some American migratory birds
were found arriving and resting in some areas in Bago region's
Naunglaypin, Daik Oo and Pyontazar townships during this winter.

The Livestock Breeding and Veterinary Department (LBVD) has warned of
probable infection from the birds which may carry virus into the country
from the cold regions to infect local birds.

It is the fifth time that Myanmar is struck by bird flu H5N1 with the
first being in 2006 and the last in 2010.

In early 2010, the infection was detected in angon's Mayangong and
Mingaladon townships and northwestern Sagaing region after some chickens
died of virulent avian influenza in poultry farms.

____________________________________
ASEAN

January 26, The Jakarta Post
US says ASEAN has role to play in Myanmar and Koreas – Abdul Khalik

Jakarta – Myanmar should dialogue with opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi,
release its political prisoners and recognize Suu Kyi’s National League
for Democracy (NLD) before the US will consider lifting sanctions, a US
diplomat says.

The US also welcomes ASEAN and Indonesia taking an active role in helping
to resolve the problems on the Korean Peninsula, he said.

The US secretary of state’s deputy assistant Joseph Y. Yun told The
Jakarta Post on Tuesday that ASEAN’s foreign ministers had voiced all the
same requests during their meeting in Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara, last
week.

“These are excellent demands from the ASEAN ministers, and I think the
Myanmar authorities should really take them to heart and make them a
reality,” Yun said.

Yun, who oversees affairs in East Asia and the Pacific, said if Myanmar’s
government had complied with all the requests from the international
community, then there would be a positive response.

“And clearly, as the reconciliation process makes progress, I think the
international community can ensure a response,” he said.

During their meeting in Lombok last week, ASEAN’s foreign ministers spoke
about the need for the US, the European Union and Canada — all ASEAN
dialogue partners — to consider lifting their sanctions against Myanmar
because the country had successfully conducted general elections and
released Suu Kyi from house arrest late last year

Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa said after the meeting that ASEAN
believed in the early lifting or easing of sanctions against Myanmar by
several countries, but said that the lifting of sanctions and
reconciliation should go hand in hand.

ASEAN member states reinforced the importance of inclusive dialogue to
ensure that all concerned parties could contribute to Myanmar’s future
development, Marty said.

On North Korea, Yun welcomed ASEAN’s intention to help on the Korean
Peninsula. He said stability on the peninsula would be connected to the
denuclearization of North Korea.

“I think the international community, including ASEAN, should be quite
clear in requesting that North Korea be denuclearized and come join the
IAEA [International Atomic Energy Agency] again. And if ASEAN wants to
help in that process, that’s a very good thing.”

At the Lombok meeting, ASEAN ministers agreed to be more active in finding
a solution to the conflict between South Korea and North Korea, affirming
that ASEAN will play its part to support the efforts of the six-party
talks, which include the US, China, Japan and the two Koreas.

“We have real concerns about the ramifications throughout the region. We
consider it a fault line. If we neglect this fault line, it can easily be
imposed throughout East Asia — like an us versus them scenario. For us,
inaction is not an option,” Marty said.

He said that under Indonesian chairmanship, ASEAN will try to make a
greater contribution to help solve the problem, adding that there was an
ambitious plan to coordinate with the six-party talks countries.

“Through communication with the six-party talks countries, ASEAN will
explore how it can contribute to creating conditions to help resume the
six-party talks.”

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

January 26, Irrawaddy
Burmese FM to submit human rights report – Sai Zom Hseng

Burmese Foreign Minister Nyan Win will be in Geneva, Switzerland, tomorrow
to submit a report on the human rights situation in his country as part of
a Universal Periodic Review (UPR) by the Office of the United Nations High
Commissioner for Human Rights.
The three-hour review, which will also include two hours of questions from
representatives of other UN member countries, will be closely watched by
human rights groups.

Internally displaced persons in Karen State flee a Burmese army attack.
Cherry Zahau, the human rights coordinator of the Thailand-based Human
Rights Education Institute of Burma said that the group would watch the
UPR via an Internet webcast and will monitor the report submitted by the
Burmese representative.

“We have already made a Stakeholder Report and sent it to every
representative who will question the Burmese representative, because we
know that the regime will not describe the real human rights situation in
the country,” she said.

“The military junta doesn’t accept that there are a lot of human rights
violations and more than 2,100 political prisoners who are still behind
bars,” she added.

The US-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) also launched an annual report this
week which described the human rights situation in Burma as dire, despite
the fact that the country held its first election in 20 years last year.

According to the HRW report, the rights of freedom of expression,
association, assembly and media remain extremely limited, and there is no
sign the regime is planning to release the country's political prisoners,
even after releasing pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Nov. 13.

The report also said that the Burmese military was responsible for ongoing
abuses against civilians in conflict areas, including widespread forced
labor, extrajudicial killings and forced expulsion of the population.

____________________________________

January 26, Irrawaddy
US says 'no' to lifting sanctions on junta

The United States will not consider lifting economic sanctions against
Burma unless the country's military rulers recognize opposition leader
Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) party and release
political prisoners, according to a senior US diplomat.

Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs
Joseph Y. Yun told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday that the Burmese regime
should hold a dialogue with Suu Kyi, and release the more than 2,000
political prisoners held around the country—preconditions for the US to
consider lifting economic sanctions imposed against the Burmese regime for
its human rights violations.

His comment came more than a week after the foreign ministers of the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) and an alliance of five
ethnic political parties in Burma called for an end to Western economic
sanctions against Burma.

During their recent meeting in Lombok, Indonesia, the Asean ministers
referred to Burma's controversial parliamentary elections and the release
of Suu Kyi as “developments,” which they said the international community
should positively respond to.

In their call for the lifting of Western economic sanctions, Asean foreign
ministers voiced all the same requests to the Burmese regime as the US
demands, Yun was quoted as saying.

“These are excellent demands from the Asean ministers, and I think the
Myanmar authorities should really take them to heart and make them a
reality,” Yun said, adding that a positive US response would follow when
the Burmese regime complies with the requests from the international
community.

Last Friday in Washington, the State Department spokesman, P J Crowley,
said that the Obama administration has no plan to lift sanctions as of
now, and that its sanctions are specifically targeted against the leaders
of the Burmese military junta, its cronies and business groups that
support them—and not against the people of Burma.

“At this point, no,” Crowley told reporters when asked if there is any
move to lift the sanctions.

“This is an issue that we regularly discuss with stakeholders—the
effectiveness and the impact of our sanctions. Our sanctions are
specifically targeted against those most responsible for denying democracy
and disregarding human rights in Burma,” Crowley said.

 “We have concerns about the people of Burma, but it is the Burmese regime
that is fully responsible for the country’s dire economic situation. They
are the ones who have institutionalized corruption and they are the ones
who have plundered natural resources,” he said.

“We maintain sanctions in order to press authorities to take concrete
actions on issues of core concern to the international community,
including democratic reform, release of political prisoners, and
initiating a genuine dialogue with the democratic opposition and ethnic
minority leaders,” Crowley said.

Yun's call to the regime for the recognition of Suu Kyi's NLD came amid
her lawyers proceeding with an appeal against last year's dissolution of
the party following its decision not to run in parliamentary elections
held on Nov. 7.

On Monday, the lawyers presented their arguments to the Supreme Court in
Naypyidaw, but no decision was made by the court about whether it would
hear Suu Kyi's latest appeal against the disbanding of the party.

In December, Suu Kyi met with Yun in Rangoon and discussed economic
sanctions against Burma.

Since 2009, the Obama administration has initiated a senior-level
diplomatic dialogue with the Burmese military leadership while continuing
to keep sanctions as an important tool of US policy.

However, the Burmese regime has made no tangible positive response. As the
country prepares to convene its first session of Parliament in 22 years at
the end of this month, more than 2,000 political prisoners remain behind
bars in Burma. The Parliament will be dominated by pro-military lawmakers
who won in last year's controversial polls.

The Irrawaddy correspondent Lalit K. Jha contributed to this article from
Washington.

____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

January 16, International Security Network (Zurich)
Is Burma finally poised for change? – David I Steinberg

Were the November elections in Burma really the complete sham that so many
in the international community claimed? Outright denunciation is
simplistic and ignores the potential for modest but significant change
over time - even if the election process, the voting and tabulation of
results were seriously flawed.

The seemingly interminable process of formulating a constitution and
holding elections in Burma/Myanmar came to a conclusion on Nov. 7, with
neither a bang nor a whimper.

The completion of the state-controlled constitution, writing of which
began in 1993, was probably speeded up by the "saffron revolution" of
monks in the fall of 2007. The constitution and the elections that
followed were likely designed, at least in the minds of the military
leadership, to restore the legitimacy that had been sacrificed by the
state's brutal repression of the monks - the most important symbol of
Burman Buddhist identity. Following a referendum in May 2008, which was
approved by a Stalinistic margin of 92.4 percent of ballots cast shortly
after Cyclone Nargis devastated the country and killed some 138,000
people, the military finally set the election date, which was no doubt
determined astrologically to be auspicious. Within 90 days, a new
government will be formed that will inaugurate if not a new era in Burmese
political life, at least a more pluralistic form of military control.

Senior Gen. Than Shwe, the head of state, said in March 2009 that this
latest incarnation of military rule, which he awkwardly dubbed
"discipline-flourishing democracy," was like a newly dug well that for a
period of time yields muddy water. The tatmadaw (military) will be its
filter, he said. The constitutional provisions and the elections ensure
that the filter will be very fine indeed.

The constitution provides for a series of legislatures - a central
bicameral one and 14 provincial ones, seven in majority Burman areas and
seven in minority areas. Twenty-five percent of each legislature will
consist of active-duty military personnel appointed by the minister of
defense, who also will be a tatmadaw member. The constitution also
protects the military from civilian oversight and ensures its leadership
in the political process. Many rights are enumerated in the new
constitution, but as in so many other constitutions, they are subject to
limitations such as law, security, national unity, public morality - in
fact, whatever the state wishes. Officials of the previous military
government are specifically given immunity from prosecution for any acts
committed in their official capacities.

Despite the limitations, were these elections really the complete sham
that the Western media, human rights organizations, the Burmese expatriate
community and some foreign governments contend? Outright denunciation is
simplistic and ignores the potential for modest but significant change
over time - even if the election process, the voting and tabulation of
results were seriously flawed, as they were.

These elections are highly significant, no matter how manipulated they
were to ensure that the leadership was not embarrassed by the results (as
happened in the 1990 elections, the results of which were ignored by the
junta). For the first time since the elections for a civilian government
in 1960, opposition voices will be heard in the legislatures. Whether they
will be freely heard and whether their views will be freely circulated in
the media are crucial questions. For the answers to be yes will require
transformation of the rigid censorship laws now in effect.

Although 37 parties were registered to run in the elections, the
government party - the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) - was
paramount, contesting every seat at all levels, with many of the
candidates former soldiers. It has been transmogrified from a
state-controlled mass organization of 24.5 million people into the
elective apparatus of the military. There were also a large number of
ethnic parties, both government and opposition. In certain minority areas
deemed insecure by the government, no voting was allowed. Registration and
election laws were strict, expensive and designed to limit registration.
The National League for Democracy (NLD), Aung San Suu Kyi's party, decided
on her recommendation not to register for elections and was legally
disbanded, although some members formed a new democratic party, ran, and
were labeled "traitors" by some in the NLD leadership. Many former NLD
members remain in detention.

Results of the manipulated election were predictable. The USDP got almost
80 percent of the non-military seats in the legislatures. Together with
the seats automatically allocated to the military, this gives the military
almost complete control. In six of the seven minority areas, however, the
USDP did not achieve such success (30 to 46 percent of the votes) in
non-military seats and is in a minority. But, when the 25 percent of
members belonging to the military are factored in, there is a majority for
the government at all levels.

Before the elections, the US government had determined that they would not
be "free, fair and inclusive." Some had wanted Suu Kyi to be allowed to
run for office, but this was impossible under military-decreed
regulations. This characterization of the elections was in large part
accurate.

At least by March 2009, a private conversation I had in Burma indicated
that Suu Kyi would continue to be held under house arrest, as she had been
for much of the past two decades, until about the time of the elections so
that she could not "disrupt" them. This turned out to be accurate. For
many years, the United States, the European Union and other states have
called on the government to release her, with the US even calling for
"regime change." Now that she has been released, a new set of questions
has arisen. As one US official noted, her release "creates its own issues
and challenges" - for her, the state, and for external actors.

Suu Kyi's strong views on the illegitimacy of the regime (but,
significantly, not of the military that her father founded) are well
known, but in the days since her release she has been remarkably
conciliatory. She even said that personally she did not believe the junta
had mistreated her. Yet each time she has been released from house arrest,
she has tested the limits of her freedom, and ended up back under house
arrest when she seemed to threaten the junta's power. There are widespread
rumors about the personal antipathy toward her by Than Shwe, and even if
he assumes no administrative role in the new state apparatus (he is now
about 76), his personal influence is likely to be important for a number
of years. How the state will deal with her is unknown and highly
contentious.

Her role in the new political configuration is also unclear. She will
remain a beacon and avatar of democracy to much of the Western world. It
is evident that she still has a vigorous domestic following, though of
undetermined strength. Questions remain about how she will deal both with
the new government and with renegades from her own party

How will the West react to this new situation? The US has long called for
Suu Kyi's release, but deemed the elections illegitimate. President Barack
Obama's administration has embraced "pragmatic engagement," a recognition
of the need to move away from the "regime change" strategy of Presidents
Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. This has involved high-level diplomatic
contacts while retaining economic sanctions -acknowledging US domestic
political realities that call for a hard line toward Burma. US policies
have largely been determined by the actual or perceived views of Suu Kyi,
which have called for sanctions and isolation. Now, however, she has said
that she is willing to discuss these issues with the Burmese leadership.

The complexity of the political landscape is compounded by the junta's
ham-handed attempt to force all 17 of the country's armed minority groups
currently in ceasefire agreements with the government to integrate with
the national army as "Border Guard Forces," which would emasculate their
capacity for autonomous action. In the far northeastern region near China,
the small Kokang force, which rejected integration, was destroyed by the
Burmese Army in August 2009. If tensions with minority groups escalate,
fighting could break out on the Chinese border that could have
international repercussions. China has attempted to mediate these
tensions.

In this bleak picture, what potential is there for improving the poor
economic, social and political conditions of the diverse populations of
this potentially rich land?

The most important is the inauguration of provincial legislatures, even if
they are dominated by the military. This is the first time in Burma's
history that elected pluralistic centers of even modest influence may
begin to emerge in minority areas. Pro- and anti-state ethnic peoples may
find that their concerns about the plight of their own people trump
politics, because the minority questions facing the state are the most
critical ones, and have never been satisfactorily resolved. Despite
constitutional provisions to foster minority cultures since the founding
of the modern state, they have been ignored. As a result, minority issues
remain explosive.

If the censorship laws are changed and legislative debates can be
accurately reported through the media, this will have a profound influence
on the future. This will not come about easily, because state censorship
has been in effect since 1962.

It is likely that additional space will be created between the state and
the individual, allowing for more freedom. Perhaps a new generation of
military leaders will have alternative views, but their education, while
more extensive, has been insular and they are said to be highly
nationalistic. This opening process is likely to be slow and tortuous, but
the political climate in the urban areas seems far more catholic since the
failed people's revolution of 1988.

There are considerable provisions in the new constitution for more
freedoms, although circumscribed. An independent judiciary is provided
for, although this will be most difficult to achieve. In the country's
period of civilian rule (1948-1962), the judiciary did occasionally find
against the state.

The past year has also seen quiet indicators of a greater awareness of,
and interest in, economic reform. With a new economic commission built
into the constitution, we may witness at least the beginnings of a more
rational approach to the economic plight of the nation.

Finally, the monolithic thinking under the military socialist regime may
morph into divergent views between the active duty officer elite and the
military-dominated USDP. A similar divergence of views emerged under the
Burmese Socialist Political Party government (1974-1988) between party
members (including retired military officers) and active duty military. As
the new legislatures become established, there is the possibility that
there will be divergent views between the tatmadaw in uniform and those in
politics, each reflecting their diverse interests.

For the military to step back from its overwhelming influence on Burmese
society will require the development of autonomous avenues of social
mobility, which are virtually all dominated by the military. This will
include the private sector (now effectively controlled by the military and
the Chinese), academic and non-profit sectors, and, yes, even politics.
More freedom throughout society will be required. This is a consummation
devoutly to be wished and toward which much attention and work is needed.

Diplomats regularly remark that they are "cautiously optimistic" about a
situation; in the case of Burma, however, one may only be "cautiously
pessimistic."

David I Steinberg is Distinguished Professor of Asian Studies, School of
Foreign Service, Georgetown University. His Burma/Myanmar: What Everyone
Needs to Know (Oxford), has been translated into Korean.

____________________________________

January 26, The Manitoban (Canada)
Thanks for the invite Canada... but I’m busy bringing democracy to Burma –
Noreen Mae Ritsema

Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi has been officially invited
to Canada to accept the award of Honorary Canadian Citizenship. At the
urging of NDP leader Jack Layton, Prime Minister Stephen Harper extended
the invite last week.

Elected in 1990 as the prime minister of Burma, the ruling military never
allowed Suu Kyi to take power. Instead, she spent the next 20 years in and
out of house arrest under various fabricated pretexts, becoming a
political prisoner that caught the world’s attention.

The symbolic offer of citizenship, which does not actually give recipients
any rights or privileges in Canada, was awarded to Suu Kyi in 2007 while
she was under house arrest. At the time, Harper expressed hope that the
award would send a message to the Burmese junta that Canada supports Suu
Kyi’s release and disagrees with the illegal military rule in that
country. Sein Win, Suu Kyi’s first cousin, accepted the award on her
behalf, emphasizing the need for more widespread sanctions against Burma.

Canada has only ever offered four other people honorary citizenship. This
includes Holocaust hero Raoul Wallenberg in 1985 (posthumously), Nelson
Mandela in 2001, Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama, in 2006 and the Aga
Khan, 49th Imam of the Shia Ismaili Muslims, in 2009. With so few offers
of citizenship, being chosen clearly sends a strong message.

However, inviting Suu Kyi, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991, to
come to Canada is something that is very unlikely to happen, for numerous
reasons.

At age 65 and indefinitely released from house arrest this past November,
Suu Kyi’s priorities lie in bringing democracy to Burma. Her years of
imprisonment have only served to increase her following among the Burmese
populace, and she is still committed to solidifying the National League
for Democracy’s legitimate presence in Burma. There is much work to be
done, and with more mobility, though still limited, she can accomplish
much more. Coming to Canada to accept symbolic citizenship would interfere
with her organizing work.

In a statement released by Suu Kyi following the invite, she thanked
Canada for its commitment to the democracy movement in Burma and looks
“forward very much to the day that conditions in Burma will allow me to be
free to visit Canada myself and thank the Canadian people in person.”

It is most significant to recognize that it is not safe for Suu Kyi to
leave Burma. With a military regime in power that can and does arbitrarily
impose rules and laws, there is no guarantee that if Suu Kyi left the
country, she would be allowed to return. This is a risk that she has
demonstrated she is unwilling to take, to the point of being separated
from her family living in the U.K..

In essence, Harper’s invite really is a symbolic invitation for a symbolic
award that affirms Canada’s support for Suu Kyi’s work — the restoration
of the democratic process in Burma and the end of military tyranny. There
is much more that Canada can do, but by once again bringing the situation
in Burma to national attention, this is certainly more powerful than
silence.

Noreen Mae Ritsema is the Features Editor at the Manitoban.

____________________________________
PRESS RELEASE

January 26, Human Rights Watch
Burma: UN should tackle rights crisis as new parliament convenes

New York – The review of Burma's human rights record at the United Nations
this week should reflect reality and not the false promises of the
military, Human Rights Watch said today.

Burma will face its first-ever Universal Periodic Review (UPR) in the
Human Rights Council in Geneva on January 27, a process all member states
must undergo every four years to ascertain each country's progress on
human rights. The ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) will
face the UPR, just days before the new 2010 elected parliament convenes on
January 31 in the nation's capital, Naypyidaw, to select a president and
form a new government already dominated by serving and recently retired
military officers.

"The UPR process is an opportunity to put one of the most brutal and
intransigent authoritarian systems in the world under the spotlight," said
Elaine Pearson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. "Burma's human
rights record remains deplorable, and forming a new parliament after sham
elections in 2010 shouldn't fool anyone."

Human Rights Watch urged member states to question the Burmese military
government on the gravity, extent, and systematic nature of violations
taking place in Burma and the need for more effective tools to address the
situation. The Human Rights Council has adopted several resolutions
strongly condemning the systematic nature of the violations committed
against the people of Burma, as has the UN General Assembly. Yet the lack
of implementation by Burmese authorities of almost all provisions
contained in these resolutions is a matter of serious concern and should
be raised during the UPR.

The Burmese government's national report to the UPR process contains
numerous assertions that progress has been made on legal reform, that
provisions in the 2008 constitution on fundamental rights and duties of
citizens is in line with international conventions, that education on
human rights has increased in the military, bureaucracy, and school
system, and that the fledgling Human Rights Body will soon become a fully
fledged Human Rights Commission in line with the Paris Principles on the
Status of National Institutions.

The military government also cites its cooperation with the UN on
demobilizing child soldiers, and working with the UN Country Team as
evidence of progress, despite more comprehensive measures being all but
suspended in 2010 as the military stage-managed the elections. The SPDC
created the Committee to Prevent the Recruitment of Child Soldiers in
2004, yet this body has failed to take effective action to curtail child
recruitment and has not adequately punished military officials involved in
predatory recruitment practices. A UN Action Plan on ending child soldier
recruitment that meets international standards has yet to be finalized
with the Burmese government. The government has also severely limited
efforts by the UN country team to monitor the recruitment and use of child
soldiers by non-state armed groups.

"UN member states must not mistake rhetoric for improvement," said
Pearson. "Burmese authorities only demonstrate perfunctory cooperation,
doing the bare minimum to deter international criticism, not genuine
efforts to provide for the rights of their citizens."

Human Rights Watch said despite new window dressing, the same grim reality
for Burma's people continues to be reported. Serious human rights issues
in Burma that have shown no improvement in the past several years and in
many cases have continued to deteriorate are mentioned in Human Rights
Watch's UPR submission, and include:

Freedom of Expression and Association

Systematic restrictions on basic freedoms in Burma remain, including on
the rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly, and association.
For example, despite Burma having ratified International Labor
Organization (ILO) Convention No. 87 on freedom of association, the SPDC
continues to refuse to register independent trade unions in the country.
The 2010 elections were conducted in a climate of intimidation and tight
control of freedom of expression, assembly, and association, for political
candidates and citizens.

Arbitrary Detention and Ill-Treatment

Despite democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi's release in mid-November 2010,
the government of Burma currently incarcerates more than 2,200 political
prisoners including political activists, journalists, trade unionists and
labor rights advocates, artists, Buddhist monks and nuns, and vocal
opponents of the SPDC. Many of these prisoners have received harsh
sentences - including up to 65 years in prison - on trumped up criminal
charges in unfair trials that seek to curtail peaceful political dissent
and free expression. Conditions in Burmese prisons do not meet
international standards: prisoners are not given adequate health care,
face routine ill-treatment and at times torture, and may be transferred to
remote facilities in the hinterlands that make visits by family members
and UN officials difficult. The government has not granted the
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) access to Burmese prisons
in accordance with the ICRC's standard procedures since 2006.

Respect for the Rule of Law

The culture of impunity in Burma for government officials and military
personnel for serious abuses is supported by a judicial system that is
neither impartial nor independent. There has been little if any
accountability for serious crimes committed by government security forces
in conflict zones in eastern and western Burma, including attacks on
civilians, routine use of forced labor, sexual violence against women and
girls, recruitment and use of child soldiers, extrajudicial killings of
civilians, and other violations of international humanitarian law. Some
non-state armed groups have also been implicated in serious abuses,
including forced labor and the use of child soldiers.

Protection of Civilians

Civilians in conflict areas face abuses by government and non-state armed
groups. In some conflict areas, the Tatmadaw (Burmese army) maintains a
"shoot on sight" practice that targets civilians. The Tatmadaw forcibly
displaces and evicts communities, confiscates land for security purposes
or commercial activities, and in some places forces communities to live in
specially constructed relocation sites close to military camps as a
counter-insurgency measure. Fighting in Eastern Burma has intensified in
the past three months, driving more refugees into Thailand.

Forced Labor

Forced labor remains rampant in ethnic conflict areas, despite cooperation
with the ILO for several years and the continuation of an ILO and Burmese
government mechanism on investigating cases of forced labor. Civilians in
conflict zones continue to report being forced to carry supplies for Burma
army units, and civilians also said they feared being used to guide troops
through terrain, often acting as human minesweepers, a practice the
Burmese army has used in past military operations.

Minorities

Conditions for ethnic Rohingya Muslims in western Burma are extremely
dire. The Rohingya are denied citizenship in Burma, and Rohingya
communities face sharp restrictions on freedom of movement, access to
basic health care, livelihoods, and education, and suffer routine abuses
at the hands of Tatmadaw units and paramilitary border security forces
called Na Sa Ka. Thousands of Rohingya have fled Burma into Bangladesh and
by sea to Malaysia and Thailand.

"Burma's rights record is a source of deep concern for the UN, but
principled pressure instead of wishful thinking is needed to improve it,"
Pearson said. "The UPR review must galvanize the UN to take further
measures to end the culture of impunity and the distortion of the legal
system to ensure military rule, in or out of the new parliament."