By Larry Jagan
February 25, 2008 (AsiaTimes), BANGKOK - This month's surprise announcement in Myanmar of a planned national referendum on a new constitution in May and multi-party democratic elections by 2010 are all part of Senior General Than Shwe's game plan to hold onto power and ensure his family's interests are secured. The question now is whether or not the junta leader's health will hold out that long.
Than Shwe sent a clear message to his subordinates, including for junta number two General Maung Aye, that he intends to maintain his hold on power as Myanmar makes the move from military to civilian government, and also to the United Nations and international community that his plans - rather than outside mediation efforts - will decide the country's political future.
The announcement notably came after months of inertia inside the military hierarchy, as the 75-year-old Than Shwe was apparently hobbled by cardiac surgery and transfixed with efforts to keep in check his deputy and rival, Maung Aye. The junta's second-ranking official woke to hear the announcement on state radio and was not informed beforehand of the timetable for implementing the supposed democratic reforms, according to government sources in the capital Naypyidaw.
The planned referendum and elections indicate Than Shwe's new determination to press forward with the country's so-called "roadmap to democracy", which will ensure a continued role for the military in governance. "Than Shwe obviously now feels he is secure enough in his position ... to push on with some measure of reform," said the Myanmar academic Win Min. "His failing health may also have prompted him to move at this time, as he may fear that time is running out for him."
The move also comes at a time when internal pressures are mounting, including growing frustration within the army over the lack of promotions and pay rises, and a growing clamor from the country's business community for economic stability and liberalizing reforms. Significantly, the junta's top 12 generals are scheduled to meet to discuss political and economic reforms in the coming weeks.
If so, it will represent the first "quarterly" meeting of the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) in over eight months and the first since the military's brutal crackdown on Buddhist monk-led demonstrations last September.
They are also expected to discuss the reorganization of the military in the light of recent major intelligence failures and a growing number of desertions, especially in the country's ethnic eastern regions, according to military sources close to Than Shwe.
Some analysts contend there is growing dissension among the ranks, as the ailing Than Shwe becomes more reclusive and his top chief subordinates Maung Aye, who is seen as a potential rival to the top general, and General Thura Shwe Mann, a known loyalist, jockey for position.
A major turning point in the competition occurred nearly six months ago, when Maung Aye was replaced as the head of the junta's powerful Trade Council, right before the beginning of the August unrest. Maung Aye was also reportedly replaced as military chief during last year's protests, where Thura Shwe Mann took charge of security arrangements, including suppression of the demonstrations, and commenced chairing crucial National Security Council meetings on Than Shwe's orders.
Since the crackdown, however, the wheels of government have reportedly ground to a halt. "Ministers have been told directly by Than Shwe that he does not need to be consulted on any issue, other than those related to political or foreign policy issues," said a military source, who spoke on condition of anonymity. But because officials fear making any moves that could be perceived as a challenge to Than Shwe's power, decision-making is in gridlock, according to the source.
"There's total inertia in [the capital] Naypyidaw. No one dares make a decision, even in regard to the smallest matters without approval from the top, which is rarely forthcoming," a senior government official recently confided to a Western diplomat who spoke with Asia Times Online.
That is largely because until now Than Shwe has been preoccupied with personal concerns, including how to maintain power despite his declining health and how to ensure the dominant position of his family once he eventually passes.
"Than Shwe continues to follow his trusted approach - divide and rule," according to Win Min. "He did this successfully before, preserving his position by pitting Maung Aye against the then-military intelligence chief Khin Nyunt." Nyunt was ousted in a 2004 internal purge.
Divide and misrule
This time Than Shwe's "divide-and-rule" policy is becoming ever more intricate and difficult to hold together. "Than Shwe has developed a chessboard of counterbalancing influences, both inside the cabinet and the military hierarchy, to maintain an equilibrium that keeps Thura Shwe Mann in check and Maung Aye sidelined," a senior military source told Asia Times Online.
The players in the middle are represented by the Boards of Special Operations, or BSOs, which oversee the influential regional commanders, and factions within the cabinet led by a handful of older pro-Than Shwe ministers, including Planning Minister Soe Tha and Information Minister Kyaw Hsan. Together the groups are meant to act as checks and balances on Thura Shwe Mann.
This, however, is only a temporary measure, as most of the BSOs and older government ministers are expected to step down after Than Shwe carries out his planned shakeup of the military and government administration. This is expected to happen after the next SPDC quarterly meeting, but could be further delayed until after the Burmese Buddhist New Year, or Thingyan, in mid-April.
A series of damaging intelligence failures, including unsolved bombings in the new capital and in Yangon, and the failure to prevent last year's mass demonstrations, has prompted Than Shwe to undertake a major restructuring of the armed forces. Most significantly, he recently reappointed Major General Kyaw Win, the former deputy intelligence chief under ousted intelligence chief Khin Nyunt, on a 500,000 kyat (roughly US$80,000) monthly budget to run an intelligence training school.
"The junta's main concerns now are to improve military intelligence gathering and assessment," said a former European military attache in Yangon, who remains in close contact with sources in Myanmar and who spoke to Asia Times Online on the condition of anonymity. Other diplomats in Yangon concur that intelligence operations are being beefed up ahead of the planned referendum in May.
Nonetheless, despite his carefully planned schemes, Than Shwe's position seems increasingly perilous. Maung Aye in particular has distanced himself from the top general and appears to be conducting a sort of campaign of civil disobedience. For instance, he recently ordered the mayor of Yangon to take down billboards across the town which urged people to "oppose those pessimistic ax-handles who are relying on America" because he preferred not to distinguish between foreign enemies.
More significantly, it is widely believed among diplomats and military sources that Maung Aye did not support last year's decision to shoot and kill Buddhist monks and would have preferred the demonstrations to have been suppressed through less-violent measures. "Maung Aye constantly manages to harass both Than Shwe and Thura Shwe Mann by blocking promotions or disrupting decisions," said a government official who requested anonymity.
At the same time, Than Shwe's health is believed to be deteriorating after he underwent a cardiac operation performed by Singaporean doctors in the new capital city last month, according to sources who have recently visited the military leader. It's unclear how well the junta leader has convalesced from the procedure and there are unconfirmed reports that he may require follow-up cardiac surgery in Singapore in the coming weeks.
"He periodically forgets things. He recently asked where several officers were, all of whom were sacked last year during the mass retirements of middle ranking officers," according to a government source in Naypyidaw. Than Shwe is known to suffer from chronic diabetes and regular bouts of hypertension and is believed to have suffered a mild stroke in December 2006 for which he flew to Singapore for treatment.
"For almost a decade now Than Shwe has refused to have his annual medical check-up done by [Myanmar] army doctors for fear that this would leave him vulnerable and in danger of being ousted, as it did to General Saw Maung [more than 15 years ago]," a former military doctor told Asia Times Online on the condition of anonymity.
For the time being, however, Than Shwe is still in control. But his grip on power appears to be slipping significantly at a time when his divide-and-rule tactics have sharpened antagonisms between his two likely successors and the country braces for some form of democratic reforms. A change in junta leadership is not inconceivable in the year ahead, a still undecided transition, which depending on who emerges on top, may or may not follow through on the current leader's constitution referendum and democratic election plans.
Larry Jagan previously covered Myanmar politics for the British Broadcasting Corp. He is currently a freelance journalist based in Bangkok.
Monday, 25 February 2008
News for 25 February 2008
Fire sweeps through major Myanmar market
The blaze broke out around 8:00 am (0130 GMT) and was still burning six hours later, they said. Flames swept through the Yadanarbon market as well as the three-storey Sky Walk shopping mall. Full Report
UN envoy urges credible referendum and elections in Myanmar
UN envoy Ibrahim Gambari and Foreign Minister George Yeo agreed that Myanmar's plan for a referendum on a new constitution followed by elections has to be "credible and inclusive" for national reconciliation, Singapore's foreign affairs ministry said Monday. During their meeting in the city-state, both "noted positively" Myanmar's announcement for a referendum on the constitution in May and elections in 2010, the ministry's statement said. Full Report
Burma: Police charge to return the dead
Police collected toll for two bodies in Maungdaw Township. While one person was killed by an elephant another drowned in a shrimp dam on February 21. Full Report
Nearly 3,000 left homeless after Rangoon blaze
An official of the Township said the fire erupted at about 7 a.m. (local time) in a two-storey building and spread to other houses, consuming a total of 201 houses and leaving 2,969 people homeless. Full Report
Arakanese Extorted for Castor Oil Plantations
Kyauktaw: Authorities in Arakan State have been collecting taxes from civilians under a number of guises, such as tolls for crossing bridges and jetties, as well as for fishing and cutting bamboo, among others, according to many reports from Arakan State. Full Report
The blaze broke out around 8:00 am (0130 GMT) and was still burning six hours later, they said. Flames swept through the Yadanarbon market as well as the three-storey Sky Walk shopping mall. Full Report
UN envoy urges credible referendum and elections in Myanmar
UN envoy Ibrahim Gambari and Foreign Minister George Yeo agreed that Myanmar's plan for a referendum on a new constitution followed by elections has to be "credible and inclusive" for national reconciliation, Singapore's foreign affairs ministry said Monday. During their meeting in the city-state, both "noted positively" Myanmar's announcement for a referendum on the constitution in May and elections in 2010, the ministry's statement said. Full Report
Burma: Police charge to return the dead
Police collected toll for two bodies in Maungdaw Township. While one person was killed by an elephant another drowned in a shrimp dam on February 21. Full Report
Nearly 3,000 left homeless after Rangoon blaze
An official of the Township said the fire erupted at about 7 a.m. (local time) in a two-storey building and spread to other houses, consuming a total of 201 houses and leaving 2,969 people homeless. Full Report
Arakanese Extorted for Castor Oil Plantations
Kyauktaw: Authorities in Arakan State have been collecting taxes from civilians under a number of guises, such as tolls for crossing bridges and jetties, as well as for fishing and cutting bamboo, among others, according to many reports from Arakan State. Full Report
Saturday, 23 February 2008
Outcry for Fair Referendum, Elections
By SAW YAN NAING
February 22, 2008 - Veteran Burmese politicians, opposition activists and ethnic ceasefire leaders have urged Burma’s military regime to hold a free and fair national referendum and general election.
An influential group of veteran politicians, pro-democracy activists and leaders of the Kachin Independence Organization all released statements on Thursday, each calling for a fair referendum and general election.
In early February, the Burmese government announced that a national referendum on the constitution will be held in May and a multi-party general election in 2010.
The veteran politicians—including Thakin Chan Htun and Thakin Thein Pe—urged the regime to widely distribute the draft constitution and to allow sufficient time for voters to study the constitution.
Thakin Chan Htun, a leader of the group, told The Irrawaddy on Friday, “The regime should release political prisoners and allow them to freely involve themselves in the referendum. They [the authorities] should also allow UN representatives, political analysts and journalists to observe the voting process.”
The politicians criticized the regime for ignoring the calls of the international community, the United Nations, prominent world leaders, Burmese opposition groups and citizens to promote real national reconciliation.
Economic and social problems can not be solved through a constitution and election if the regime does not allow sufficient time for the people to study the draft constitution, said the politicians.
Meanwhile, the central committee of the Kachin Independence Organization—a main ethnic ceasefire group based on the China-Burma border—released a statement on Thursday saying the referendum and election have a chance to promote political reform in Burma, but only if the referendum and election are free and fair.
The KIO took part in the junta-sponsored National Convention, which led to the referendum on the draft constitution.
The ceasefire group called for the regime to appoint a group to monitor the voting process to ensure fairness.
An ethnic Mon ceasefire group, the New Mon State Party based on the Thai-Burma border, announced that it will not support the draft constitution written by the Burmese government because it does not guarantee the rights of ethnic groups or create a federal union style government.
Nai ong Ma-Nge, a spokesperson for the party, said, “It is not a good sign because they [the regime] don’t negotiate with opposition groups and ethnic leaders. We don’t follow their strategy. What we believe is that tripartite talks are the best way to solve the political problems in Burma.”
The NMSP signed a ceasefire agreement with the regime in 1995. Representatives of the party also attended the National Convention as observers along with other ethnic ceasefire groups in 2004.
Meanwhile, many Rangoon-based activists called for fairness in the referendum and election.
An underground activist group, known as Generation Wave, released a statement on Thursday calling for all citizens to have the right of freedom of expression and the right to lobby for their political views.
The Generation Wave, believed to be made up of students, was founded in 2007 after the military crackdown on the pro-democracy movement.
At a regional meeting in Singapore, Burma’s Foreign Minister, Nyan Win, said Aung San Suu Kyi will not be allowed to take part in the 2010 election because of her marriage to a foreigner, Briton Michael Aris.
In an Associated Press story, Gordon Johndroe, a spokesman for the US National Security Council, said, "That [banning Suu Kyi] is hardly the definition of free and fair elections. The junta needs to start from scratch with a real constitution that actually passes the laugh test."
February 22, 2008 - Veteran Burmese politicians, opposition activists and ethnic ceasefire leaders have urged Burma’s military regime to hold a free and fair national referendum and general election.
An influential group of veteran politicians, pro-democracy activists and leaders of the Kachin Independence Organization all released statements on Thursday, each calling for a fair referendum and general election.
In early February, the Burmese government announced that a national referendum on the constitution will be held in May and a multi-party general election in 2010.
The veteran politicians—including Thakin Chan Htun and Thakin Thein Pe—urged the regime to widely distribute the draft constitution and to allow sufficient time for voters to study the constitution.
Thakin Chan Htun, a leader of the group, told The Irrawaddy on Friday, “The regime should release political prisoners and allow them to freely involve themselves in the referendum. They [the authorities] should also allow UN representatives, political analysts and journalists to observe the voting process.”
The politicians criticized the regime for ignoring the calls of the international community, the United Nations, prominent world leaders, Burmese opposition groups and citizens to promote real national reconciliation.
Economic and social problems can not be solved through a constitution and election if the regime does not allow sufficient time for the people to study the draft constitution, said the politicians.
Meanwhile, the central committee of the Kachin Independence Organization—a main ethnic ceasefire group based on the China-Burma border—released a statement on Thursday saying the referendum and election have a chance to promote political reform in Burma, but only if the referendum and election are free and fair.
The KIO took part in the junta-sponsored National Convention, which led to the referendum on the draft constitution.
The ceasefire group called for the regime to appoint a group to monitor the voting process to ensure fairness.
An ethnic Mon ceasefire group, the New Mon State Party based on the Thai-Burma border, announced that it will not support the draft constitution written by the Burmese government because it does not guarantee the rights of ethnic groups or create a federal union style government.
Nai ong Ma-Nge, a spokesperson for the party, said, “It is not a good sign because they [the regime] don’t negotiate with opposition groups and ethnic leaders. We don’t follow their strategy. What we believe is that tripartite talks are the best way to solve the political problems in Burma.”
The NMSP signed a ceasefire agreement with the regime in 1995. Representatives of the party also attended the National Convention as observers along with other ethnic ceasefire groups in 2004.
Meanwhile, many Rangoon-based activists called for fairness in the referendum and election.
An underground activist group, known as Generation Wave, released a statement on Thursday calling for all citizens to have the right of freedom of expression and the right to lobby for their political views.
The Generation Wave, believed to be made up of students, was founded in 2007 after the military crackdown on the pro-democracy movement.
At a regional meeting in Singapore, Burma’s Foreign Minister, Nyan Win, said Aung San Suu Kyi will not be allowed to take part in the 2010 election because of her marriage to a foreigner, Briton Michael Aris.
In an Associated Press story, Gordon Johndroe, a spokesman for the US National Security Council, said, "That [banning Suu Kyi] is hardly the definition of free and fair elections. The junta needs to start from scratch with a real constitution that actually passes the laugh test."
USDA Starts Recruitment Drive Ahead of Referendum
By SAW YAN NAING
The Irrawaddy News
www.irrawaddy.org
February 21 ,2008 - Members of a mass-based organization backed by Burma’s ruling junta have begun a recruitment campaign to drum up support for an upcoming national referendum, according to Rangoon residents.
A resident of Hlaing Thayar Township in the former Burmese capital told The Irrawaddy on Wednesday that members of the Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA) have been conducting a low-key membership drive in the area since February 2.
“They [members of the USDA] have been calling residents at night, telling them good things about the regime and asking them to join their organization,” he said. “They also said that they will build new roads and clinics for the residents if they register as members.”
But many have responded coolly to the organization’s efforts to lobby on behalf of the regime, which ordered a brutal crackdown on peaceful demonstrators in September 2007.
Sources within the USDA revealed last week that the association had been tasked with organizing the referendum—set to take place in May—on a constitution drafted by delegates handpicked by the ruling military regime.
USDA members at the township and district levels will form local commissions to oversee voting in the referendum, said sources close to the organization. They would also be involved in preparations for general elections slated for 2010, according to the sources.
One source who requested anonymity said that the USDA was recruiting respected local people to serve on the referendum and election commissions. The USDA is also looking for wealthy and well-educated candidates to run in the elections, the source added.
The USDA, which was formed in 1993 to rally mass support for the regime, has 24 million members. It has also been instrumental in efforts to intimidate opposition activists and civilians.
USDA members played a key role in the bloody crackdown on the 2007 uprising and in a deadly attack on Aung San Suu Kyi’s motorcade in 2003, in which about 100 people were killed.
The Irrawaddy News
www.irrawaddy.org
February 21 ,2008 - Members of a mass-based organization backed by Burma’s ruling junta have begun a recruitment campaign to drum up support for an upcoming national referendum, according to Rangoon residents.
A resident of Hlaing Thayar Township in the former Burmese capital told The Irrawaddy on Wednesday that members of the Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA) have been conducting a low-key membership drive in the area since February 2.
“They [members of the USDA] have been calling residents at night, telling them good things about the regime and asking them to join their organization,” he said. “They also said that they will build new roads and clinics for the residents if they register as members.”
But many have responded coolly to the organization’s efforts to lobby on behalf of the regime, which ordered a brutal crackdown on peaceful demonstrators in September 2007.
Sources within the USDA revealed last week that the association had been tasked with organizing the referendum—set to take place in May—on a constitution drafted by delegates handpicked by the ruling military regime.
USDA members at the township and district levels will form local commissions to oversee voting in the referendum, said sources close to the organization. They would also be involved in preparations for general elections slated for 2010, according to the sources.
One source who requested anonymity said that the USDA was recruiting respected local people to serve on the referendum and election commissions. The USDA is also looking for wealthy and well-educated candidates to run in the elections, the source added.
The USDA, which was formed in 1993 to rally mass support for the regime, has 24 million members. It has also been instrumental in efforts to intimidate opposition activists and civilians.
USDA members played a key role in the bloody crackdown on the 2007 uprising and in a deadly attack on Aung San Suu Kyi’s motorcade in 2003, in which about 100 people were killed.
Dream of leaving Burma
By Pete Browne
February 22nd 2008 - Burma has been under military rule for over four decades. Its recent draft constitution, which bans opposition activists from entering the 2010 elections, has come under attack recently as international pressure to move toward democracy increases. Win Swe grew up in Mandalay under the junta's regime. He talks about his day-to-day life and studies, and his struggle to express himself in a closed society
The school I go to is closed today as the classrooms are foot-high in water. It often happens during the monsoon season. What I usually do when the rains come is head for the centre of Mandalay; if I can’t study in class the streets offer a good alternative. I am a firm believer in learning.
There are so many things happening in Burma that cry out for dialogue and debate. But people are too repressed to enter into discussion; they fear violent consequences. Our problems are on a national scale, but our fear forces us to view them on an individual scale. Talking itself can be dangerous. Having learned from previous mistakes, I am now careful whom I talk to and what about.
I seek out foreigners to have conversations with. I can see that it’s a backwards strategy – making small talk with friends and family and opening up to strangers – but it’s safer. Life is hard for so many people, and informing on other people’s anti-government sentiments can gain privileges, which may translate into enough food to feed your family for a week. In many ways I can understand.
If I am seen speaking to a foreigner I will be questioned by the police. The foreigner will be left alone, as non-Burmese people aren't likely to be arrested and interrogated. This is largely an internal affair. I try to be careful and don’t talk to anyone who isn’t interested. As long as no one is in earshot I can always claim that I was asked for directions.
Although many foreigners have boycotted Burma, there are always a few who, for whatever reason, choose to see for themselves. If they are European they offer an opportunity for me to practise my English, which is an added incentive to head for the streets.
English is important for my studies. I'm a law student. Much of our legal system has been influenced by our colonial predecessors; there is still English-language legislation in the statute book, where much of the detail of Burmese history can be found.
I chose to study law in an attempt to counter the injustices around me, but now I realise that this is naive. Law is an easy subject in Burma. Where justice is non-existent, law ceases to be anything but a reinforcement of the state. There are a lot of lawyers here and competition is tight; income is far from guaranteed, even in this vocation.
I’m 22 years old. I’m still young but I feel I've missed out. I spent three years in prison – once for two years, and then for a term of one year. My crime was talking. There are many people here like me, and we are far from being a minority. In Burma, even whispering the word democracy can land you in serious trouble.
I have always been in Mandalay. My family is here; I have grown up, studied and been imprisoned here. My greatest dream is to leave. I've been trying to escape from this country for years, but family ties are strong and it is difficult to make that decisive step, to give up on everything that is happening around me.
A passport costs more than three times the average income of relatively wealthy Burmese person. And then there are the additional costs – bribes for the multitude of officials along the way. Even if I could somehow arrange the finances it would only be the first step. From the initial application to actual departure could take years, and only then could I think about applying for a visa. It’s an obvious but easy tactic by the junta to stop people from leaving the country and stop news of their regime from reaching the outside world. A lot of Burmese people risk crossing the border illegally.
I have a friend overseas who has offered to help me – someone I met a few years ago on an excursion into Mandalay when school was closed. I have his postal address, but every letter I have sent him was read and destroyed by officials. That was why I spent my second term in prison. Two years for writing, one year for talking.
I learned my lesson. Now, every time I write a letter I have to find a tourist willing to smuggle it out of the country – usually to Thailand, where it can be posted and hopefully reach its destination untouched. I don’t like to be beholden to others, or to impose, but I have a simple choice: to try or not.
Win Swe, whose name has been changed, was talking to Pete Browne.
Source: Guardian
February 22nd 2008 - Burma has been under military rule for over four decades. Its recent draft constitution, which bans opposition activists from entering the 2010 elections, has come under attack recently as international pressure to move toward democracy increases. Win Swe grew up in Mandalay under the junta's regime. He talks about his day-to-day life and studies, and his struggle to express himself in a closed society
The school I go to is closed today as the classrooms are foot-high in water. It often happens during the monsoon season. What I usually do when the rains come is head for the centre of Mandalay; if I can’t study in class the streets offer a good alternative. I am a firm believer in learning.
There are so many things happening in Burma that cry out for dialogue and debate. But people are too repressed to enter into discussion; they fear violent consequences. Our problems are on a national scale, but our fear forces us to view them on an individual scale. Talking itself can be dangerous. Having learned from previous mistakes, I am now careful whom I talk to and what about.
I seek out foreigners to have conversations with. I can see that it’s a backwards strategy – making small talk with friends and family and opening up to strangers – but it’s safer. Life is hard for so many people, and informing on other people’s anti-government sentiments can gain privileges, which may translate into enough food to feed your family for a week. In many ways I can understand.
If I am seen speaking to a foreigner I will be questioned by the police. The foreigner will be left alone, as non-Burmese people aren't likely to be arrested and interrogated. This is largely an internal affair. I try to be careful and don’t talk to anyone who isn’t interested. As long as no one is in earshot I can always claim that I was asked for directions.
Although many foreigners have boycotted Burma, there are always a few who, for whatever reason, choose to see for themselves. If they are European they offer an opportunity for me to practise my English, which is an added incentive to head for the streets.
English is important for my studies. I'm a law student. Much of our legal system has been influenced by our colonial predecessors; there is still English-language legislation in the statute book, where much of the detail of Burmese history can be found.
I chose to study law in an attempt to counter the injustices around me, but now I realise that this is naive. Law is an easy subject in Burma. Where justice is non-existent, law ceases to be anything but a reinforcement of the state. There are a lot of lawyers here and competition is tight; income is far from guaranteed, even in this vocation.
I’m 22 years old. I’m still young but I feel I've missed out. I spent three years in prison – once for two years, and then for a term of one year. My crime was talking. There are many people here like me, and we are far from being a minority. In Burma, even whispering the word democracy can land you in serious trouble.
I have always been in Mandalay. My family is here; I have grown up, studied and been imprisoned here. My greatest dream is to leave. I've been trying to escape from this country for years, but family ties are strong and it is difficult to make that decisive step, to give up on everything that is happening around me.
A passport costs more than three times the average income of relatively wealthy Burmese person. And then there are the additional costs – bribes for the multitude of officials along the way. Even if I could somehow arrange the finances it would only be the first step. From the initial application to actual departure could take years, and only then could I think about applying for a visa. It’s an obvious but easy tactic by the junta to stop people from leaving the country and stop news of their regime from reaching the outside world. A lot of Burmese people risk crossing the border illegally.
I have a friend overseas who has offered to help me – someone I met a few years ago on an excursion into Mandalay when school was closed. I have his postal address, but every letter I have sent him was read and destroyed by officials. That was why I spent my second term in prison. Two years for writing, one year for talking.
I learned my lesson. Now, every time I write a letter I have to find a tourist willing to smuggle it out of the country – usually to Thailand, where it can be posted and hopefully reach its destination untouched. I don’t like to be beholden to others, or to impose, but I have a simple choice: to try or not.
Win Swe, whose name has been changed, was talking to Pete Browne.
Source: Guardian
Burma takes shots at John Rambo
On Deadline
February 22, 2008 - A Burmese DICTATORS' magazine issued a harsh critique of Sylvester Stallone's performance in the latest installment of the Rambo franchise.
The Voice, a privately owned magazine subject to censorship, says the American actor, whose character saves Christian missionaries being held in the jungles of the country also known as Myanmar, "looks funny fighting a war even though he's so fat with sagging breasts."
The magazine goes on to say Stallone looks like a "lunatic" in the banned movie.
AP says The Voice article is actually a "loosely translated" version of a review that appeared in The Straits Times last month. Here's how that paper described the action star: "He brings back his [John] Rambo for one more ridiculous battle even though he's so fat and man-breast heavy he looks like Blocky crashing through the jungle like a trip down mammary lane."
The wire service says a word the original author used to describe the ruling junta was lost in translation: "Dictators."
(Photo of Stallone taken by Karen Ballard, Lionsgate.)
February 22, 2008 - A Burmese DICTATORS' magazine issued a harsh critique of Sylvester Stallone's performance in the latest installment of the Rambo franchise.
The Voice, a privately owned magazine subject to censorship, says the American actor, whose character saves Christian missionaries being held in the jungles of the country also known as Myanmar, "looks funny fighting a war even though he's so fat with sagging breasts."
The magazine goes on to say Stallone looks like a "lunatic" in the banned movie.
AP says The Voice article is actually a "loosely translated" version of a review that appeared in The Straits Times last month. Here's how that paper described the action star: "He brings back his [John] Rambo for one more ridiculous battle even though he's so fat and man-breast heavy he looks like Blocky crashing through the jungle like a trip down mammary lane."
The wire service says a word the original author used to describe the ruling junta was lost in translation: "Dictators."
(Photo of Stallone taken by Karen Ballard, Lionsgate.)
Richfield Web company makes political sites
Working for a cause profitable, inspiring
Campaigns are on the Internet now
By Paula Schleis
Beacon Journal business writer
February 22, 2008 - Last year, Mike Connell found himself on the border of Thailand, teaching young people how to safely use technology to spread the word of human-rights violations against Buddhist monks in neighboring Myanmar (Burma).
''You have these incredibly brave individuals who, in spite of the potential dangers, are willing to blog . . . and tell the rest of the world what's going on,'' Connell said.
Helping people in oppressed countries and emerging democracies is one area where Connell's company, New Media Communications, sees growth.
But right now, the bills at this small Richfield company are primarily paid by some very high-profile customers in the United States.
Connell's team helped develop the John McCain for President Web site, just as it helped develop the campaign Web sites for the last two Bush presidential races.
New Media Communications was founded in 1995 by Connell, who was bitten by the political bug in 1984 and never recovered.
After graduating from the University of Iowa, he worked on campaigns and ended up on Capitol Hill as press secretary for former U.S. Rep. Martin Hoke, R-Cleveland.
Connell made the journey to Northeast Ohio in 1994 after accepting Hoke's offer to work in the district. An Illinois native, Connell preferred to raise his young family in the Midwest rather than in Washington, D.C.
Meanwhile, Connell was watching with interest some wild advancements in technology.
''I had the sense that there was something on the horizon,'' he said. ''I didn't know exactly what it was.''
''It'' turned out to be the Internet, and in 1996, Bill Clinton and Bob Dole became the first presidential candidates with campaign Web sites.
They weren't very interactive. Connell called them ''billboards in the sky.'' But it was clear this new form of media had forever changed the game.
In 1998, New Media Communications was chosen to design the campaign Web site for Jeb Bush — son of a former president, brother to a future president — who went on to win the governor's race in Florida.
''That's the race that put us on the map,'' Connell said.
In 2000, the Bush family went to New Media again. The company built George Bush's presidential campaign Web site then, and four years later for his run at a second term.
In between presidential elections, the company has built Web sites for a variety of Republican candidates, for organizations like the National Rifle Association and the American Center for Law and Justice, even a companion site to the film The Case for Christ.
Connell said there is great personal satisfaction that his business also serves causes he believes in.
''The one thing that I've learned about myself is if I don't get excited about something, it's tough for me to do the work,'' he said.
That doesn't mean everything has gone smoothly.
At one time, New Media employed more than 40 people, an upstart that made Inc. magazine's list of the country's fastest-growing companies.
But the tech stock crash of 2001, followed by the terrorist attacks that year, led to a slow but steady downsizing of the company.
New Media now employs 18 and Connell said that painful period ended up making the company leaner and meaner.
Among other reasons, it now has the luxury of being picky about what projects it takes on.
When New Media was twice its size, it couldn't say no to a project. There was a payroll to meet and people who needed to stay busy.
But Connell said he wouldn't mind growing in the international arena.
New Media has done work overseas since the late 1990s, starting with former communist countries that were learning about democracy.
Connell found that people who had never run free elections before were far more open to high-tech experiments than here in the United States, where old habits die hard.
When Slovenia went to the polls in 2000, New Media organized a get-out-the-vote effort using cell-phone text messaging. In a country with poor infrastructure, wireless technology had leaped ahead of the Western world and 80 percent of the country's youth was texting.
That kind of work eventually led to Connell's interest in helping people communicate in closed societies, where governments censor the Internet and imprison people who speak their minds.
The risks were made clear to Connell last year when he met a young man on the Myanmar border who had spent much of his adult life in prison for circulating lyrics to a song critical of the government.
In addition to training groups and individuals on how to use technology without getting caught, Connell hopes New Media will contribute to adapting that technology as governments learn how to close old avenues down. He compared it to a game of cat and mouse.
''Part of the strategies in a lot of these areas is to prevent people from letting the rest of the world know what's really going on in the country and how bad the conditions are and what the human-rights violations are,'' Connell said, ''so the Internet becomes a megaphone for telling the rest of the world, 'Hey, this is what's really happening here,' and send out your cry for help.''
Paula Schleis can be reached at 330-996-3741 or pschleis@thebeaconjournal.com.
Last year, Mike Connell found himself on the border of Thailand, teaching young people how to safely use technology to spread the word of human-rights violations against Buddhist monks in neighboring Myanmar (Burma).
''You have these incredibly brave individuals who, in spite of the potential dangers, are willing to blog . . . and tell the rest of the world what's going on,'' Connell said.
Helping people in oppressed countries and emerging democracies is one area where Connell's company, New Media Communications, sees growth.
But right now, the bills at this small Richfield company are primarily paid by some very high-profile customers in the United States.
Connell's team helped develop the John McCain for President Web site, just as it helped develop the campaign Web sites for the last two Bush presidential races.
New Media Communications was founded in 1995 by Connell, who was bitten by the political bug in 1984 and never recovered.
After graduating from the University of Iowa, he worked on campaigns and ended up on Capitol Hill as press secretary for former U.S. Rep. Martin Hoke, R-Cleveland.
Connell made the journey to Northeast Ohio in 1994 after accepting Hoke's offer to work in the district. An Illinois native, Connell preferred to raise his young family in the Midwest rather than in Washington, D.C.
Meanwhile, Connell was watching with interest some wild advancements in technology.
''I had the sense that there was something on the horizon,'' he said. ''I didn't know exactly what it was.''
''It'' turned out to be the Internet, and in 1996, Bill Clinton and Bob Dole became the first presidential candidates with campaign Web sites.
They weren't very interactive. Connell called them ''billboards in the sky.'' But it was clear this new form of media had forever changed the game.
In 1998, New Media Communications was chosen to design the campaign Web site for Jeb Bush — son of a former president, brother to a future president — who went on to win the governor's race in Florida.
''That's the race that put us on the map,'' Connell said.
In 2000, the Bush family went to New Media again. The company built George Bush's presidential campaign Web site then, and four years later for his run at a second term.
In between presidential elections, the company has built Web sites for a variety of Republican candidates, for organizations like the National Rifle Association and the American Center for Law and Justice, even a companion site to the film The Case for Christ.
Connell said there is great personal satisfaction that his business also serves causes he believes in.
''The one thing that I've learned about myself is if I don't get excited about something, it's tough for me to do the work,'' he said.
That doesn't mean everything has gone smoothly.
At one time, New Media employed more than 40 people, an upstart that made Inc. magazine's list of the country's fastest-growing companies.
But the tech stock crash of 2001, followed by the terrorist attacks that year, led to a slow but steady downsizing of the company.
New Media now employs 18 and Connell said that painful period ended up making the company leaner and meaner.
Among other reasons, it now has the luxury of being picky about what projects it takes on.
When New Media was twice its size, it couldn't say no to a project. There was a payroll to meet and people who needed to stay busy.
But Connell said he wouldn't mind growing in the international arena.
New Media has done work overseas since the late 1990s, starting with former communist countries that were learning about democracy.
Connell found that people who had never run free elections before were far more open to high-tech experiments than here in the United States, where old habits die hard.
When Slovenia went to the polls in 2000, New Media organized a get-out-the-vote effort using cell-phone text messaging. In a country with poor infrastructure, wireless technology had leaped ahead of the Western world and 80 percent of the country's youth was texting.
That kind of work eventually led to Connell's interest in helping people communicate in closed societies, where governments censor the Internet and imprison people who speak their minds.
The risks were made clear to Connell last year when he met a young man on the Myanmar border who had spent much of his adult life in prison for circulating lyrics to a song critical of the government.
In addition to training groups and individuals on how to use technology without getting caught, Connell hopes New Media will contribute to adapting that technology as governments learn how to close old avenues down. He compared it to a game of cat and mouse.
''Part of the strategies in a lot of these areas is to prevent people from letting the rest of the world know what's really going on in the country and how bad the conditions are and what the human-rights violations are,'' Connell said, ''so the Internet becomes a megaphone for telling the rest of the world, 'Hey, this is what's really happening here,' and send out your cry for help.''
Paula Schleis can be reached at 330-996-3741 or pschleis@thebeaconjournal.com.
Campaigns are on the Internet now
By Paula Schleis
Beacon Journal business writer
February 22, 2008 - Last year, Mike Connell found himself on the border of Thailand, teaching young people how to safely use technology to spread the word of human-rights violations against Buddhist monks in neighboring Myanmar (Burma).
''You have these incredibly brave individuals who, in spite of the potential dangers, are willing to blog . . . and tell the rest of the world what's going on,'' Connell said.
Helping people in oppressed countries and emerging democracies is one area where Connell's company, New Media Communications, sees growth.
But right now, the bills at this small Richfield company are primarily paid by some very high-profile customers in the United States.
Connell's team helped develop the John McCain for President Web site, just as it helped develop the campaign Web sites for the last two Bush presidential races.
New Media Communications was founded in 1995 by Connell, who was bitten by the political bug in 1984 and never recovered.
After graduating from the University of Iowa, he worked on campaigns and ended up on Capitol Hill as press secretary for former U.S. Rep. Martin Hoke, R-Cleveland.
Connell made the journey to Northeast Ohio in 1994 after accepting Hoke's offer to work in the district. An Illinois native, Connell preferred to raise his young family in the Midwest rather than in Washington, D.C.
Meanwhile, Connell was watching with interest some wild advancements in technology.
''I had the sense that there was something on the horizon,'' he said. ''I didn't know exactly what it was.''
''It'' turned out to be the Internet, and in 1996, Bill Clinton and Bob Dole became the first presidential candidates with campaign Web sites.
They weren't very interactive. Connell called them ''billboards in the sky.'' But it was clear this new form of media had forever changed the game.
In 1998, New Media Communications was chosen to design the campaign Web site for Jeb Bush — son of a former president, brother to a future president — who went on to win the governor's race in Florida.
''That's the race that put us on the map,'' Connell said.
In 2000, the Bush family went to New Media again. The company built George Bush's presidential campaign Web site then, and four years later for his run at a second term.
In between presidential elections, the company has built Web sites for a variety of Republican candidates, for organizations like the National Rifle Association and the American Center for Law and Justice, even a companion site to the film The Case for Christ.
Connell said there is great personal satisfaction that his business also serves causes he believes in.
''The one thing that I've learned about myself is if I don't get excited about something, it's tough for me to do the work,'' he said.
That doesn't mean everything has gone smoothly.
At one time, New Media employed more than 40 people, an upstart that made Inc. magazine's list of the country's fastest-growing companies.
But the tech stock crash of 2001, followed by the terrorist attacks that year, led to a slow but steady downsizing of the company.
New Media now employs 18 and Connell said that painful period ended up making the company leaner and meaner.
Among other reasons, it now has the luxury of being picky about what projects it takes on.
When New Media was twice its size, it couldn't say no to a project. There was a payroll to meet and people who needed to stay busy.
But Connell said he wouldn't mind growing in the international arena.
New Media has done work overseas since the late 1990s, starting with former communist countries that were learning about democracy.
Connell found that people who had never run free elections before were far more open to high-tech experiments than here in the United States, where old habits die hard.
When Slovenia went to the polls in 2000, New Media organized a get-out-the-vote effort using cell-phone text messaging. In a country with poor infrastructure, wireless technology had leaped ahead of the Western world and 80 percent of the country's youth was texting.
That kind of work eventually led to Connell's interest in helping people communicate in closed societies, where governments censor the Internet and imprison people who speak their minds.
The risks were made clear to Connell last year when he met a young man on the Myanmar border who had spent much of his adult life in prison for circulating lyrics to a song critical of the government.
In addition to training groups and individuals on how to use technology without getting caught, Connell hopes New Media will contribute to adapting that technology as governments learn how to close old avenues down. He compared it to a game of cat and mouse.
''Part of the strategies in a lot of these areas is to prevent people from letting the rest of the world know what's really going on in the country and how bad the conditions are and what the human-rights violations are,'' Connell said, ''so the Internet becomes a megaphone for telling the rest of the world, 'Hey, this is what's really happening here,' and send out your cry for help.''
Paula Schleis can be reached at 330-996-3741 or pschleis@thebeaconjournal.com.
Last year, Mike Connell found himself on the border of Thailand, teaching young people how to safely use technology to spread the word of human-rights violations against Buddhist monks in neighboring Myanmar (Burma).
''You have these incredibly brave individuals who, in spite of the potential dangers, are willing to blog . . . and tell the rest of the world what's going on,'' Connell said.
Helping people in oppressed countries and emerging democracies is one area where Connell's company, New Media Communications, sees growth.
But right now, the bills at this small Richfield company are primarily paid by some very high-profile customers in the United States.
Connell's team helped develop the John McCain for President Web site, just as it helped develop the campaign Web sites for the last two Bush presidential races.
New Media Communications was founded in 1995 by Connell, who was bitten by the political bug in 1984 and never recovered.
After graduating from the University of Iowa, he worked on campaigns and ended up on Capitol Hill as press secretary for former U.S. Rep. Martin Hoke, R-Cleveland.
Connell made the journey to Northeast Ohio in 1994 after accepting Hoke's offer to work in the district. An Illinois native, Connell preferred to raise his young family in the Midwest rather than in Washington, D.C.
Meanwhile, Connell was watching with interest some wild advancements in technology.
''I had the sense that there was something on the horizon,'' he said. ''I didn't know exactly what it was.''
''It'' turned out to be the Internet, and in 1996, Bill Clinton and Bob Dole became the first presidential candidates with campaign Web sites.
They weren't very interactive. Connell called them ''billboards in the sky.'' But it was clear this new form of media had forever changed the game.
In 1998, New Media Communications was chosen to design the campaign Web site for Jeb Bush — son of a former president, brother to a future president — who went on to win the governor's race in Florida.
''That's the race that put us on the map,'' Connell said.
In 2000, the Bush family went to New Media again. The company built George Bush's presidential campaign Web site then, and four years later for his run at a second term.
In between presidential elections, the company has built Web sites for a variety of Republican candidates, for organizations like the National Rifle Association and the American Center for Law and Justice, even a companion site to the film The Case for Christ.
Connell said there is great personal satisfaction that his business also serves causes he believes in.
''The one thing that I've learned about myself is if I don't get excited about something, it's tough for me to do the work,'' he said.
That doesn't mean everything has gone smoothly.
At one time, New Media employed more than 40 people, an upstart that made Inc. magazine's list of the country's fastest-growing companies.
But the tech stock crash of 2001, followed by the terrorist attacks that year, led to a slow but steady downsizing of the company.
New Media now employs 18 and Connell said that painful period ended up making the company leaner and meaner.
Among other reasons, it now has the luxury of being picky about what projects it takes on.
When New Media was twice its size, it couldn't say no to a project. There was a payroll to meet and people who needed to stay busy.
But Connell said he wouldn't mind growing in the international arena.
New Media has done work overseas since the late 1990s, starting with former communist countries that were learning about democracy.
Connell found that people who had never run free elections before were far more open to high-tech experiments than here in the United States, where old habits die hard.
When Slovenia went to the polls in 2000, New Media organized a get-out-the-vote effort using cell-phone text messaging. In a country with poor infrastructure, wireless technology had leaped ahead of the Western world and 80 percent of the country's youth was texting.
That kind of work eventually led to Connell's interest in helping people communicate in closed societies, where governments censor the Internet and imprison people who speak their minds.
The risks were made clear to Connell last year when he met a young man on the Myanmar border who had spent much of his adult life in prison for circulating lyrics to a song critical of the government.
In addition to training groups and individuals on how to use technology without getting caught, Connell hopes New Media will contribute to adapting that technology as governments learn how to close old avenues down. He compared it to a game of cat and mouse.
''Part of the strategies in a lot of these areas is to prevent people from letting the rest of the world know what's really going on in the country and how bad the conditions are and what the human-rights violations are,'' Connell said, ''so the Internet becomes a megaphone for telling the rest of the world, 'Hey, this is what's really happening here,' and send out your cry for help.''
Paula Schleis can be reached at 330-996-3741 or pschleis@thebeaconjournal.com.
Friday, 22 February 2008
Jakarta attacks Burma’s draft constitution
By John Aglionby in Jakarta and Amy Kazmin in Bangkok
February 21, 2008 - Indonesia became the first big developing country on Thursday to criticise Burma’s draft constitution, which entrenches military rule by banning leading opposition activists from politics, including Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel prize-winning democracy advocate.
Hassan Wirajuda, Indonesia’s foreign minister, said the constitution should be revised before being put to a national referendum in May, to ensure that the interests of opposition and minority groups were protected.
His comments were made days after Burma’s military rulers publicly clarified that Ms Suu Kyi, now a widow, would be prohibited from contesting Burma’s planned 2010 elections because she had married a foreigner.
“We hope that in the period between now and May, a process of consultation will take in input from these groups so that the draft constitution which will be voted on will be comprehensive, meaning that it will accommodate their interests,” Mr Hassan told the Financial Times.
The Burmese junta insists its charter will lay the foundation for a “disciplined democracy” suitable for Burma’s multi-ethnic population.
But opposition groups have denounced it as an attempt to legalise military rule, while Ms Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy has complained that the army’s “unilateral” referendum plans “did not support meaningful political dialogue or the national reconciliation process”.
Under the proposed constitution, 25 per cent of parliamentary seats will be reserved for the military, while the army chief can appoint key ministers, and declare a state of emergency, seizing widespread powers. Protection of basic rights and civil liberties will be highly conditional, and easily curbed by the military.
The constitutional provisions governing election eligibility also make it clear that political dissidents can easily be excluded from running for public office.
“It’s already rigged,” said Aung Naing Oo, a Burmese political analyst in exile. “Anyone who has been an active campaigner for democracy, or has been against the military at some point, or has the potential to do so, will be disqualified.”
The charter bars from office anyone married to a foreigner, or whose spouse or children have foreign citizenship, as well as Buddhist monks and other religious figures. It also bars political prisoners and civil servants, except for soldiers.
Parliamentary candidates must have lived in Burma for 10 consecutive years.
Source: Financial Times
February 21, 2008 - Indonesia became the first big developing country on Thursday to criticise Burma’s draft constitution, which entrenches military rule by banning leading opposition activists from politics, including Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel prize-winning democracy advocate.
Hassan Wirajuda, Indonesia’s foreign minister, said the constitution should be revised before being put to a national referendum in May, to ensure that the interests of opposition and minority groups were protected.
His comments were made days after Burma’s military rulers publicly clarified that Ms Suu Kyi, now a widow, would be prohibited from contesting Burma’s planned 2010 elections because she had married a foreigner.
“We hope that in the period between now and May, a process of consultation will take in input from these groups so that the draft constitution which will be voted on will be comprehensive, meaning that it will accommodate their interests,” Mr Hassan told the Financial Times.
The Burmese junta insists its charter will lay the foundation for a “disciplined democracy” suitable for Burma’s multi-ethnic population.
But opposition groups have denounced it as an attempt to legalise military rule, while Ms Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy has complained that the army’s “unilateral” referendum plans “did not support meaningful political dialogue or the national reconciliation process”.
Under the proposed constitution, 25 per cent of parliamentary seats will be reserved for the military, while the army chief can appoint key ministers, and declare a state of emergency, seizing widespread powers. Protection of basic rights and civil liberties will be highly conditional, and easily curbed by the military.
The constitutional provisions governing election eligibility also make it clear that political dissidents can easily be excluded from running for public office.
“It’s already rigged,” said Aung Naing Oo, a Burmese political analyst in exile. “Anyone who has been an active campaigner for democracy, or has been against the military at some point, or has the potential to do so, will be disqualified.”
The charter bars from office anyone married to a foreigner, or whose spouse or children have foreign citizenship, as well as Buddhist monks and other religious figures. It also bars political prisoners and civil servants, except for soldiers.
Parliamentary candidates must have lived in Burma for 10 consecutive years.
Source: Financial Times
Thursday, 21 February 2008
News for today 21 February 2008
News Summary here. Please follow the links to the respective agencies. Thanks.
UN envoy to Myanmar to hold talks in Indonesia
The UN envoy for Myanmar, Ibrahim Gambari, is to meet with Indonesia's president and foreign minister from Thursday to discuss the military-ruled regime, his spokeswoman said. Full Report
Myanmar agrees to UN envoy visit in early March, Indonesian minister says
Myanmar will allow UN envoy Ibrahim Gambari to visit the country in early March, Indonesia's foreign minister said Thursday. Full Report
Blacklisted Air Bagan overshoots runway in Myanmar
An aircraft belong to Air Bagan, an airline blacklisted under US sanctions, overshot the runway by 100 metres in Myanmar's northernmost airport of Putao this week, injuring two people, state media reported Thursday. Full Report
Myanmar must re-work constitution, says US
The United States yesterday called Myanmar's proposed constitution a failure over a ban on pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi running for office and urged the ruling junta to "start from scratch." Full Report
Burma: Rice distribution means children can attend school
The World Food Program (WFP) distributed rice to primary students, both boys and girls to support their study in Maungdaw Township on February 15, said a local villager. Full Report
Stop buying Lonely Planet books until BBC withdraws Burma edition
People are being urged to stop buying the Lonely Planet guidebooks until BBC Worldwide - the current owner of the travel series - withdraws its guide to Burma. The call comes today (Thursday) as the TUC, Tourism Concern, Burma Campaign UK and the New Internationalist launch an online petition calling on the immediate withdrawal of the Burma edition. Full Report
Canadian Friends of Burma condemn the murder of Karen leader - OPINION
Canadian Friends of Burma (CFOB) joins members of the Burma democracy movement around the world in condemning the murder of Pado Mahn Sha, general secretary of the Karen National Union (KNU). The KNU is Burma's oldest ethnic opposition group and represents Burma's largest ethnic minority, the Karen. Full Report
DKBA Members Kill Mahn Sha: Karen Sources
Sources close to the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army have confirmed that members of the Karen splinter group were behind last week’s killing of Karen leader Mahn Sha. Full Report
Gambari’s Mission is Dead in the Water
Although UN Special Envoy Ibrahim Gambari hopes to return to Burma in April, his mission is all but over. Full Report
Ethnic Chins Celebrate Chin National Day
Despite decades of oppression, Chin people gather on February 20 to celebrate the 60th anniversary of Chin National Day. Full Report
Pro-Democracy Groups Criticize Junta Constitution Plan
Pro-democracy groups have criticized the Burmese junta’s announcement that a draft of the nation’s new constitution had been completed and approved for a national referendum in May. Full Report
Burmese Exiles to Petition Congress on Chevron
The Burmese exiled community in the United States is collecting signatures on a petition urging the US Congress to pass legislation asking the multinational company Chevron to end its investment in Burma. Full Report
Singapore FM: Suu Kyi to be Barred from Voting in 2010
Burma opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi will not be allowed to take part in elections proposed by the junta in 2010 because she had been married to a foreigner. Full Report
Chin people will oppose referendum with all its might
On a historic day today, when the Chin people observe the 60th Chin National Day, they vowed they would oppose the referendum by the Burmese military junta in May this year. Full Report
No to referendum and election: NMSP
February 20, 2008 – Chiang Mai – The New Mon State Party (NMSP), one of the ceasefire groups has made it clear that the junta's roadmap of referendum and elections cannot resolve the political crisis in Burma. NMSP became the first ceasefire group which said 'No' to the Burmese regime's announcements February 9. Full Report
Completed constitution should be open for revision: NLD
February 20, 2008 – New Delhi – Burma's main opposition party - National League for Democracy - today said the ruling junta should make its draft constitution available for public review as a step toward conducting a free and fair referendum. Full Report
UN envoy to Myanmar to hold talks in Indonesia
The UN envoy for Myanmar, Ibrahim Gambari, is to meet with Indonesia's president and foreign minister from Thursday to discuss the military-ruled regime, his spokeswoman said. Full Report
Myanmar agrees to UN envoy visit in early March, Indonesian minister says
Myanmar will allow UN envoy Ibrahim Gambari to visit the country in early March, Indonesia's foreign minister said Thursday. Full Report
Blacklisted Air Bagan overshoots runway in Myanmar
An aircraft belong to Air Bagan, an airline blacklisted under US sanctions, overshot the runway by 100 metres in Myanmar's northernmost airport of Putao this week, injuring two people, state media reported Thursday. Full Report
Myanmar must re-work constitution, says US
The United States yesterday called Myanmar's proposed constitution a failure over a ban on pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi running for office and urged the ruling junta to "start from scratch." Full Report
Burma: Rice distribution means children can attend school
The World Food Program (WFP) distributed rice to primary students, both boys and girls to support their study in Maungdaw Township on February 15, said a local villager. Full Report
Stop buying Lonely Planet books until BBC withdraws Burma edition
People are being urged to stop buying the Lonely Planet guidebooks until BBC Worldwide - the current owner of the travel series - withdraws its guide to Burma. The call comes today (Thursday) as the TUC, Tourism Concern, Burma Campaign UK and the New Internationalist launch an online petition calling on the immediate withdrawal of the Burma edition. Full Report
Canadian Friends of Burma condemn the murder of Karen leader - OPINION
Canadian Friends of Burma (CFOB) joins members of the Burma democracy movement around the world in condemning the murder of Pado Mahn Sha, general secretary of the Karen National Union (KNU). The KNU is Burma's oldest ethnic opposition group and represents Burma's largest ethnic minority, the Karen. Full Report
DKBA Members Kill Mahn Sha: Karen Sources
Sources close to the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army have confirmed that members of the Karen splinter group were behind last week’s killing of Karen leader Mahn Sha. Full Report
Gambari’s Mission is Dead in the Water
Although UN Special Envoy Ibrahim Gambari hopes to return to Burma in April, his mission is all but over. Full Report
Ethnic Chins Celebrate Chin National Day
Despite decades of oppression, Chin people gather on February 20 to celebrate the 60th anniversary of Chin National Day. Full Report
Pro-Democracy Groups Criticize Junta Constitution Plan
Pro-democracy groups have criticized the Burmese junta’s announcement that a draft of the nation’s new constitution had been completed and approved for a national referendum in May. Full Report
Burmese Exiles to Petition Congress on Chevron
The Burmese exiled community in the United States is collecting signatures on a petition urging the US Congress to pass legislation asking the multinational company Chevron to end its investment in Burma. Full Report
Singapore FM: Suu Kyi to be Barred from Voting in 2010
Burma opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi will not be allowed to take part in elections proposed by the junta in 2010 because she had been married to a foreigner. Full Report
Chin people will oppose referendum with all its might
On a historic day today, when the Chin people observe the 60th Chin National Day, they vowed they would oppose the referendum by the Burmese military junta in May this year. Full Report
No to referendum and election: NMSP
February 20, 2008 – Chiang Mai – The New Mon State Party (NMSP), one of the ceasefire groups has made it clear that the junta's roadmap of referendum and elections cannot resolve the political crisis in Burma. NMSP became the first ceasefire group which said 'No' to the Burmese regime's announcements February 9. Full Report
Completed constitution should be open for revision: NLD
February 20, 2008 – New Delhi – Burma's main opposition party - National League for Democracy - today said the ruling junta should make its draft constitution available for public review as a step toward conducting a free and fair referendum. Full Report
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".
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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