Burma Update
News and updates on Burma16 July 2007
Amnesty slams Burma helicopter sale
BangkokPOst: 16 July 2007
New York (dpa) - India's sale of the military Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) to Burma violates the European Union's arms embargo, imposed for Burmese human-rights abuses, Amnesty International said in a report published Monday.
Amnesty and other non-governmental organisations, including Saferworld, said they had credible information indicating that the ALH sale is a mockery of the EU arms and trade restrictions on Burma, because the aircraft's components are made by EU members.
"The proposed transfer to Burma of a military helicopter containing components and technology from as many as six European Union countries threatens to undermine an EU arms embargo on Burma," Amnesty said.
"Burma has a widely documented record of serious human-rights violations, which the United Nations has described as widespread and systematic. Such abuses include summary executions, torture and the recruitment of child soldiers."
ALHs are built with components made in Belgium, Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Sweden, the report said.
It said that the ALH is armed with rocket launchers made by Forges de Zebrugge in Belgium; its engine, guns and rockets come from France; Germany supplies parts, and the German Eurocopter Group was involved in the development of ALH; brake systems come from Italy; and Sweden provides self-protection equipment. Britain supplies the hydraulic, flotation equipment and self-sealing fuel-tank systems.
Roy Isbister of Saferworld said that the EU embargo explicitly prohibits transfers, directly or indirectly, of EU military equipment to Burma.
"What is the point in having an arms embargo if it is not going to be implemented or enforced?" Isbister asked.
Amnesty and Saferworld called on the European Union to hold talks with the Indian government on its sale of the ALH, and if the sale went through to Burma, to seek to withdraw all existing export licence authorisations and reject all new applications.
The non-governmental organisations urged the EU to discontinue all future production cooperation with New Delhi and to prohibit India from re-exporting all future transfers of controlled goods and technology.
The EU began its arms embargo and trade restrictions against Burma in the early 1990s to protest human-rights violations. In 1991, the EU expelled Burmese military attaches and recalled their own attaches.
The embargo and restrictions were reviewed and strengthened in recent years.
New York (dpa) - India's sale of the military Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) to Burma violates the European Union's arms embargo, imposed for Burmese human-rights abuses, Amnesty International said in a report published Monday.
Amnesty and other non-governmental organisations, including Saferworld, said they had credible information indicating that the ALH sale is a mockery of the EU arms and trade restrictions on Burma, because the aircraft's components are made by EU members.
"The proposed transfer to Burma of a military helicopter containing components and technology from as many as six European Union countries threatens to undermine an EU arms embargo on Burma," Amnesty said.
"Burma has a widely documented record of serious human-rights violations, which the United Nations has described as widespread and systematic. Such abuses include summary executions, torture and the recruitment of child soldiers."
ALHs are built with components made in Belgium, Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Sweden, the report said.
It said that the ALH is armed with rocket launchers made by Forges de Zebrugge in Belgium; its engine, guns and rockets come from France; Germany supplies parts, and the German Eurocopter Group was involved in the development of ALH; brake systems come from Italy; and Sweden provides self-protection equipment. Britain supplies the hydraulic, flotation equipment and self-sealing fuel-tank systems.
Roy Isbister of Saferworld said that the EU embargo explicitly prohibits transfers, directly or indirectly, of EU military equipment to Burma.
"What is the point in having an arms embargo if it is not going to be implemented or enforced?" Isbister asked.
Amnesty and Saferworld called on the European Union to hold talks with the Indian government on its sale of the ALH, and if the sale went through to Burma, to seek to withdraw all existing export licence authorisations and reject all new applications.
The non-governmental organisations urged the EU to discontinue all future production cooperation with New Delhi and to prohibit India from re-exporting all future transfers of controlled goods and technology.
The EU began its arms embargo and trade restrictions against Burma in the early 1990s to protest human-rights violations. In 1991, the EU expelled Burmese military attaches and recalled their own attaches.
The embargo and restrictions were reviewed and strengthened in recent years.
Rare protest skews Burma inflation
BangkokPost: 15 July 2007
Rangoon (dpa) - Burmese dissidents on Sunday staged a merit-making ceremony at a Buddhist temple in Rangoon where they urged the government to curb rampant inflation by reducing "stealing and lying," observers said.
Win Naing, a self-decribed "independent politician," led the religious ceremony at which saffron robes were donated to monks at the Tharthanagonye temple in Rangoon, with more than 100 Burmese activists in attendance including representatives from the opposition National League for Democracy and the 88 Generation Students group.
Win Naing was the chief organiser behind several anti-inflation marches held in Rangoon last February. As a dissident, he has chosen to highlight Burma's deplorable economic situation rather than the political stalemate that has characterised the country since 1990.
In previous speeches he has criticised the Burmese military junta for corruption and mismanagement that has led to spiraling inflation over the past year.
On Sunday, Win Naing called on Burmese to practice two of the Buddha's five moral precepts, namely to not steal and not lie. The other three precepts prohibit killing, adultery and consumption of alcohol.
"As the prices are skyrocketing, we have to reduce buying, let us also reduce the number of observing Sila (Buddha's precepts) to the minimal two, that is, not to steal and not to tell lies," said Win Naing. "Let this practice proliferate throughout the length and breath of the nation to make the prices of commodities fall so that peace, unity, progress and democracy processes are expedited."
The anti-stealing, anti-lying campaign was seen as a veiled criticism of government corruption and mis-information, observers at the rally said.
Inflation has been on the rise in Burma since April 2006, when the military junta hiked government salaries by as much as 500 per cent.
Although the government estimated inflation at 10.7 per cent in 2006, Western embassies said it was closer to 50 per cent.
Protests are rare in Burma, which has essentially been under martial law since 1988. All public gatherings of more than five people banned unless they have received official permission.
Crackdowns on all shows of dissent were intensified after the 1990 general election, which was won by the National League for Democracy party of Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.
The regime has ignored that election result for the past 17 years, arguing that a new constitution would be needed before an elected government could take over.
Rangoon (dpa) - Burmese dissidents on Sunday staged a merit-making ceremony at a Buddhist temple in Rangoon where they urged the government to curb rampant inflation by reducing "stealing and lying," observers said.
Win Naing, a self-decribed "independent politician," led the religious ceremony at which saffron robes were donated to monks at the Tharthanagonye temple in Rangoon, with more than 100 Burmese activists in attendance including representatives from the opposition National League for Democracy and the 88 Generation Students group.
Win Naing was the chief organiser behind several anti-inflation marches held in Rangoon last February. As a dissident, he has chosen to highlight Burma's deplorable economic situation rather than the political stalemate that has characterised the country since 1990.
In previous speeches he has criticised the Burmese military junta for corruption and mismanagement that has led to spiraling inflation over the past year.
On Sunday, Win Naing called on Burmese to practice two of the Buddha's five moral precepts, namely to not steal and not lie. The other three precepts prohibit killing, adultery and consumption of alcohol.
"As the prices are skyrocketing, we have to reduce buying, let us also reduce the number of observing Sila (Buddha's precepts) to the minimal two, that is, not to steal and not to tell lies," said Win Naing. "Let this practice proliferate throughout the length and breath of the nation to make the prices of commodities fall so that peace, unity, progress and democracy processes are expedited."
The anti-stealing, anti-lying campaign was seen as a veiled criticism of government corruption and mis-information, observers at the rally said.
Inflation has been on the rise in Burma since April 2006, when the military junta hiked government salaries by as much as 500 per cent.
Although the government estimated inflation at 10.7 per cent in 2006, Western embassies said it was closer to 50 per cent.
Protests are rare in Burma, which has essentially been under martial law since 1988. All public gatherings of more than five people banned unless they have received official permission.
Crackdowns on all shows of dissent were intensified after the 1990 general election, which was won by the National League for Democracy party of Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.
The regime has ignored that election result for the past 17 years, arguing that a new constitution would be needed before an elected government could take over.
14 July 2007
Kofi Annan urges Asean to exert "pressure" on Burma
Kuala Lumpur - Nobel laureate and former UN secretary general Kofi Annan on Friday urged Southeast Asian governments to exert more pressure on Burma's military government to speed up democratic reforms.
Annan also suggested that a non-interference policy among member nations of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) ought to be revised, warning that domestic problems within a country often affected neighbouring countries in the same region.
"Asean can use peer pressure to steer things right in Myanmar," Annan told a media conference in Malaysia's capital Kuala Lumpur.
More political and economic groupings in the world such as the African Union and the EU have come to realise that crisis does not remain within geographical borders, but "tends to spread," he said.
Burma is a member of the 10-nation Asean, along with Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
Annan said Asean "should be able to do more" to urge Burma's ruling junta to speed up action on its promises of democratic reform.
He also commented on the role of the United States in the UN, saying it "should work together with the UN" and not make decisions on its own, referring to Washington's move to begin the war in Iraq.
"No country can act on its own, no matter how powerful," said Annan.
However, he noted that the US government was beginning to become "more multilateral" in its policies.
"I sense a shift in Washington, even by this administration. It is becoming more multilateral than it was 2 years ago, more multilateral than it was in 2003 before the war in Iraq," he said. "And I suspect the next administration will continue this trend."
Annan arrived in Malaysia Thursday to deliver a speech on how the country could contribute to global peace and development.
He emphasized the role of Muslim nations, particularly multi-ethnic Malaysia, in mediating peace in the Middle East.//dpa
BangkokPost: 13 July 2007
Annan also suggested that a non-interference policy among member nations of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) ought to be revised, warning that domestic problems within a country often affected neighbouring countries in the same region.
"Asean can use peer pressure to steer things right in Myanmar," Annan told a media conference in Malaysia's capital Kuala Lumpur.
More political and economic groupings in the world such as the African Union and the EU have come to realise that crisis does not remain within geographical borders, but "tends to spread," he said.
Burma is a member of the 10-nation Asean, along with Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
Annan said Asean "should be able to do more" to urge Burma's ruling junta to speed up action on its promises of democratic reform.
He also commented on the role of the United States in the UN, saying it "should work together with the UN" and not make decisions on its own, referring to Washington's move to begin the war in Iraq.
"No country can act on its own, no matter how powerful," said Annan.
However, he noted that the US government was beginning to become "more multilateral" in its policies.
"I sense a shift in Washington, even by this administration. It is becoming more multilateral than it was 2 years ago, more multilateral than it was in 2003 before the war in Iraq," he said. "And I suspect the next administration will continue this trend."
Annan arrived in Malaysia Thursday to deliver a speech on how the country could contribute to global peace and development.
He emphasized the role of Muslim nations, particularly multi-ethnic Malaysia, in mediating peace in the Middle East.//dpa
BangkokPost: 13 July 2007
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