Wednesday 20 February 2008

An elephant in a glass palace

By Christopher Smith

February 20, 2008 - Simply put, at present there is no prospect of a free and fair referendum or election in Burma. As will be seen, the current state of affairs in Burma fails to sufficiently meet any of the guidelines for deciding an election to be free and fair, as enumerated in a 2006 Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) study, a Geneva-based organization devoted to fostering "co-operation among peoples and for the firm establishment of representative democracy." The IPU guidelines are largely consistent with those espoused by several other entities, including the United States government, European Union, Altsean (Burma) and Human Rights Watch.

Criteria for a free and fair election

Establishment of an electoral system

This initial criterion is not easily definable, as the establishment of a functional and legitimate electoral system rests on variables particular to each case study. The variables in question in turn deal with complex subjects often open to interpretation. In the case of Burma volatile considerations include historical, cultural and political factors.

Clearly there is a huge obstacle to confront politically, as any forthcoming elections will always be conducted in the shadows of the 1990 general election, which saw the National League for Democracy victorious. Cultural factors can loosely be attributed to recognition of the ongoing dilemma over ethnic communities – a concern that has never been adequately solved in the history of the state.

IPU recognizes that not all electoral systems will be identical, but the end product "must facilitate the expression of the will of the people." If not, the worry is that a feeling of disenfranchisement will weigh heavy on a portion of the population, thereby negating the elections as both free and fair. As it stands in Burma, there is the threat of widespread disenfranchisement across political and cultural groups.

Election management and voter registration

The idea that the junta's civilian-backed organization, the Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA), is to conduct the overall management of the election makes a mockery of the notion that election management not be conducted by the government or any political party. However the reality that Burma is starved of virtually any functional institutions, outside of the military government, appears to point for an inevitable role for the junta in the conduct of the election's management. This scenario could be at least partially mollified if the polling process is conducted in a transparent fashion.

In the end, the IPU report stresses that trust in whoever is conducting the day-to-day operations of an election is of paramount importance. Sadly, there is much room for improvement in trust between many of Burma's people and communities, not least of which again focuses attention on the issue of ethnic states and competing political bodies.

Problems delineating districts are also easily discernable with relation to ethnic groups, geography and infrastructure. However there also remains the highly publicized matter of the current draft constitution's reserving 25 percent of seats for non-elected military personnel – effectively evading the whole debate of drawing district lines by designating representatives with ill-defined constituents.

Voter registration is a critical component if an election is to be conducted freely and fairly, and a critical component of voter registration is that it is conducted, or at least verified, by independent actors. Otherwise claims of illegitimacy may well again persist. A recent statement from Human Rights Watch warns of the impending poll in Burma: "To be free and fair, the referendum must be administered by a neutral election commission."

The current proposal for the USDA to conduct the registration process falls well short of the cries from Human Rights Watch and others that the task be conducted independently. Further, it is very much in doubt as to whether any training regarding how to conduct a vast registration process will be on offer.

The right to vote


Obvious obstacles to overcome in order to meet the free and fair requirements of this criterion entail the inclusion, or exclusion, of distinct populations. Some populations for which the right to vote may be denied include exiles, refugees and prisoners.

Drawing the above mentioned groups into the electoral process poses an immediate threat to those currently in a position of power, as a vast percentage of these populations would presumably not vote in favor of a reincarnated military-dominated political party; the exile community providing home to some of the harshest critics of junta initiatives perceived as striving for the continuation of the military's dominance in politics.

Voter education and information

For voters to be provided with the widest array of information on the process and their candidates, it is generally agreed that there needs to be respect for freedom of the press and media. In countries whose infrastructure and electoral history do not permit a ready-made source for voter education, it is often the case that the international community steps in, as it did in the case of Cambodia in the 1990s.

"Freedom of speech for candidates and political parties — democracies do not restrict candidates or political parties from criticizing the performance of the incumbent" – is listed as a fundamental requirement of elections by the United States Department of State. Given the history of Burma, specifically that of its "incumbent" government, it is easy to see how strict adherence to this right may lead to problems.

Burma has ranked toward the bottom of freedom studies for decades, garnering a title of "not free" in annual Freedom House reports and ranking 163rd out of 167 in the latest democracy rankings conducted by The Economist Intelligence Unit.

Candidates, political parties and electoral campaigns

IPU cites the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights as enshrining the principle that every citizen has the right to be elected. This raises an immediate point of contention to the status of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, whom the draft constitution apparently bans from serving in high office as a result of her marriage to a British national.

Of organizational concern for parties and candidates in any forthcoming campaign is money. In today's Pakistani elections a national seat is set to go for $800,000. In Burma's case, where are these funds to come from, especially those of opposition candidates? How could the legality of the election be compromised if those residing abroad and international actors are a primary source of funds for opposition candidates?

Electoral campaigns fall under the jurisdiction of state law. Yet in the case of Burma there is a broad spectrum of society that does not acknowledge the rule of the government as legitimate, as well as significant portions of the country largely removed from the imposition of central law.

It is difficult to imagine opposition parties agreeing to be governed on the campaign trail by an authority that is not judged legitimate in the first place.

Balloting and results


Ultimately an election is about casting ballots and counting votes. For this, the population in question must have reasonable access to polling stations and reason to believe that the results will not fall victim to electoral irregularities.

In Burma's case the forecasting of election results well ahead of the actual event could also lead to grave problems. Both a pro-military party and the National League for Democracy, or a reincarnation thereof, will in all probability expect to win. Self-assured in their forthcoming victory, a result contrary to the one expected will likely draw an adverse reaction. Burmese are only too familiar with this potential pitfall, as the junta, for whatever reason, appears to have genuinely expected results in 1990 to turn out differently.

Employment of international monitors to verify results will be complicated by the presumed exclusion of groups and organizations deemed pro-Western and hostile to the regime. Would a regional monitoring body be sufficient to assuage fears of biased monitoring by the larger international community?

What hope there is

Given the junta's dominant position in Burma today, any forthcoming referendum or election would have to rely heavily on the involvement of the military. Yet it is often said that a free and fair election can only be held in an environment that guarantees respect for human rights. Thus, to many who oppose the rule of the generals on the grounds of human rights abuses, a prerequisite for the holding of any election appears to be the removal of the military from power or at least the military's non-involvement in the management of elections. These are scenarios the junta will not accept.

Though international voices have been careful to give their support to the United Nations and its Special Envoy to Burma, the truth is that there are drastically opposed and competing views on what needs to transpire in Burma. Gambari, the Special Envoy to Burma, is not there to work out a surrender of the generals. His, and the United Nations', ongoing activities are to work within the current power structure, which sees the military in the top position. But as long as the military is there, in the front of the line, truly free and fair elections as per widely accepted international definitions cannot occur.

And it should never be forgotten that while the holding of a reasonably free and fair election in Burma would indeed be a celebrated feat, the act of holding an election does not serve as a panacea for a country's problems. In 2002, the Carter Center announced to the world that elections in Kenya were "peaceful and tolerant". In 2008, Kenya has been racked by weeks of post-election violence.

Thomas Jefferson once quipped as to the merits of a new constitution that it is not whether the new constitution is perfect, but rather whether it is better than the one it replaces. The same can be said of elections. As Burma looks forward to a difficult transition period from one-party to multi-party rule, the question to be asked of elections is not "Were they free and fair?", but "Were they freer and fairer?" And it is up to the government to invite all parties into the process and for those involved to then reach an agreement as to what constitutes an acceptable and achievable level of "freer and fairer".
Source: Mizzima News

Karen leadership takes junta to task for killing

February 20, 2008, (SHAN) - Saying 22-more of the top and mid level leaders are on the list of the assassins, the beleaguered Karen National Union (KNU) has pointed an accusing finger at the country’s ruling junta for the Valentine’s Day assassination of its secretary general.

According to a radio conversation intercepted by the KNU, Soe Myint aka San Byoke, a former KNU member, had reported to Col Myat Tun Oo, Burma Army, at 18:37, one and a half hours following the killing of Mahn Sha Laphan, that “the mission” had been “accomplished” and two of his members were now back in Myawaddy, opposite Maesod where the shooting took place.

Two men had taken advantage of the slack in security and shot Mahn Sha to death at his rented house. The two then escaped in a black Toyota truck. It was later discovered by the police at the bank of the Moei that bisects the two countries not far from the Thai-Burma Friendship bridge.

22-more, including himself, are on the hit list, according to Brig-Gen Saw Hsar Gay, a KNU Central Committee member, who was interviewed by SHAN on 18 February during the funeral service.

San Byoke had served as a police major at the KNU’s 7th Brigade until 2003 when he defected to the pro-junta Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA), he added. He is currently an adviser to the group’s 999th Battalion.

The slain leader’s responsibilities are now shared between his two deputies, Tu Tu Lay, 61, and David Tarkabaw, 73, in accordance with the decisions reached at the ad hoc meeting held by the KNU leadership following his killing.

Junta collects taxes on home entertainment

By Lieng Lern
Shan Herald Agency for News


February 19, 2008 - Burma’s junta earn money from collecting taxes on home entertainment from villages in Pong Pa Khem sub-township, Mong Ton Township, in Eastern Shan State on the Thai-Burma border, according to our reporter based on the border.

On 11 February 2008, Colonel Myint Oo, Commander of the Area Operations Command, ordered the township municipality headed by Sai Aung La to collect taxes on entertainment appliances such as TV, VCD, satellite dishes from the villagers at Meken, Na Kawng Moo and Mong Hang.

According to the source, between Pong Pa Khem to Meken villages, almost every house owns a VCD player. If the houses have three appliances such as TV, VCD and Satellite dishes, they have to give Kyat 20,000 ($16) per household. Some houses which do not own these three things still have to pay Kyat 20,000($16). Other houses that have auto satellite dishes have to pay Kyat 40,000($32).

In Hwe Aw village, there are 30 households which own the VCD players, 65 in Na Kawng Moo, 20 in Meken and 40 in Mong Hang players and together 155 households own a VCD player each.

ASEAN criticizes Myanmar draft

February 20, 2008 - SINGAPORE (AP) -- Southeast Asian countries told Myanmar barring pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi from elections because she once was married to a foreigner would be odd and not in keeping with the times.

However, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the region's main political and economic bloc, which includes Myanmar, is powerless to do anything, Singapore Foreign Minister George Yeo said late Tuesday.

ASEAN ministers met, as a government panel in military-ruled Myanmar on Tuesday completed writing the draft of a new constitution.

Guidelines used to draft the new charter bar Nobel laureate Suu Kyi from national office because she was married to a foreigner -- her late British husband, Michael Aris -- and enjoyed the privileges of a foreign national.

Government critics have called the constitutional process undemocratic because it has been closely directed by the military with no input from independent parties.

Authorities have said the new charter would lead to a general election in 2010 and replace one scrapped when the current junta took power in 1988.

untrustworthy: NC, Constitution and 2010 election - Opinion

By Min Khin Kyaw

I don't believe Burmese people will be able to deny neither the referendum nor its result. And they won't be able to defeat the junta this way as the Venezuelans defeated their president. There is no way to defeat the junta as the voting system will be controlled for the advantage of the junta.

The National Convention of the junta should be an example - nobody, especially the NLD, can say anything even though knowing it is a sham. Likewise, the referendum will be done in similar conditions - the truth is people do not accept the junta but they will have to accept the result alleging them that they had voted for the constitution which they would never do in reality.

In 1990 election, the people could surprise the military because it was unprecedented election and the junta hadn't learnt the mind of the people. Now everything is opposite. We won't get a fair referendum. Or people wouldn't be able to have a good look of what they're going to vote for. Most people will have to rely on the advice of the thugs - I believe.

Also the NLD won't get a place to try the junta in 2010 election. Two years must be enough to make NLD not to be ready for next election. Even if the junta allowed it to participate, the police and the thugs can make it not to be ready. We can imagine this. Many of the NLD candidates could be arrested for various reasons right before the election as the NLD's MPs elected in the 1990s were arrested. Even now, the junta has been ignoring the UNSC's call - to release all political prisoners.

We don't have to wait and see what we know. This is the job of the international community, the UN and the media - not ours. Even though the world can calculate the tricks of the junta, they have to wait and see. And we can predict too but what for are we going to wait and see - our defeat?

And believe me - China will not join our side no matter what. ASEAN would play some diplomatic game I guess but this cannot be to favour our side. In regional political game, we must completely understand we're on our own and unless we're cleaver and get above the junta somehow, no regional country can do anything. India seems to play a better game for democracy but it only started when the saffron revolution happened. For democratic change, we have to completely understand that China government won't give a hand - unless it has no other option.

China won't try for our unity as it never did and it doesn't care if we fell apart. It's wrong to assume China worries if Burmese politics would affect its internal politics too. There was saffron revolution in Burma; there was nothing, but economic activities, in China. But now China has a country in the region under its wing. It wants more countries under its wings to make sure India, Japan and the west at bay. Its political power is also up to how it can control the international community or many countries. The west cannot resist the Beijing offers and thus, also its influences. But both India and Japan, I guess, must know what certainly will favour them. Whatever China claims, it won't give up its advantages. And all Burmese activists should know that democracy in Burma is not important to China - nor to ASEAN (even if a few countries, Indonesia or the Philippines, like to see a change).

If you'd like to argue for China, then you have to ask, why doesn't China do something significant in UNSC but still blocking Burma issue? Unless China threatens it wouldn't veto again against the attempt of the international community, the junta would certainly hear this and would do for a sincere change with open compromise. Already, the junta has been preparing for another show with magician tricks.

We all expected that we'd be able to argue against the NC once it's finished. But nothing happened and the majority activists have been silent. The problem is we don't have anything ready, such as a draft constitution that is seen and understood by the UN and international leaders, to fight against the NC. We were unprepared when the saffron revolution occurred. I don't believe our political leaders will be ready for anything by 2010. It is generally physical at the grassroots level; it is ideological, clear vision, trustworthiness, decisiveness, strong leadership, and international relation on the top however.

Locals coerced into joining USDA

Reporting by Yee May Aung

Feb 19, 2008 (DVB)–Residents of Hlaing Tharyar township in Rangoon have complained that the government-backed Union Solidarity and Development Association is forcing locals to join the organisation against their will.

U Tin Yu, a resident of Hlaing Tharyar township ward 8, said the local USDA group called ward residents together for a neighbourhood meeting last week to announce that a concrete road was to be built in the ward.

"Hlaing Tharyar ward 8's USDA official Thant Sin called us into a meeting and said the association was going to build a concrete road in our ward,” Tin Yu said.

“We were all happy until they told us we had to join the USDA in exchange for their efforts."

Tin Yu said people from other wards had also been forced to enrol in the USDA at similar meetings in their neighbourhoods.

Rangoon residents have speculated that the authorities’ forced enrolment of people in the USDA could be in order to gain as many supporting votes as possible in the upcoming national referendum.

Family members visit Nay Phone Latt

Than Htike Oo
Mizzima News
February 19, 2008


Chiang Mai – Authorities at Rangoon's notorious Insein prison for the first time allowed family members a meeting with detained Burmese blogger Nay Phone Latt.

Daw Khin Than, mother of Nay Phone Latt (Nay Myo Kyaw), and his brother went to the prison on Monday after Thingan Kyun Township police informed them that the Burmese blogger was being held in Insein, sources close to the family said.

"At about nine in the morning his mother and brother arrived at the prison with parcels for him. Initially the prison guard told them it was not clear whether they would be granted a meeting. But later the authorities said they would be allowed to visit with him. The meeting only lasted about 15 minutes. He is in good health," the source added.

Nay Phone Latt, who was arrested on January 29, was briefly detained at the Ministry of Home Affairs before being transferred to Room no. 1 of ward 1 in Insein prison, where he is reportedly kept along with another prisoner.

The source said Nay Phone Latt was charged with article 32 (b) of the Video Act, an offense punishable by up to six months of imprisonment, a fine of 100,000 kyat ($85), or both.

A New Definition of Politics

By KYAW ZWA MOE

The definition of “politics” in dictionaries lacks one more description. That description fits both ancient and modern times. It applies in both the East and the West. And it is blind to creed and color. It is the art of assassination.

From American civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. and former US President John F Kennedy in the 1960s to former premier Benazir Bhutto in Pakistan last December, assassination fits squarely into that definition of politics.

Burmese politics is no exception. Its latest victim is Mahn Sha, a Karen rebel leader.

On Valentine’s Day, two cold-blooded gunmen walked into Mahn Sha’s house in Mae Sot, near Thailand’s border with Burma, and shot him in the heart after greeting him in Karen. “Ha ler gay (good evening),” they said. Then they drove away.

Mahn Sha’s organization condemned its splinter groups, the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army and the Karen National Liberation Army Peace Council, which are now allied with the military government, for the killing.

Mahn Sha was general secretary of the Karen National Union (KNU), one of the longest surviving rebel groups in Southeast Asia, struggling for autonomy since 1949.

He was respected among opposition groups as one of Burma’s most broad-minded and committed ethnic leaders. But rival groups saw him as a hardliner for his unwavering refusal to compromise with the military regime, which has never given autonomy to ethnic minorities.

His assassination was based on political motives. Once again, Burma has lost a leader of vision.

Like Mahn Sha, dozens of other Burmese leaders in the country’s modern history have met their end at the hands of assassins.

The most historically significant assassination happened at 10:37 a.m. On July 19, 1947, just six months before Burma regained its independence from Britain.

National hero Aung San, the father of detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, and eight colleagues were assassinated by U Saw, a rival right-wing politician, and his followers. U Saw was Aung San’s main rival for the premiership of independent Burma. Many observers believed that some British army officers supplied at least some weapons to U Saw.

It was a great loss and the whole country was plunged into grief. July 19 has become known as Martyr’s Day. In fact, it was a bad omen for the country’s future. From then on, assassinations have become a familiar feature of Burmese political life: Politicians on the left kill those on the right, who in turn kill their left-wing opponents; the government kills rebels, and rebels kill people in government; Karen fighters kill each other over ceasefire agreements; members of one ethnic group kill members of another; rivals kill rivals.

Another assassinated Karen leader was Saw Ba U Gyi, father of the Karen resistance movement, who was killed in 1950 by Burmese government troops in an ambush in a town close to the Thai-Burmese border. Ba U Gyi was a minister of revenue in 1937, when the country was still under British rule. Karens said that the authorities never allowed the body of Ba U Gyi to be buried because the government was afraid that his tomb might become a political focal point for ethnic separatists. The body was reportedly thrown into the sea. How can the Karen people ever forgive the assassination of their revolutionary father?

A prominent communist leader, Thakin Than Tun, brother-in-law of Aung San, was killed by a government agent in 1950 in the Pegu Yoma range, where the Communist Party of Burma was based. He was also involved in the independence struggle.

Sometimes the politics of assassination follows logic: friends of enemies may be regarded as enemies, just as an enemy’s enemy can be counted as a friend. But sometimes assassination makes no sense at all.

Let Ya (known as Bo Let Ya), was a leftist-turned-rightist who was killed by the anti-communist Karen National Union, near the Thai-Burmese border in 1978. Reports said Let Ya was killed when he was asked to surrender to KNU.

Brig-Gen L-Kun Hpang, an ethnic Kachin who served as commander of the northern command under late dictator Ne Win, was killed by fellow Kachin in 1985. He was seen as a “traitor” by the Karen Independence Organization, an armed rebel group which signed a ceasefire agreement with the current junta in the 1990s.

Three Kachin who were prominent leaders in the Kachin resistance were also killed. Pungshwi Zau Seng and brothers Zau Seng and Zau Tu were assassinated together in 1975, as a result of a power struggle with fellow members of the Kachin Independence Organization. The assassin was later killed by other leaders of the organization.

After Ne Win staged a coup in 1962, there were more such assassinations.

Sao Shwe Thaike, the first president of Burma after it gained independence in 1948, was believed to have been killed while in detention. The former president, who was a Shan Sawbwa (local chieftain), was taken away at bayonet point by Ne Win’s soldiers. At least one other Shan chieftain was believed to have been killed after the coup.

In politics, there is no father and son. Yan Aung, known as Bo Yan Aung, was also executed after being named a traitor by his party. His son, a fellow Communist Party member, was among those who condemned him. Before his father died, he said, “I wish I could kill him myself.”

Today assassination seems to be less common than in the past, and the current government rarely resorts to assassination against opposition leaders.

But democracy leader Aung san Suu Kyi has been targeted a couple of times. The most striking incident occurred on May 30, 2003. A motorcade carrying Suu Kyi was ambushed in Depayin, in northern Burma, by members of the junta-backed civic organization, the Union Solidarity and Development Association. She narrowly escaped after her driver sped up to escape the mob. Suu Kyi and her party’s deputy leader, Tin Oo, were both injured and later placed under house arrest. Opposition groups said dozens of Suu Kyi’s supporters were beaten to death in the attack.

No one can read the minds of the current military leaders, so it is impossible to rule out the possibility that they may one day make another attempt to finish off their enemies once and for all. And no one has been a greater thorn in the side of the generals than Nobel-laureate Suu Kyi. Since she entered Burmese politics in 1988, the generals have faced a lot of difficulties in handling her because of her fame in the international community.

As assassination means killing important leaders, we can say that all those who have been assassinated in Burma were people who contributed something important to the country.

If the young Aung San hadn’t been killed, Burma might have been a very different country today. Like him, Mahn Sha might have been an even more important leader of his people if he had lived to see a genuine union of Burma.

Meanwhile, Mahn Sha’s organization is looking for the assassins of their leader. And it’s not difficult to imagine what they hope to find: revenge.

February 19, 2008
The Irrawaddy News - www.irrawaddy.org

Tay Za Takes Over Village for Its Jade

By SAW YAN NAING
The Irrawaddy News


Burmese tycoon Tay Za, a business crony of junta chief Snr-Gen Than Shwe, has confiscated an entire village in upper Burma to make land available for jade mining, according to a local resident.

More than 300 people have been relocated without compensation from the confiscated village, Tayor Gone, near Phakant, Kachin State, the source, Ma Grang, told The Irrawaddy.

Tay Za claimed the village belonged to him, Ma Grang said. He had also ordered a church to be removed from the village by the end of February because it stood in the way of his planned jade mine.

Tay Za’s company, the Htoo Trading Co Ltd in Rangoon, was not available for comment on the report.

Htoo Trading Co Ltd is a leading teak exporter and is also involved in tourism, real estate and housing development. Tay Za also owns Burma’s o¬nly private airline, Air Bagan.

Business sources in Rangoon report that the young tycoon traveled recently to Pusan, South Korea’s largest port, to purchase a freight ship and a tanker.

He is believed to have procured a loan of US $10 million from the military government to buy the two vessels, reportedly as part of a plan to create Burma’s first privately operated international shipping line.

Because of his close business and social ties to Than Shwe and other military leaders, Tay Za is a prominent target of US sanctions. In October 2007, the US put Air Bagan, on its blacklist.

Kachins Suspect Russian Company Drilling Uranium

By AYE LAE

February 19, 2008 - Residents in Burma's northern Kachin State are unhappy with an agreement between the Burmese’s military government and a Russian company to mine for gold and other minerals, according to Kachin sources.

The state-run media reported Saturday that Russian company Victorious Glory International Pte Ltd had signed an agreement with Burmese officials to search for minerals along the Uru River between Phakant in Kachin State and Homalin in Sagaing Division.

Although the report did not elaborate on the details of the agreement, observers pointed out that the Russian drilling company already started operations early last year. Awng Wa, leader of the Kachin Development Networking Group (KDNG), told The Irrawaddy by phone on Tuesday: "The junta says the Russian company is searching for gold and other minerals. What are the other minerals? We suspect it is uranium.”

Russia supplies Burma with arms, and Rosatom, the Russian federal atomic energy agency, signed a deal last May to build a nuclear research center in Burma.

In the early 2000s, the Burmese regime confirmed publicly that uranium deposits had been found in five areas: Magwe, Taungdwingyi, Kyaukphygon, and Kyauksin and Paongpyin in Mogok Township. The exploration also extended to southern Tenasserim Division. Residents of Thabeikkyin Township, 96 km (60 miles) north of Mandalay, said they believed there to be a uranium refinery at Thabeikkyin on the Irrawaddy River.

According to KDNG, areas along the Uru River in Burma's northwestern Sagaing Division and northern Kachin State are rich in natural resources, including large quantities of gold. These resources, however, are not benefiting the local residents, but principally the military authorities and a handful of businessmen and companies, it said.

"The Chinese are playing a central role in gold mining," a resident in Myitkyina, capital of Kachin State, said. "Smalls scale miners, desperate to scrape a living, reap at least some benefit from selling their gold into the hands of Chinese middlemen."

The regime has been selling large mining concessions to selected companies in Hukawng Valley in Kachin State since 2002. The regime’s Ministry of Mining collects large signing-on fees for the concessions, as well as 35 to 50 percent tax on annual profits. Additional payments are rendered to the military’s top commander for the region and various township and local authorities, as well as the Minister of Mining himself.

Furthermore, a report on gold mining practices by the Chiang Mai-based Pan Kachin Development Society pointed out the gold mines’ impact on public health. It noted that mercury and cyanide were getting into the human food chain.

Kachins Suspect Russian Company Drilling Uranium

By AYE LAE

February 19, 2008 - Residents in Burma's northern Kachin State are unhappy with an agreement between the Burmese’s military government and a Russian company to mine for gold and other minerals, according to Kachin sources.

The state-run media reported Saturday that Russian company Victorious Glory International Pte Ltd had signed an agreement with Burmese officials to search for minerals along the Uru River between Phakant in Kachin State and Homalin in Sagaing Division.

Although the report did not elaborate on the details of the agreement, observers pointed out that the Russian drilling company already started operations early last year. Awng Wa, leader of the Kachin Development Networking Group (KDNG), told The Irrawaddy by phone on Tuesday: "The junta says the Russian company is searching for gold and other minerals. What are the other minerals? We suspect it is uranium.”

Russia supplies Burma with arms, and Rosatom, the Russian federal atomic energy agency, signed a deal last May to build a nuclear research center in Burma.

In the early 2000s, the Burmese regime confirmed publicly that uranium deposits had been found in five areas: Magwe, Taungdwingyi, Kyaukphygon, and Kyauksin and Paongpyin in Mogok Township. The exploration also extended to southern Tenasserim Division. Residents of Thabeikkyin Township, 96 km (60 miles) north of Mandalay, said they believed there to be a uranium refinery at Thabeikkyin on the Irrawaddy River.

According to KDNG, areas along the Uru River in Burma's northwestern Sagaing Division and northern Kachin State are rich in natural resources, including large quantities of gold. These resources, however, are not benefiting the local residents, but principally the military authorities and a handful of businessmen and companies, it said.

"The Chinese are playing a central role in gold mining," a resident in Myitkyina, capital of Kachin State, said. "Smalls scale miners, desperate to scrape a living, reap at least some benefit from selling their gold into the hands of Chinese middlemen."

The regime has been selling large mining concessions to selected companies in Hukawng Valley in Kachin State since 2002. The regime’s Ministry of Mining collects large signing-on fees for the concessions, as well as 35 to 50 percent tax on annual profits. Additional payments are rendered to the military’s top commander for the region and various township and local authorities, as well as the Minister of Mining himself.

Furthermore, a report on gold mining practices by the Chiang Mai-based Pan Kachin Development Society pointed out the gold mines’ impact on public health. It noted that mercury and cyanide were getting into the human food chain.

Burma's Media completely under military dictatorship

By Zin Linn

The press is the fourth pillar of democracy after parliament, the legislature and the judiciary. Not so in Burma, where parliament has been silenced by the military. As a result, the legislature and the judiciary are automatically defunct under the military autocracy. As a necessary outcome of the iron rule, the fourth estate also comes under the grip of military-dictatorship.

The Burmese military junta has enforced stringent censorship rules and regulations the world has ever known on the media. Every piece of text has to be scrutinized by military's PSRD before being published. Burma achieved certain notoriety as predator of the press. No information is allowed to flow or be published/ broadcast without the junta's prior approval.

The latest repressive attacks against the media took place on February 15, 2008. According to Burma Media Association (BMA), military intelligence officers carried out a four-hour search of the offices of the Myanmar Nation Journal and confiscated many documents, including a copy of Human Rights Report on Burma by Prof. Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, videos of last anti-government protests in September, and hand-written poems. Police arrested editor, Thet Zin and manager, Sein Win Maung. The two journalists were taken to the Thin-gan-gyun township police station.

It was unknown why they were arrested. The police searched the premises of the Myanmar Nation for a second time on 18 February, confiscating more documents. The offices continue to be closed by the police, who have said the arrests of the two journalists are linked to their activities.

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and the Burma Media Association (BMA) condemn the arrest of Myanmar Nation editor Thet Zin and his office manager, Sein Win Maung.

The Honolulu Community-Media Council (HCMC), which was established in 1970 and is the oldest of the 5 volunteer media councils that exist in the United States, has also joined the Burma Media Association, international journalist and human rights organizations in condemning the continued crack down on the Burmese media by the military regime. HCMC President, Chris Conybeare says: “We urge all who value human rights to join us in condemning these latest attacks and to demand the immediate release of all political prisoners of the despotic regime of General Than Shwe”.

Besides, Nobel Aye, a female freelance writer and journalist, has been arrested since 23 August 2007. In fact, she was mistakenly arrested by military for having similar pseudonym as one female student leader who was later arrested in September 2007. Nobel Aye also worked with Baby’s World Journal. Although it was a mistake, the military pay no heed to release her.

In addition, Lay Lay Mon (Teen Magazine), Min Han (poet), Nay Htet Naing (poet), Ko Ko Maung aka Zaw Lu Sein (poet) were also arrested on 2 January 2008 and thrown into Insein Prison without trials.

It is sad that the junta is abusing the media as its tool to provide false news and ideas even in time of Global Information Age. The Junta controls every media access now. In these days, because of the experiences of the 2007 September Saffron Revolution, all news media in Burma is strictly censored and tightly controlled by the military junta. All daily newspapers, radio and television stations are under the regime’s supervision. In fact, it is in vain for the junta to stop the foreign broadcastings, such as BBC, VOA, RFA and DVB.

During last September Saffron Revolution, people from former capital Rangoon and all other provincial cities received the up-to-date news footages through Aljazeera, BBC, CNN and the DVB TVs. Afterward, some IT activists put those dissenting footages into compact discs and delivered to people who could not have access to satellite dishes and Internet. Such activities allow many Burmese citizens to see news footages of the recent mass anti-government demonstrations, and the brutal crackdown that ensued.

The military regime has constantly maltreated the journalists since 27 September. On that day Japanese video journalist Kenji Nagai was killed by a soldier in downtown Rangoon, at the height of the 'Saffron Revolution' last September. Japanese officials have constantly said Nagai, 50, was evidently shot at close range, not hit by stray bullets as the SPDC officials had previously explained, and demanded the return of the journalist's video camera and tapes believed to have captured the shooting, and the Japanese government is investigating his death.

After September protests, the military censorship branch, known as the Press Scrutiny and Registration Division (PSRD), is harassing editors to bring out issues of their journals and magazines containing propaganda articles produced by the junta. Scores of writers and journalists suspected of sympathizing with the Saffron Revolution have been banned from contributing in the publications.

Members of the Union Solidarity and Development Association, a junta-backed militia, keep on attacking towards journalists. Especially, photographers were beaten by the USDA thugs while taking photos during monks' protests. Numerous civilians holding camera or mobile-phone were temporarily arrested and tortured. All in all, more than a dozen journalists were beaten or treated badly during the demonstrations. In addition, several young amateur-journalists or civilian journalists were also detained and their cameras and mobile-phones were confiscated by the militia.

Burma's military exercises tight controls over the Internet, banning access to news websites such as Yahoo or Hotmail. The regime was frustrated by bloggers and the civilian journalists during anti-junta protests in September, as they provided detailed consecutive accounts of the bloodshed and helped spread the news. The junta disconnected the nation's Internet links at the height of the violence to cut off the information flows about the crackdown.

Recently, a popular Myanmar blogger Nay Phone Latt was arrested on 29 January. Nay Phone Latt's blog was written in Burmese and in the style of creative writing. He used it as a forum discussing the difficulties of daily life, such as the electricity shortage and the swelling cost of living.

Burma was at the forefront of press freedom in Southeast Asia before 1962 military coup. The country enjoyed free press without censorship. As many as three dozen newspapers, including English and Chinese dailies, existed between 1948 and 1962 under civilian government. Even the prime minister’s office never closed for the journalists in those days. There were also free to set up relation with international press agencies.

The situation changed in 1962, when the military seized power. All newspapers were nationalized by the junta led by Gen. Ne Win. It established a Press Scrutiny Board (PSB) to enforce strict censorship on all forms of printed matter including advertisements and obituaries. Since then, military junta's censorship and self-censorship are commonplace in Burma and these have severely restricted political rights and civil liberties.

Press Scrutiny and Registration Division (PSRD) is a major oppressive tool of the incumbent military regime. Not surprisingly, Burma stands downgraded from a free state to a prison state. All news media in Burma is strictly censored and tightly controlled by the military -- all daily newspapers, radio and television stations are under supervision of the junta. Whatever some privately-owned journals and magazines are there, they are strictly under the PSRD scanner. No printed matter can bring out without PSRD permission.

Moreover, the junta also dominates the media industries through alternate publication companies owned by generals and their cronies. Photos, cassette tapes, movies and video footage also need the censor's stamp before reaching the people. At the same time, the military concentrates to stop the flow of uncensored radio news in Burmese version available from international broadcasting stations.

The radio, television and other media outlets are monopolized for propaganda warfare by the military regime and opposition views are never allowed. The regime even does not allow the religious discourse. The media is special tool for the military regime and no space for the opposition party. The political debates are always inhibited even at the National Convention. That's why the National Convention lost its credibility and regarded as a sham.

The foreign periodicals have not been seen in news-stands since October as the junta has been blocking reports on Burma. The owners of the Internet Cafes have forced to sign an agreement to follow restrictions by the authorities and dare not allowing users to get out of the regime's filters. Moreover, the owners have to inform the details of their customers to the military intelligence. Currently, freedom of press situation in Burma is getting worse and worse. Media related people are feeling defenseless. Voices of peoples are constantly blocked.

Unless the junta recognized the essential value of human rights – such as, freedom of expression and freedom of association – its under-preparation referendum for a new constitution will be pointless at all.

Press as the fourth pillar of a state is accepted around the globe. The lifeblood of democracy is free flow of information. Burma needs regional cooperation for Press Freedom. Journalists in Burma are looking forward to have more assistance, morally and practically, from the international media groups.

Without press freedom a nation cannot enjoy democracy.

Source: Asian Tribune

ORBIS International's Flying Eye Hospital Returns to Myanmar

U.S. Based International NGO Prepares for Two-Week Eye Health Program
in Mandalay

NEW YORK, Feb. 19 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- By invitation from the Myanmar Ministry of Health and the Mandalay Eye and ENT Hospital, ORBIS International, a nonprofit global development organization dedicated to saving sight worldwide, returns to Myanmar to conduct its ninth Flying Eye Hospital program there. The program will be held in Mandalay from February 25 to March 7, 2008.

Working together with the Burmese ophthalmic community, ORBIS activities will augment efforts already underway to fight avoidable blindness by providing training for ophthalmologists, anesthetists, nurses and biomedical technicians. ORBIS will also work with policymakers to educate the public on eye health and blindness prevention.

"There is a real thirst for medical knowledge in Myanmar, especially from the West. Since 1991 ORBIS has provided rare opportunities for the ophthalmic community to participate in international skills-exchange programs," said Dr. Hunter Cherwek, Flying Eye Hospital medical director. "Our motivation for returning and conducting this program is the great impact achieved over the last 17 years."

Eye experts from North America will share their skills and knowledge with more than 60 eye health care professionals in Myanmar during the two-week program, which will be comprised of approximately 70 eye and laser surgeries, lectures, hands-on and simulator training, live surgical demonstrations, and wet-lab sessions. Joining ORBIS from the United States will be volunteer faculty members:

-- Dr. Sai Gandham, Albany Medical College, Albany, NY
-- Dr. Mark Cepela, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH
-- Dr. Arshad Bil Ragan, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA
-- Dr. Roberto Pineda, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA
-- Dr. Charlene Hsu-Winges, University of California, San Francisco, CA
-- Dr. Hardeep Dhindsa, Nevada Retina Associates, Reno, NV
-- Dr. Jin Kim, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA
-- Sandy Burnett, RN, Shands Hospital, Gainesville, FL

ORBIS in Myanmar -- A History of Helping

Since 1991, ORBIS has conducted eight Flying Eye Hospital programs in Myanmar and more than 10 hospital-based programs covering a range of surgical and medical topics. With ORBIS' assistance, Myanmar established an eye bank in 1994 and is now a member of the International Federation of Eye and Tissue Banks. ORBIS also helped the country better manage its cataract backlog by introducing ophthalmologists to the extracapsular cataract extraction technique in 1992, and then to phacoemulsification five years later. These and other new surgical techniques introduced by ORBIS in Myanmar have brought the country's capacities more in line with interventions routinely used in affluent nations.

Cause of Blindness in Myanmar

An estimated 252,000 people are blind in Myanmar, with the regions of Pegu, Rakhine and Mandalay seeing the highest prevalence of blindness. The main causes of blindness in Myanmar are cataract (63%), glaucoma (16%) and trachoma (4%).

About ORBIS

ORBIS International is a nonprofit global development organization dedicated to saving sight worldwide. Since 1982, ORBIS volunteers and staff have restored the vision and transformed the lives of more than 4.4 million people in 85 countries. At the same time, ORBIS has been building local capacity to provide eye care in those countries by training more than 154,000 eye care professionals aboard the ORBIS Flying Eye Hospital and in local hospitals in developing countries. Long-term national blindness prevention programs also take place in Bangladesh, China, Ethiopia, India and Vietnam. To learn more about ORBIS, visit http://www.orbis.org.

ORIGINAL SOURCE: ORBIS International

ASEAN ministers say Myanmar democracy roadmap must be credible

By S. Ramesh/ Margaret Perry

SINGAPORE: Discussion among ASEAN foreign ministers during the first of their two-day retreat in Singapore, focused on developments in Myanmar.

The ASEAN ministers welcomed Myanmar's current roadmap that includes a new constitution in May 2008 and general elections in 2010.

But the ministers added that there's a need to ensure that these outcomes remain credible. This is according to Singapore Foreign Minister George Yeo, who briefed the media on Tuesday night, after the ASEAN ministers ended a three-hour working dinner.

Foreign Affairs Minister George Yeo, said: "We responded positively but I must say there remained considerable scepticism about the details of the implementation.

"A number of ministers talked about the importance of the integrity of the process and it must have international credibility. It can't just be an internal arrangement without independent verification.

"We made that point emphatically to Nyan Win while acknowledging the positive aspects and being quite open about our concerns and our scepticisms. The Philippine Foreign Minister Alberto 'Bert' Romulo, I think, was the most sceptical among us.

"As you know, they have taken a position, but on the whole it was a free-flowing exchange among the ministers on the basis of long acquaintance with the Myanmar Foreign Minister."

Mr Yeo also revealed that three ASEAN members will be submitting their documents to the ASEAN Secretary General on Wednesday as their countries had completed ratifying the ASEAN Charter. The three are Brunei, Malaysia and Laos.

The Philippines has indicated during the ASEAN Summit, which was held in November 2007 and more recently at the World Economic Forum, that it would ratify the Charter only if Myanmar's opposition leader Aung San Syu Kyi is released.

Mr Yeo said: "Except for the Philippines, all the other countries should not be a problem. Cambodia told us two weeks before (that) they got theirs ratified and the others told us within a matter of months.

"As for the Philippines, the Foreign Secretary told us it requires the approval of both the House and the Senate, so its a bit more complicated. They have taken a certain position publicly, both at the summit and Davos.

"But I suggested to the Philippines that without ratifying the charter, we cannot hold countries to the standards expressed in the charter. So let us have the charter ratified and then afterwards to hold individual countries accountable to those standards they have signed on."

Singapore currently chairs the ASEAN Standing Committee.

Talks at the ASEAN Foreign Ministers Retreat will take place over the next two days at the Sentosa Resort.

Besides the Myanmar issue, the foreign ministers will discuss the progress of the implementation process of the economic blueprint. The document aims to lead the grouping towards an ASEAN Economic Community by 2015.

The 10 foreign ministers are also expected to exchange updates on how their governments are ratifying the ASEAN Charter. ASEAN leaders hope that the ratification process will be completed and the charter enforced in time for the next leaders' summit in Bangkok. -

Source: Channel NewsAsia

New Myanmar constitution gives military leading role

YANGON (Reuters) - Army-ruled Myanmar has finished writing a new constitution, to be put to a May referendum, which gives the military the "leading political role" in the future state, official media said on Tuesday.

"I hereby declare that the draft of the state constitution has been approved by this commission," Chief Justice Aung Toe, chairman of the military-appointed drafting commission, was quoted as saying on state-controlled MRTV.

He said the commission had followed the basic principles adopted last year by a National Convention, also appointed by the military, which took more than 14 years to complete its work.

"In drafting the constitution, the commission adhered strictly to the six objectives, including giving the Tatmadaw (the military) the leading political role in the future state," he said. The armed forces have ruled the former Burma since 1962.

He did not give more details of the charter, but previous state media reports suggest the army commander-in-chief will be the most powerful figure in the country, able to appoint key ministers and assume power "in times of emergency".

It also gives the military a quarter of seats in parliament and a veto over decisions made by legislators.

Aung Toe urged the 54 commission members to campaign for the charter, the country's third since it won independence from Britain in 1948.

A firm date for the referendum has not been announced.

The opposition National League for Democracy (NLD), which won a 1990 election only to be denied power by the military, said on Monday the charter "will worsen the political, economic and social crises being faced in the country".

The NLD boycotted the National Convention because of the continued house arrest of its leader, Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, who has spent more than 12 of the past 18 years under some form of detention.

The United States says the referendum will be a sham conducted in a "pervasive climate of fear".

Dissident groups are already campaigning for a "no" vote, saying the charter is an attempt to legitimize the generals' grip on power after 46 years of military rule.

The junta has accused pro-democracy and dissident groups of trying to tear the country apart, and urged the public to back its "road map to democracy".

(Reporting by Aung Hla Tun; editing by Darren Schuettler and Andrew Roche)

Myanmar bars Suu Kyi from elections under new charter

By Hla Hla Htay
Yahoo News - AFP

YANGON, Feb 20, 2008 (AFP) - Aung San Suu Kyi will not be allowed to run for election under Myanmar's proposed constitution, which has now been drafted ahead of a referendum in May, the military government said Tuesday.

The junta says the referendum -- if approved -- will clear the way for democratic elections in 2010, the first since Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) party scored a landslide victory in 1990 polls.

The junta never recognised the result and late Tuesday on state television announced that a special commission had finished the final draft of the charter.

Foreign Minister Nyan Win told a regional gathering in Singapore that the document would bar Aung San Suu Kyi from running because she had been married to a foreigner.

Her party denounced his remarks as "unjust," saying the military appeared to be making plans for the elections before knowing the outcome of the referendum.

"There is not yet a law to govern the elections which are to be held in 2010. It's unjust for the authorities to talk in advance about the elections," NLD spokesman Nyan Win told AFP.

Singapore Foreign Minister George Yeo said his Myanmar counterpart had explicitly told a gathering of regional ministers that Aung San Suu Kyi would not be allowed to run because she married Michael Aris, a British citizen who died of cancer in Britain in 1999.

They have two children who are also British nationals.

"He (Nyan Win) was quite clear that in the new constitution, a Myanmar citizen who has a foreign husband, who has children not citizens of Myanmar would be disqualified as was of the 1974 constitution," Yeo said.

Nyan Win made the remarks during a dinner cruise off Singapore's waters involving Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) foreign ministers.

Yeo said the foreign ministers expressed their views that the exclusion was "not (in) keeping with the times" and "that certainly such a provision would be very odd in any other country in ASEAN."

But Yeo also said "it is their own country, that is their own history and what can we do about it?"

Myanmar's current junta scrapped the 1974 charter when it seized power in 1988, crushing a pro-democracy uprising as soldiers opened fire on protesters and killed at least 3,000 people.

Two years later, the regime organised elections that the NLD won. The junta ignored the result and instead has kept Aung San Suu Kyi under house arrest for 12 of the past 18 years.

The NLD had warned Monday that in order to achieve democracy, Myanmar's rulers must first respect their victory in the 1990 elections.

Myanmar still has not released the final version of its proposed charter, but the head of the drafting commission, Supreme Court chief justice Aung Toe, indicated in state media that not many changes had been made from guidelines already made public.

In addition to barring Aung San Suu Kyi from office, those guidelines imposed stiff limits on the activities of political parties and reserved one quarter of seats in parliament for serving military officers.

The regime announced its timetable for elections amid mounting international pressure over its crackdown on peaceful demonstrations led by Buddhist monks in September, when the United Nations says at least 31 people were killed.

A group of Nobel laureates called Wednesday for an arms embargo against Myanmar, dismissing elections planned for 2010 as flawed if Aung San Suu Kyi is barred.

The seven laureates, including Tibet's exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama and South Africa's anti-apartheid cleric Desmond Tutu, said the junta should face sanctions for its crackdown on monks.

Myanmar's generals have ignored calls to free Aung San Suu Kyi and open a political dialogue, instead sticking to their own "road map," which critics say will enshrine the military's rule.

The UN special envoy for Myanmar, Ibrahim Gambari, has visited Myanmar twice since September in a bid to open talks between Aung San Suu Kyi and the military.

The junta had told him that he would not be allowed to return to the country until April 15, but Gambari said Tuesday in Beijing that he expected to be allowed to return to the country "way before" then.

Nobel laureates call for arms embargo on Myanmar

Monsters & Critics

February 19, 2008 - New York - A group of nine Nobel Peace Prize winners on Tuesday urged the UN Security Council to impose an arms embargo on Myanmar as a consequence of its military crackdown of Buddhist-led pro-democracy demonstrations last year.

The group said in a statement that the military government has since October, 2007, carried out a 'nationwide dragnet, arresting and torturing thousands of dissidents.'

It appealed to the 15-nation council in New York to 'take action quickly on measures that will prevent the sale of arms to the Burmese military, including a ban on banking transactions targeting top Burmese leaders, as well as state and private entities that support the government's weapons trade.'

The statement was signed by Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the Dalai Lama, Shirin Ebadi, Adolfo Perez Esquivel, Mairead Maguire, Rogoberta Menchu Tum, Elie Wiesel, Betty Williams and Jody Williams.

Myanmar's main opposition leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, who won a Nobel Peace Prize for fighting for democracy in the early 1990s, has been under house arrest for more than a decade. The UN has been calling the military government to release her and other political prisoners.

Tens of thousands of people in Myanmar, formerly Burma, took to the streets last fall first to protest the high living costs in the impoverished nation. The protests turned to demand democracy and personal freedoms, which were crushed by the government.

Weaving Democracy: Thai-Burmese Peace Building

By Suriyasai Katasila

Rationale
Social and political unrest and lack of democracy in Myanmar (Burma) have caused people of Myanmar (Burma) particularly ethnic minorities along Thai-Burma border got effect from political violation, human rights violation to those ethnicities result to people refuge and migrate to seek sanctuary in Thailand both legally and illegally.

Although Thai government has alleviated the human rights violation problem at some stage, but it's still very difficult because some people take advantage of refugees by taking them to work illegally in many forms until there is human trafficking which increase and expend human violation.

It is essential for involving organizations to find urgent measure to support victims and affected people and long term measure especially building understanding between Thai and Burmese people for incorporate in solving problem and not mistrust each others.

Due to above reason, the Committee for Democracy Campaign and Institute for Civil Society Development has collaborated with other partners who working on human rights and development organize a charity concert "Weaving Democracy: Thai-Burmese Peace Building" to raise fund for campaign activities on human rights and democracy in Myanmar (Burma) and to cure violation situation in Burma in long run.

Objectives:
** To make good thing together for His Royal Highness Majesty in regard to his 80th birthday. So all ethnic minorities can present their loyal to him.
** To raise fund for organizations working on human rights and development.
** To make understanding between all ethnic groups.
** To raise awareness of Thai and Burmese on the problem of human rights violation and democracy struggle.

Host Organizations:
** CDC by Dr Cynthia Maung
** Institute for Civil Society Development
** Friend of People
** Artist for Life Songs Networks
** Campaign For Popular Democracy
** Campaign Committee for Human Rights
** Thailand Watch Foundation