Burma Update
News and updates on Burma28 July 2008
[ReadingRoom] News on Burma - 28/7/08
- UN demands Myanmar reforms
- No political prisoner in Burma: junta's mouthpieces
- Kachins form interim committee for 2010 elections
- Huge foreign exchange loss for UN in Burma relief
- HRW urges donors to ensure Burma's rulers do not divert cyclone aid
- The price of being a judge in Rangoon
- A plea for forgiveness
- Relief must focus on remote areas: Holmes
- Discrimination over aid distribution among cyclone victims
- US Senate bans import of Burmese gems
- US removes oil giant from Burma sanctions
- Activists urge action after ASEAN charter ratification
- Where do we go from here, Burma?
- In Myanmar, UN loses 25% of aid in currency exchange, up from 15% pre-cyclone
UN demands Myanmar reforms
Aljazeera : July 25, 2008
By Stanley | The United Nations has warned Myanmar's military government that it must show "concrete results" in carrying out political reforms or face action. Zalmay Khalilzad, the US ambassador to the UN, said Myanmar must "turn a new page" and agree to a political road map for elections in 2010, as well as to the release of political prisoners, including Aung San Suu Kyi, the country's opposition leader.
The UN call comes as Condoleezza Rice, the US secretary of state, criticised Myanmar's oft-repeated promise to democratise as a "kind of mockery" on Thursday.
The UN has for the past three months focused on helping the South-East Asian nation recover from Cyclone Nargis which left nearly 140,000 people dead or missing.
But on Thursday several members of the UN Security Council warned Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, that it could face increased pressure if it did not move to release political prisoners.
They urged the military government to co-operate with Ibrahim Gambari, the UN special envoy to the country, to come up with a plan to release the prisoners.
Khalilzad said Myanmar was "misguided" if it thought it could buy time by allowing Gambari's visit.
"If there is not progress on these issues … we would have to look at other measures, bringing more pressure to bear on the regime," he said without elaborating on the measures.
"Absent political progress, we see the potential for increased political instability and the council cannot remain indifferent to that," he said.
He said the council expected Myanmar's ruling generals to take advantage of Gambari's visit in mid-August to show progress.
Gambari last visited Myanmar in March to try to bring about reconciliation between the military government and its pro-democracy opponents.
On Wednesday, Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary-general, called for strong co-operation from Myanmar after convening a meeting of the so-called Group of Friends to discuss Gambari's upcoming visit.
Sanctions renewed
Meanwhile in Washington, the US congress voted to renew a law that bans all imports from Myanmar, legislators said.
The Burmese Freedom and Democracy Act passed on Thursday renews a series of sanctions imposed since 2003 over the suppression of Myanmar's democracy movement.
The law maintains sanctions on the ruling generals until changes are made including steps towards reconciliation and democratisation, an end to attacks on ethnic minorities and the release of all "prisoners of conscience".
Earlier this week the US congress cleared another legislation aimed at keeping Myanmar's gems, including jade and rubies, from entering US markets via third-party countries.
Rights groups say that despite the long-standing ban on all imports, gems from Myanmar have been entering the US via Thailand, China, Taiwan, Malaysia and Singapore.
No political prisoner in Burma: junta's mouthpieces - Wai Moe
Irrawaddy: Thu 24 Jul 2008
Burma's state-run newspapers rejected the use of the term "political prisoners" to describe imprisoned dissidents, saying in a series of articles published ahead of Thursday's commemoration of the United Nations' Declaration on Prisoners of Conscience that detained activists were actually guilty of criminal offenses.
From July 22 to 24, The Mirror and Myanma Alin, two of the ruling junta's mouthpieces, ran a three-part article, "Political Cases, Political Prisoners and the Definition of Burmese Law," which addressed the question of whether there are any political prisoners in Burma.
Referring to Article 5 (j) of the State Emergency Act and Article 124 (a) of the State Offence Act, which are often used by the authorities to charge and imprison political dissidents, the newspapers claimed that since Burmese law does not use the term "political prisoner," they cannot possibly exist in Burmese prisons.
The newspapers argued that the Articles 1-8 of the State Emergency Act, which has been in effect since 1950, cover a wide range of issues, including security, administration, communications, taxation and the economy, but do not relate to political affairs.
Article 5 (j) of the State Emergency Act serves to deter acts that threaten the security of the state, law and order, and public morality, The Mirror and Myanma Alin said.
They also noted that under the Election Law for the People's Assembly No. 11, promulgated in 1989, elected persons can lose their right to represent their constituencies if they break any military decree related to law and order.
"Although the laws do not use the term 'political prisoners,' political activists are charged because of their political work," Aung Thein, a lawyer for several political detainees, told The Irrawaddy on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, the United States' representative to the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations, T. Vance McMahan, is scheduled to moderate a panel discussion at the United Nations headquarters in New York to underscore commitments made in the Declaration on Prisoners of Conscience.
The UN General Assembly issued the Declaration on Prisoners of Conscience on June 11 with the support of 64 nations, including the US and 27 European Union members.
A Burmese human rights group in exile, the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners-Burma (AAPP) welcomed the declaration on July 22.
"[The] AAPP wholeheartedly welcomes the commitment of these 64 nations and
encourages all other nations—especially the Burmese military regime, which is holding over 2,000 political prisoners—to reaffirm their commitment to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and to adopt the Declaration on Prisoners of Conscience," the group said in a statement.
Kachins form interim committee for 2010 elections
Kachin News Group: Thu 24 Jul 2008
The larger ethnic Kachin organisations in Northern Burma set up an 'Interim Kachin Committee (IKC)' on June 20 to form a big Kachin and Non-Kachin political party to gear up for Burma's 2010 general elections announced by the military junta, sources said.
The ethnic Kachin players, the KIO, NDA-K and KNCA are all involved in playing a political game in keeping with the junta's seven-step roadmap to 'disciplined democracy' in which ethnic minority rights are ignored in the new constitution. It is ostensibly being called a step at a time for autonomy of Kachin State.
TDr. Manam Tu Ja, Chairman of Interim Kachin Committee.
he 'Jinghpaw Mungdaw Pran Wan Komiti' in Kachin was formed after a two-day meeting in Myitkyina, the capital of Kachin State on June 19 and 20 by the two Kachin ceasefire groups— the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO), the New Democratic Army-Kachin (NDA-K) along with the Kachin National Consultative Assembly (KNCA), an umbrella organization of Kachin nationals, said KNCA.
The proposed political party derived from the IKC will be the biggest and represent all Kachins and Non-Kachins in the State, according to KIO, NDA-K and KNCA.
The formation of the committee was initiated by the KIO and NDA-K, both of which supported the referendum on the country's new constitution on May 10 drafted by the Burmese ruling junta, sources from the two organizations said.
According to KIO and NDA-K leaders, the committee aims to form the biggest political party in Kachin State at an appropriate time when the junta allows the setting up of political parties for the 2010 elections, said an executive committee member of KNCA based in Myitkina, the capital of Kachin State.
The earlier KIO's Kachin Consultative Committee (KCC) was reformed as IKA because the KCC excluded other Kachin ceasefire groups and non-Kachins except the KIO, insiders said.
Dr. Manam Tu Ja, Vice-president No. 2 and former chairman of KCC of the KIO is the head of the IKC and it will have 49 committee members with 13 representatives from the KIO, five from NDA-K, two from Lasang Awng Wa ceasefire group, about six from KNCA, and individuals while the rest will be non-Kachins, the IKC said.
The 'Interim Kachin Committee' was set up to prevent the junta forming a political party in the current situation, said IKC sources.
Meanwhile, KIO leaders yesterday convinced several hundred men and women in its service in Laiza, the headquarters on the Sino-Burma of the need to set up the IKC and the proposed political party representing all the people in Kachin State, said Laiza residents.
Huge foreign exchange loss for UN in Burma relief
Deutsche Presse-Agentur: Thu 24 Jul 2008
United Nations humanitarian chief John Holmes acknowledged Thursday that the international community's relief effort for the victims of Cyclome Nargis in Burma was losing millions of dollars to the regime's foreign exchange controls.
"This is an extraordinary exchange loss, and where that gain goes I'm not sure," Holmes said in an interview before departing Burma after a three-day assessment tour of the areas affected by the cyclone that slammed into Burma's central coast on May 2-3 leaving about 140,000 people dead or missing.
Inter City Press disclosed earlier Thursday that the UN, which has issued a flash appeal for 482 millions from the international donors for cyclone relief efforts in Burma has been losing more than 20 per cent of the incoming funds to the government's unique foreign exchange requirements.
Under Burma's foreign exchange rules, dollars brought in by foreign agencies and tourists must be converting into Foreign Exchange Currency (FEC) at government banks, and then converted into the kyat currency.
The exchange rate is currently about 880 kyats for each Foreign Exchange Certificate, compared to 1,180 for each dollar, or a loss of about 25 per cent, said the Inter City Press, referring to an internal UN memo it had seen.
"This issue is a very serious problem," said Holmes. "We need to try find a solution."
He said he had raised the issue with the government during talks with the junta held in their capital of Naypyitaw earlier Thursday.
The UN has appealed for 482 million dollars in emergency relief for an estimated two million people still suffering the affects of Cyclone Nargis, especially in the Irrawaddy delta.
Holmes estimated that the relief work would continue for at least another six months, while recovery and reconstruction efforts would go on until April, next year.
International efforts to extend aid to victims of the cyclone have been hampered by the ruling military regime, which during the initial post-catastrophe period slowed the entry of emergency assistance and aid workers to the notoriously xenophobic country.
The aid flow was speeded up considerably after the establishment of a tri-partie mechanism including representatives from the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN), the UN and Burma government in early June, but the exchange problem was not revealed.
HRW urges donors to ensure Burma's rulers do not divert cyclone aid
Voice of America: Thu 24 Jul 2008
Human Rights Watch is urging international donors to ensure that Burma's military rulers do not divert humanitarian aid intended for victims of Cyclone Nargis.
The U.S.-based rights group said Wednesday that aid efforts in Burma should be monitored by an independent body co-managed by donors and the United Nations. It says such a body would boost the transparency and accountability of the aid process.
The group says that since the cyclone struck in May, Burmese leaders have restricted travel by foreign aid workers and arrested some locals involved in relief efforts.
Human Rights Watch says international donors should pressure Burma to adhere to basic principles on the provision of aid.
World Health Organization official, Richard Garfield, who recently visited Burma has said that Burma's government is providing more help to cyclone victims than he previously thought.
Cyclone Nargis left almost 140,000 people dead or missing when it tore through Burma's Irrawaddy Delta region on May 3.
The United Nations and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations said Monday that Burma needs more than $1 billion in aid over the next three years to recover.
The price of being a judge in Rangoon - Awzar Thi
United Press International: Thu 24 Jul 2008
The June edition of the New Era Journal, a Burmese-language monthly published in Bangkok, carried a letter from an unnamed senior lawyer practicing in South Dagon, greater Rangoon.
According to the author, to be selected for the test to become an apprentice judge these days a lawyer needs to pay the selecting panel 3 million kyat - upwards of US$2,500. The writer lamented that although senior judges know about this they turn a blind eye.
The claim is interesting but not remarkable. In Burma, where people have to put up extra cash for everything from a mobile phone permit to a hospital bed, or even a mat on the floor, why not also for a court verdict? After all, the judges have paid to get their posts, and surely expect something in return.
When an advocate practicing in Rangoon was asked a while ago roughly how much it costs to win an ordinary criminal case he laughed and replied with his own questions, as to which type of case, involving who as the defendant and victim, and in which township or district it would be heard. His intricate knowledge of brokering now rivals his knowledge of the law itself.
That Burma's courts are places where services are provided to the person with the highest offer is also unsurprising when they are compared to those in the country's neighbors. From Bangladesh to Indonesia, judges cut deals and entertain proposals that have nothing to do with their job descriptions.
Although it is often the local courts that come under the most scrutiny, much of the blame usually deserves to be laid at the top levels, with the mealy-mouthed high justices who attend international conferences and talk about law as if they actually believed in it.
Across Asia, it is where these senior figures have been compromised that the most severe systemic damage has been caused.
In Sri Lanka, the current chief justice was given the job ahead of other more senior and respected persons because he was the personal choice of the former executive president. She even went so far as to shut down Parliament to prevent him from being impeached, even though his alleged dirty dealings and contempt for international law have brought the country's once credible judiciary to an all-time low.
In Thailand, the military regime that took power in 2006 dismissed a senior court and then blithely insisted that the country's judiciary was independent. The new Constitution it forced through via an electoral charade has needlessly embroiled the top courts in politicking, and it is hardly surprising that a lawyer representing the former prime minister was recently caught in the Supreme Court building with a snack box full of cash.
By contrast, the chief justice and judges of the high courts in Pakistan in the last year literally put their lives and liberty at stake by refusing to acquiesce to the army. Their struggle has so far not only kept the judiciary afloat but has kept their country from going over the edge beyond which Burma passed a long time ago.
After his second coup in 1962, General Ne Win growled about how criminals and "people against whom our armed forces have fought battles" were being let out of custody, and promised to put a stop to such nonsense. The Supreme Court was made answerable to his cabal of army officers, and arbitrary detention and other abuses quickly became unchallengeable.
The courts' structure was left more or less untouched for another decade, but the damage had been done. With the highest court no longer able to defend itself, the entire judiciary was degraded and later easily swallowed up into a system of "people's courts" presided over by tribunals comprised of members with no knowledge of law.
When the whole thing came to pieces in 1988, the revamped military regime quietly went back to the old model of compliant legal officers in a prefabricated structure that gives the army the final word. The junta was by now through with experiments and apparently cognizant that as long as the uppermost courts were under its control, the rest would surely follow. And so things have remained since.
Meanwhile, one uniformed hypocrite after the next has issued stern warnings about corrupt practices among judges and lawyers, accompanied by a crackdown now and then, nothing of which has slowed the spread of profiteering through the courts, for the reason that this cannot be done without threatening the survival of the regime itself.
A relatively uncorrupted judiciary can exist only where there is a relatively uncorrupted, independent and credible upper judiciary. When senior judges are generals' and presidents' yes-men, where they allow themselves to be pushed around by coup makers, or where they are just outright corrupt, no amount of lecturing or making of special inquiries will redeem their subordinates.
Without independent superior courts, the selling of places for a judicial exam is just a fact of life, and in Burma a few million kyat a small price to pay for a chance to get in on the action. The disgruntled lawyer from South Dagon has by now probably paid the 3 million.
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(Awzar Thi is the pen name of a member of the Asian Human Rights Commission with over 15 years of experience as an advocate of human rights and the rule of law in Thailand and Burma. His Rule of Lords blog can be read at http://ratchasima.net .)
A plea for forgiveness - Sanitsuda Ekachai
Bangkok Post: Thu 24 Jul 2008
The mother was holding her baby tightly under an umbrella, trying her best to guard him from the pouring rain.
I could not see her face in the picture. But as a mother, I could feel her shaking fear, not for herself, but for her baby's safety, as a group of soldiers forced her and other Karen refugees to board a boat back to the war zone in Burma.
As a Buddhist, I know I should not feel enraged. Yet I was doubly enraged at the forced repatriation in Mae Hong Son last week.
It is bad enough to know that Thai troops have no heart for the innocent people who are war victims. But to force them back to face possible violence and death on the holy day of Asarnha Bucha? How could they possibly do this?
The cruelty is eye-opening. When such an important holy day has no power to arouse even a pinch of morality among those who declare themselves as the protectors of Buddhism, and when society at large feels nothing against such inhumanity, we are in a very deep, dark pitch.
But condemnation, however legitimate, only deepens our negativity. To have any hope at all of cleansing our souls and our sins, we must probe the roots of such cruelty.
It helps to go back to the gist of the Buddha's First Sermon on Asarnha Bucha Day. In case we have forgotten, here it is:
Our suffering stems from our likes and dislikes rooted in the false sense of self.
To end this cycle, we need to see that we are mere temporary composites of mind and matter under the natural laws of impermanence and conditionality. To realise this truth, the Buddha advises we follow the Eight-fold Path to see for ourselves the natural laws or dharma, to maintain ethical conduct, and to foster spiritual development.
The path helps us to avoid hurting or exploiting others. When the cessation of anger, greed and delusion can be many lifetimes away, constant contemplation on impermanence can miraculously fill our hearts with calm and loving kindness.
The realities of our daily struggles and politics have made it difficult to follow the path. That is why we celebrate Asarnha Bucha, so we can stop and review ourselves.
Buddhism is an optimistic system. People are not originally bad. Our behaviour is conditioned. We can change when the conditioning changes.
So we must ask why the military and the public believe that forced repatriation is not sinful? Also, why do we believe we are good Buddhists when we treat ethnic peoples like dirt?
Is it because fear has made us heartless? Is it because our traditional concept of sin has become too narrow for the modern age? Or is it because we are the faithful followers of a religion much more powerful than Buddhism - that of racist nationalism?
Is it all of the above?
The forced repatriation in Mae Hong Son last week was not the first, and it won't be the last, which failed to shake our hearts.
The public felt undisturbed when a group of youngsters from the Hmong refugee camp in Phetchabun was repatriated to Laos without their parents. Their camp was burned down after a petition against power and sexual abuse. And when they tried to make their voices heard in Bangkok, they were immediately deported to risk their lives from persecution in Laos.
Similarly, we feel nothing in using immigrant workers as slave labour, or when their families are shattered by separate deportations.
Meanwhile, the deep South has become a war zone because we insist on seeing the ethnic Muslim Malays as outsiders.
If this is not racist nationalism, what is?
As the country is fired up by the Preah Vihear nationalistic frenzy, I wonder how the Karen mothers and their children are doing back in the war zone.
It is still raining hard. Can they find shelter and food? Can they stay safe? Can they forgive us our sins?
Sanitsuda Ekachai is Assistant Editor (Outlook), Bangkok Post.
Relief must focus on remote areas: Holmes - Saw Yan Naing
Irrawaddy: Wed 23 Jul 2008
After visiting cyclone-hit areas of Burma's Irrawaddy delta on Tuesday, John Holmes, the United Nations' chief humanitarian relief official, said that aid efforts must now shift their focus to more isolated areas.
"We must focus now on reaching the most vulnerable communities in remote areas, especially along the southern coast of the delta," Holmes said in a statement released by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) on Tuesday.
During his visit to the cyclone-affected township of Bogalay, the UN relief official visited shelters for cyclone victims and saw children going to school, said Laksmita Noviera, public information officer of OCHA in Rangoon.
"He is very happy to see the progress happening in the field in affected areas," Noviera told The Irrawaddy on Wednesday.
During his trip to the delta, Holmes was accompanied by Burma's deputy foreign minister, Kyaw Thu, and representatives of UN agencies, said Noviera.
She also said that Holmes held a meeting in Rangoon on Wednesday with humanitarian aid donors and international nongovernmental organizations, as well as UN agencies providing assistance in the cyclone-hit region.
Holmes is scheduled to visit Naypyidaw, Burma's new capital, on Thursday and is expected to meet with several government officials, including ministers from the Ministry of National Planning and Economic Department and the Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement.
After meeting with Burmese authorities in Naypyidaw, the UN humanitarian relief official will leave Burma on Thursday. Before returning to New York, he will hold a press conference at Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi airport, said Noviera.
Meanwhile, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) called on the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) to use its influence to impress upon Burma's military leaders the importance of allowing the press to function without harassment or intimidation during the next crucial phases of the multilateral relief effort.
The CPJ also pointed out that the Post-Nargis Joint Assessment (PONJA) final report, released by Asean on Monday, made no mention of the important role that unfettered media coverage plays in the aftermath of such disasters.
In a letter to Surin Pitsuwan, the current secretary-general of Asean, CPJ called on the regional grouping "to prevail upon the Burmese government to allow unhindered access to journalists, who can then report on the progress of recovery efforts."
Since the release of the PONJA report, which was designed to provide international donors with a credible assessment of needs in the Irrawaddy delta, several governments have increased their pledges of aid.
Australia has committed an extra US $29 million, while the Japanese government pledged to provide an additional $21 million and New Zealand said it would provide a further $2 million for relief efforts in Burma.
Discrimination over aid distribution among cyclone victims: new report - Solomon
Mizzima News: Wed 23 Jul 2008
Discrimination is evident in distribution of aid, with many victims of Cyclone Nargis still not getting adequate relief material being disbursed by international aid groups including the United Nations agencies, a new report said.
The new report, 'An Alternative Assessment of the Humanitarian Assistance in the Irrawaddy Delta', released by an independent Burmese researcher, said even more than two months after the cyclone, several victims in remote areas are still struggling in the absence of proper aid supplies.
Ko Shwe, author of the report, said he travelled extensively to cyclone-hit areas, particularly to Laputta and Ngaputaw townships in Burma's southwestern Irrawaddy delta. He said there is lack of proper coordination among aid groups including local nongovernmental organizations.
"In some places there is overlapping of relief supplies," Ko Shwe, a Burmese environmentalist based in Thailand, told Mizzima.
o Shwe, in his report, said there is a lack of strategic coordination amongst UN agencies, international agencies and local groups including local NGOs and social groups, in the delivery of relief, data collection, impact assessment and information sharing, which is leading to overlapping in relief distribution.
The report said there are questions of accountability, transparency in aid distribution as it is often conducted through junta-backed civil organization - the Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA).
"It is questionable how much aid is actually being delivered to the affected communities," Ko Shwe said.
According to an aid worker in Laputta, who spoke to Mizzima earlier over telephone, most aid distribution, done through the government, is carried out by members of the USDA, who are giving priority and help its members affected by the cyclone.
While the government has assigned several national companies to construct houses in the affected areas, the report said it is unclear who will be provided with these houses and villagers in Laputta townships are seen repairing and reconstructing their own houses with locally available resources.
The report is the first alternative assessment after the Post-Nargis Joint Assessment released its report on July 21, and aims at highlighting the plight of cyclone victims after two months.
"My idea is solely to bring to light the plight of the victims two months after the cyclone and to remind that there are groups left without adequate support," Shwe told Mizzima.
Meanwhile, UN Humanitarian Chief John Holmes, who is in Burma to assess the relief and rehabilitation situation on Tuesday said, though much has been done to help the cyclone victims, there is still need to reach vulnerable groups in remote areas.
"We must focus now on reaching the most vulnerable communities in remote areas, especially along the southern coast of the delta," Holmes said in a statement released on Tuesday by the UN.
Holmes, who is visiting Burma for the second time since Cyclone Nargis struck the country in May, will meet key Burmese humanitarian actors, as well as Burmese Minister for National Planning and Economic Development and Minister for Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement.
Holmes is visiting the country after witnessing the launch of PONJA report in Singapore, which is expected to attract more donations from donor countries.
Following the release of the PONJA report, the Australian government has pledged to donate another US$ 30 million while New Zealand said it will give US$ 2 million for reconstruction and relief in cyclone affected areas in Burma.
Sarah Finney, Public Affairs Officer of AusAID told Mizzima that the funds will be used to help women, children and displaced persons.
"We are already committed to provide funding," said Finney.
According to the PONJA report, Cyclone Nargis has caused damage to the tune of US$ 4 billion and relief work for cyclone victims in the next three years will require US$ 1 billion.
Editing by Mungpi
US Senate bans import of Burmese gems - Lalit K Jha
Irrawaddy: Wed 23 Jul 2008
Exactly one week after the United States House of Representatives passed the Block Burmese Jade Act, the Senate on Tuesday unanimously approved the bill, which blocks American companies from importing gemstones from Burma and expands financial sanctions against the country's military junta.
The act, which was initially introduced in the Congress last year by late Congressman Tom Lantos, is now being sent to US President George W Bush to sign it into law. In the US Senate, the bill was introduced by Senators Joseph Biden (D-DE) and Mitch McConnell (R-KY). Bush is expected to sign the Block Burmese Jade Act into law in coming days, knowledgeable sources said.
Welcoming the passage of the bill by the Senate, Congressman Howard L Berman said:
"We cannot allow this (Burmese) regime to prosper financially while they continue to violate the human rights of their own people." Berman, the Democratic chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, introduced the legislation in the House.
"This bill hits the Burmese leaders where it hurts—in the wallet. It's our hope that these sanctions will push other countries to examine their own financial dealings with Burma," said Berman, who was in New York on Tuesday leading a congressional delegation to the UN and meeting with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
Though it is already illegal for American companies to directly import Burmese products, the Block Burmese JADE Act will keep Burmese gems, including jade and rubies, from entering US markets via third-party countries.
Stopping US sales of these Burmese gems is expected to prevent the Burmese regime from earning hundreds of millions of dollars each year. The bill also makes Burmese regime leaders, military officers and their families ineligible for visas to the United States.
Congress began to consider the legislation in the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis, when the Burmese regime placed restrictions that severely limited the ability of international aid workers to help the tens of thousands of families that were affected.
Referring to the crackdown on monks last year and the junta's decision to place restrictions on international aid for cyclone victims, Berman said: "These brutal actions demonstrate the regime's moral bankruptcy, but unfortunately it is far from financially bankrupt."
While the Burmese people live in abject poverty, Burma's military leaders continue to take Burma's vast natural resources as their own, he said.
The legislation has already received support from Jewelers of America, which represents more than 11,000 jewelry stores nationwide. Major retailers such as Tiffany's and Bulgari have voluntarily implemented a ban. Similar restrictions have also been imposed by the European Union and Canada.
The unanimous passage of the bill by the Senate was welcomed by Burmese activists.
"The blood color of rubies not only brings Than Shwe's military regime $300 million per year, it signifies all the blood lost by innocent civilians in our struggle for human rights," said Aung Din, a former political prisoner and co-founder of the US Campaign for Burma.
"We want to thank the United States Congress for taking strong and meaningful action," he said in a statement.
US removes oil giant from Burma sanctions - Elana Schor
Guardian (UK): Wed 23 Jul 2008
The US oil giant Chevron will continue to do business in Burma after a provision to stop it operating there was removed from the latest round of US sanctions on the country.
The new sanctions plan, approved yesterday by Congress and expected to receive quick approval from the White House, prevents the sale of Burmese gems and timber in the US via third parties - bringing the US into line with EU and Canadian policy. Profits from those products have enriched Burma's oppressive military regime.
But Congress chose not to sanction Chevron, the largest US business still operating in Burma. An early version of the plan would have forced the company to give up its 28% stake in the Yadana natural gas field, which the regime considers a crucial political priority.
Human rights advocates have linked the Yadana project to ongoing abuses by the regime, including forced labour, rapes and land confiscation to make room for the natural gas pipeline which is slated to run from Burma to Thailand.
The requirement that Chevron leaves Burma was softened to a non-binding recommendation for divestment after the company protested. The US stake in Yadana would be handed over to Chinese or Indian companies if Chevron was forced to sell, the company argued.
The Burma sanctions plan was proposed in Congress last year in response to the regime's bloody quashing of peaceful protests by Buddhist monks and other pro-democracy activists. Not until Cyclone Nargis caused widespread devastation in Burma in May, however, did the legislation move forward.
Howard Berman, the Democratic chairman of the foreign affairs committee in the House of Representatives, lamented that the regime is morally bankrupt "but unfortunately is far from financially bankrupt".
"While the Burmese people live in abject poverty, Burma's military leaders continue to take Burma's vast natural resources as their own," Berman added.
Activists urge action after ASEAN charter ratification - Aye Nai
Democratic Voice of Burma: Wed 23 Jul 2008
Burmese rights activists have welcomed Burma's ratification of the ASEAN charter but urged that public education and an enforcement mechanism are key to the protection of human rights in the country.U Myint Aye of the Human Rights Defenders and Promoters network stressed that there needed to be greater public awareness of the human rights protections laid out in the charter.
"It is important for everyone to know and really understand the facts about the human rights norms. In order to make that happen, they should be educated about the subject in schools and other public areas and through the mass media," Myint Aye said.
"If the Burmese government's ratification of the ASEAN charter assures us of human right protections, we welcome it," he said.
"However, this is not the first time Burma has signed a Human Rights agreement - we have signed a couple of similar agreements since 1948."
Human Rights Education Institute of Burma director Aung Myo Min also welcomed the development of a human rights agreement for the region.
"We would like to praise the fact that a human rights agreement, the like of which has never been seen in the ASEAN region, has finally been developed," he said.
"We welcome the fact that the Burmese government, which has been infamous for its violations of human rights, has signed the charter."
However, Aung Myo Min said it was also important that the regional body could hold state accountable for human rights abuses.
"One thing to have a think about is that the human rights charter has not as yet developed to a level where one can tell what kind of enforcement mechanism it will have," he said.
"We will be very pleased if a mechanism under which the ASEAN can effectively punish governments who violate human rights is developed rather than just a charter to sign."
Myint Aye said it was the responsibility of the government and knowledgeable people to inform others of their rights.
"If we can get the entire 50 million plus citizens of Burma to feel and understand what it's like to live with human rights, that would be a very useful thing," he said.
"But we can't say there is an improvement in human rights just because the government had ratified the charter."
Aung Myo Min said that the government should take steps to comply with the obligations it already has under international human rights law.
"The government should not wait for the human right norms which have yet to be approved - they should start sticking to the agreements they have already made to protect the rights of women and children, and they should immediately stop violating human rights," the HREIB director said.
"An easy step they can take first is to release Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and all the other political detainees," he went on.
"If the junta really respects human rights, they should pursue a dialogue with people's parliament representatives and ethnic leaders elected by the people."
Burma deposited its instrument of ratification of the charter to ASEAN secretary-general Dr Surin Pitsuwan on Monday in a ceremony on the sidelines of a meeting of ASEAN foreign ministers in Singapore.
The charter will come into force 30 days after it has been ratified by all ten ASEAN member states.
The document establishes ASEAN as a legal entity and lays out the key principles and purposes of the regional bloc, including adherence to democratic values and respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms.
It has yet to be ratified by Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand.
Where do we go from here, Burma? - Sao Noan Oo
Shan Herald Agency News: Wed 23 Jul 2008
Where do we go from here, Burma, is the question all peoples of Burma are at present asking because they have had enough of the present illegal dictatorial government.
It is obvious that the past and present generals have failed Burma and her people. In spite of the fact that Burma has rich natural resources, they have made the country one of the poorest in the world. During their occupation they have perpetrated the most atrocious human rights violations against the population. The extent of suffering inflicted on innocent citizens, and the number they have killed and murdered without crime or reason is unimaginable. Daily the soldiers with guns go on a rampage in every town and village to force the people to labour. They steal and kill, and rape young women and girls whenever they feel like it.
The peoples of Burma pleaded to the United Nations, the superpowers, China , Russia , India and Asean countries f or help. But International countries are unable or unwilling to do anything other than coax Than Shwe and his generals to ref or m.
From what has been seen recently Burma is not going to get practical help from the United Nations and there will not be an invasion on humanitarian grounds by the superpowers. It is now up to the people of Burma to fend f or themselves. Some have come up with an "Armed Struggle", "A Saffron Revolution" and many other ideas. Acc or ding to Thomas Jefferson when a bad government cannot be reformed the people have the "right to stage a revolution"
My point of view is that demonstrations in drips and drabs will be a waste of time as they will soon be crushed by the regime, resulting in many deaths and imprisonment. If there is to be a successful revolution, all the peoples of Burma will have to get together, that is, the Burmans as well as other ethnic nationalities. They will have to unite behind the common goal of liberating the country from the dictatorial regime which rules by the gun.
For such a unity to take place all nationalities will have to first get rid of their preconceived ideas and change their mental attitude towards each other. The regime has for four decades divided and ruled, while at the same time has by force tried to assimilate the different nationalities into one Burman nationality. This has created enmity, misunderstanding, grudge, and prejudices against each other. The extreme Burman nationalists have used Burman nationalism, chauvinism and superiority complex as their inspiration; while each of other ethnic nationalities, in order to survive reacted by building a stronger cohesive group excluding other nationalities. This has led to the development of a strong sense of ethno- and religious nationalism of its own. All nationalities must realise that narrow ethno- and religious nationalism is the obvious cause of conflicts between nationalities.
Whether we like it or not all the ethnic nationalities of Burma, because of their geographical situation and history cannot do without with each other; therefore for the common good of all concerned they will have to reconstruct a meaningful relationship that is sincere and worthy of trust. They could begin by treating each other as equal partners, learning by mistakes from past and moving f or ward towards a better future. All will have to learn to rid themselves of the desire to dominate and control, and recognise and respect each others freedom of choice. Human relationship is not easy but good relationship can be achieved by trying to understand each other's feelings and points of view; and not by force but by voluntary participation. After all, the ethnic nationalities joined the Burmans to form the Union of Burma by their own free will. Bogyoke Aung San understood when he said, "the right of Secession must be given, but it is our duty to work and show our sincerity so that they do not wish to leave".
An amicable relationship between all ethnic nationalities can create the man power that is needed to defy the SPDC, which is the only weapon to bring them down. This has to be very well planned and organized with the creation of a network throughout the country. Our hope lies in the Sanghas of Burma, the Burmans, Shans, Mons, Arakans etc, and leaders of all religious groups. These religious leaders are revered and respected by the population. They have the power and ability to teach morality, and to uphold the concept of loving kindness, and thus can unite the people. They are also experienced organizers and have the capability to mobilise the population. If the religious leaders were to lead, the people will flock after them.
The 19th of July is Martyrs Day in Burma , when in 1947 Bogyoke Aung San and his colleagues were assassinated. They had great hopes for the future of Burma . To let the evil dictatorial regime continue to bully the citizens will mean that their aspiration and sacrifice will have been in vain. The SPDC generals, besides being greedy and selfish are nothing more than cowards, afraid to give up their guns and power and live like ordinary folks. They are the greatest bullies of all and not unlike the bullies in the school playground. A school boy likes to bully those weaker than him. He stops only when the victims have the courage to stand and fight back. Likewise, the SPDC generals will continue to bully citizens until the victims have enough strength and courage to defy and stand up to them. It will not be easy because the generals have the advantage of possessing guns and ammunition.
Manpower and strength can be created if all the ethnic nationalities can unite under the common goal. Such unity can only happen by reconciliation of all peoples of Burma by rebuilding trust, and respect for the individual freedom of choice of religion, culture and political views. Enmity, hatred, grudge and prejudices should be overcome by forgiveness and loving kindness. This conciliation and understanding between all ethnic nationalities of Burma can be the only weapon to dismantle the SPDC, to have true democracy and a lasting peace in Burma .
The author is from the former illustrious State of Lawkzawk in the Federated Shan States, as today's Shan State of Burma was known until 1948. Opinions expressed here are those of the author - Editor
In Myanmar, UN loses 25% of aid in currency exchange, up from 15% pre-cyclone - Matthew Russell Lee
Inner City Press: Wed 23 Jul 2008
The UN has directed hundred of millions of dollars into Myanmar since Cyclone Nargis hit, and on July 10 asked for $300 million more. But it has now emerged that the UN has lost some twenty percent of the money it has exchanged in Myanmar, by acquiescing to a government-required exchange of dollars for Foreign Exchange Certificates.
Not only does an internal UN memo reviewed by Inner City Press refer to a "serious loss of 20%" — now, sources in Yangon describe the applicable exchange rates accepted by the UN between FECs and Kyats as 25% lower than the dollars the UN changes into FECs. Before the cyclone, the loss was 15%. The extra ten percent loss, applied to the millions of dollars exchanged by the UN system, could have helped the cyclone's victims. What will be done remains to be seen. The UN's top humanitarian John Holmes has pledged to get to the bottom of the issue during his current three day trip to Myanmar.
The UN Development Program is central to the UN system's operations, and states that "funds are remitted into the UNDP US dollar account at Myanmar Foreign Trade Bank. UNDP Myanmar exchanges US dollars for Foreign Exchange Certificates (FECs) at the Bank, and then converts these into local currency, Kyat."
But in the second half of July, the exchange rated was a mere 880 Kyats for each Foreign Exchange Certificate, compared to 1180 for each dollar the UN converted one-to-one into a FEC. That's a loss of more than 25%. Before Nargis hit, the Kyat to FEC rate fluctuated between 960 to 980 per FEC, compared to 960 to 980 per dollar, a loss of 15%.
The recent Post-Nargis Joint Assessment Final Report, issued by the UN along with ASEAN and, notably, the Than Shwe government of Myanmar, acknowledges in Box 2 that
"Myanmar has a multiple exchange-rate system. The official exchange rate applies to the transactions undertaken by the government and state-owned enterprises and is used primarily for accounting purposes. Foreign Exchange Certificates (FECs) are also issued by the government, exchangeable at a market-determined rate. A large parallel market also exists that exchanges US dollars with Kyats at a small premium over the rate for FECs. This report utilizes the exchange rate used by the Government of Myanmar in its presentation of damages immediately following Cyclone Nargis at the ASEAN-UN International Pledging Conference in Yangon on 25 May 2008 (K 1,100/USD), which was consistent with the prevailing rate on the parallel market at the time of the assessment.*
* FEC and USD rates are fluctuating at present and should be kept under close review during the initial stages of the relief and recovery program: the upcoming Article IV consultations would be a good opportunity for review."
This is a diplomatic way to refer to the black market, and to dodge the question of how much the UN loses by accepting the requirement to change dollars into FECs on a one-to-one basis. Consider the above quotes, annotated:
Foreign Exchange Certificates (FECs) are also issued by the government, exchangeable at a market-determined rate." - The only rate is the black market rate, which currently is 880 Kyats per FEC. So when they say "market determined" they're referring to the black market, as they are in the sentence that follow — "A large parallel market also exists that exchanges US dollars with Kyats at a small premium over the rate for FECs."
"This report utilizes the exchange rate used by the Government of Myanmar in its presentation of damages immediately following Cyclone Nargis at the ASEAN-UN International Pledging Conference in Yangon on 25 May 2008 (K 1,100/USD), which was consistent with the prevailing rate on the parallel market at the time of the assessment." - it appears that Myanmar government actually used the "black market" rate for this, that surprises me quite honestly. If you read the State Media here they're always very careful to quote US$ and Ks figures separately so as not to acknowledge the "real" black market value. The claim that the rate was Ks 1,100 on the 25th May is questionable, records show that it was slightly higher at Ks1,1700, with FEC was trading at Ks975 at that time. But all of that raises two questions;
1) If the Myanmar Govt. is using an exchange rate of Ks1,100 to the US$ and it was the "prevailing rate" at that time, why did the UN not get that rate? The answer to that is of course obvious, the Myanmar Government shafted the UN and the UN damned well knows it!
2) Who in Myanmar can change that sort of money? The only people who have that amount of cash here are the Generals and their allies.
Not only the UN's Sir John Holmes is in Myanmar — the UN Development Program's new regional director for Asia and the Pacific, Ajay Chhibber is there as well. Both should know personally about the exchange rate scam. Also according to a source, if one stays in an "International" hotel like Traders or Sedona — both used by the UN, with Ban Ki Moon staying at Sedona and a apparently at least one whole floor occupied by the UN at Traders — one will pay in FEC/US dollars as a foreigner, around US$/FEC 55 per night. If you're a Myanmar citizen you will pay Ks 40,000.
In some cases it's even more extreme, for example a hotel in Mandalay charging US$/FEC 25 per night, with Myanmar nationals paying Ks 6,000 for the same room and service. So did Ban Ki-moon and his entourage notice this while they were in Myanmar?
On Tuesday at UN headquarters, Inner City Press asked Ban Ki-moon's spokesperson Michele Montas about the seeming wind-down of parts of the UN's Nargis response:
Inner City Press: it's been said that the UN is going to stop its flights from Thailand and its helicopter flights inside Myanmar on 10 August and various humanitarian groups have questioned the decision and said that it's going to make it more difficult to deliver aid. What's the reasoning behind stopping those flights? Is it the problem is over?
Spokesperson Montas: Well, this is because it is being taken over by maritime transportation and other considerations. It really happens quite often in relief operations; that after the emergency phase is over, that they take other means besides transportation by air.
Inner City Press: Maybe the groups just didn't understand?
Spokesperson: No, it's not going to stop the flow of aid in any way. It's going to be simply, right now they are getting into the phase of reconstruction.
And what will the exchange rate loss be during that recovery phase? The Post-Nargis Joint Assessment Final Report asks for $1 billion, while stating in Box 2 said the exchange rate should be reviewed also during the recovery phase. Our point here is that the pressure that countries such as France brought to bear, to get their own humanitarian workers into Myanmar, might have been better exercised in getting the Than Shwe government to back off requiring foreign exchange losses to it, at least in the cyclone's wake. We'll see.
23 July 2008
[ReadingRoom] News on Burma - 23/7/08
- NLD releases Martyrs' Day statement
- UN Humanitarian chief visits Burma to assess post-cyclone situation
- CNF blocks trade route to protest tax rise
- Myanmar denies Suu Kyi release
- Myanmar opposes investigative powers
- Burmese MPs urge UN to reject new constitution
- Millions in Myanmar cyclone aid still to be released
- ASEAN turns blind eye to Burma rights
- Burma makes us all look like fools again
- Political prisoner dies in Mandalay prison
- A new generation of activists arises in Burma
- Three more Rohingya refugees die of starvation in Lada camp
- Another Burma promise
- Divided opinion among Kachins over Gen. Aung San's promise of autonomy
- UN to end Myanmar aid flights on Aug. 10
- Burmese opposition ready to escalate pro-democracy fight
- Is Burma ready for a new election?
- Members of Parliament-elect from Burma: Announcement on the 2010 Elections
- Burmese junta profiting from aid funds?
- Cronyism; unhealthy competition in media market
- Monks continue regime boycott
- Donated fishing equipment taken back from villagers
- A call to arms?
NLD releases Martyrs' Day statement - Maung Too
Democratic Voice of Burma: Tue 22 Jul 2008
The National League for Democracy has reiterated its demands for parliament to be convened and political prisoners to be released, in a statement issued by the party to mark Martyrs' Day.
The NLD called on the ruling State Peace and Development Council to immediately convene the people's parliament with representatives elected by the people.
The party also urged the military regime to immediately and unconditionally release NLD leaders Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and U Tin Oo, Shan ethnic leaders including Shan state NLD chairman Khun Htun Oo and secretary Sai Nyunt Lwin, and all other political prisoners including members of the 88 generation students group.
A recent article in the Burmese state media said that the enactment of the new constitution had rendered the 1990 election results obsolete and challenged the NLD to contest the 2010 election.
The NLD's Martyrs' Day event on Saturday was attended by about 600 people including diplomats from six foreign embassies in Rangoon and veteran politicians.
NLD spokesperson Dr Win Naing said the celebration was held under the watchful eyes of the authorities who blocked entrances to the road leading up to the NLD headquarters with military and riot police trucks.
UN Humanitarian chief visits Burma to assess post-cyclone situation - Solomon
Mizzima News: Tue 22 Jul 2008
John Holmes, United Nations Humanitarian relief chief, on Tuesday arrived in Rangoon and immediately left for Bogale town in cyclone-hit Irrawaddy delta to survey post-cyclone humanitarian assistance, a UN spokesperson in Rangoon said.
Laksmita Noviera, spokesperson of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Burma said, "He [Holmes] is already here and he has left for Bogale and he will return to Rangoon later this afternoon."
Holmes, who is in Burma on a three-day visit, will meet Burmese Minister for National Planning and Economic Development and Minister for Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement, Noviera said.
Holmes is visiting Burma a day after overseeing the release of the UN-spearheaded latest report on the post-cyclone situation in Burma's Irrawaddy and Rangoon division.
On Monday, the Tripartite Core Group, consisting of the UN, members of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and Burmese military government released a new report by the Post-Nargis Joint Assessment.
The report said the damage wrought by Cyclone Nargis that lashed military-ruled Burma on May 2 and 3 is about US$ 4 billion and will require at least US$ 1 billion for reconstruction and rehabilitation.
Dr. Anish Kumar Roy, Special Representative of the ASEAN Secretary General, Surin Pitsuwan, in Burma said, the report helps the donor countries to understand the extent of devastation caused by the cyclone.
"Now the donor community knows exactly what is needed. That is important," Dr. Roy said.
While the new report on Monday does not include fund raising, Dr. Roy said, donors can now use the report as a credible document to view the extent of damage and start donating for the reconstruction.
Noviera said so far the UN has been able to raise a total of 39.6 per cent or US$ 187 million out of the revised appeal of US $481 million made on July 10.
CNF blocks trade route to protest tax rise - Khin Maung Soe Min
Democratic Voice of Burma: Tue 22 Jul 2008
The Chin National Front claims it has blocked access to the India-Burma trade route (2) between Rid town in Chin state and the Indian border state of Mizoram, halting the flow of trade.
CNF military coordinator Pu Solomon told DVB that transportation between the two areas has stopped almost completely with no vehicles travelling on the route apart from a few convoys which were provided with security by the military.
"We are doing this at the request of traders in the region because authorities in Mizoram decided to increase the tax collected from traders who already have to pay a lot of tax to the Burmese authorities and that left them with no profit," said Pu Solomon.
"We will reopen the route when Mizoram authorities agree to reduce the tax to the usual amount."
Pu Solomon said the CNF has strictly prohibited vehicles from accessing the route and those who do not comply with their rules will be severely punished.
He added that the CNF itself has been collecting tax from the border trading businesses in the area, but has only taken 3 percent of their profits.
The CNF has previously blocked the route when Mizoram authorities increased the tax on border traders, but reopened it after Mizoram agreed to reduce the tax.
Myanmar denies Suu Kyi release
Aljazeera: Tue 22 Jul 2008
Myanmar's military government has denied that the country's opposition leader will be freed by the end of the year, saying that reports of her early release from house arrest were incorrect.
Nyan Win, Myanmar's foreign minister, said his statement about Aung San Suu Kyi's freedom had been misunderstood by his counterparts at the Association of Southeast Nations (Asean) meeting, according to Singapore officials.
The clarification on Tuesday comes a day after Singapore's foreign minister quoted Nyan Win as hinting that Aung San Suu Kyi could be released within six months.
George Yeo said on Monday that Myanmar's foreign minister had told him that according to law a political detainee could be held for a maximum of six years, and that the limit was approaching in about "half a year's time".
The remarks were widely reported as offering a new glimmer of hope for Aung San Suu Kyi's early freedom.
'Misunderstood'
But on Tuesday Singapore's Straits Times newspaper quoted Yeo as saying that the six-year period will only be reached in the six months after May 2009, when her latest one-year detention period expires.
The newspaper quoted Yeo as saying that Asean ministers had "misunderstood" Nyan Win.
In May, Myanmar's ruling military announced it was extending Aung San Suu Kyi's house arrest for another 12 months.
The Nobel peace laureate has been held under house arrest or in Yangon's notorious Insein jail for most of the past 18 years.
In a rare move on Monday the 10-nation Asean grouping issued a strong rebuke to Myanmar at the opening of a four-day annual security summit expressing "deep disappointment" at Aung San Suu Kyi's continued arrest.
Asean has traditionally had a policy of not commenting on the internal affairs of member states.
The joint statement also urged Myanmar's rulers to engage in a "meaningful dialogue with all political groups and work toward a peaceful transition to democracy in the near future".
Asean has faced international criticism, especially from the West, for not putting enough pressure on Myanmar's rulers to move toward democracy and free political prisoners.
Myanmar opposes investigative powers - Jim Gomez
Associated Press: Tue 22 Jul 2008
Myanmar's junta has indicated it will oppose any effort to give a Southeast Asian human rights body the power to monitor or investigate rights violations in the region, diplomats said Tuesday.
A high-level panel of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations started work Monday to set up the rights body. The panel will lay down the body's future makeup, role and powers, which will be presented to a summit of ASEAN leaders in December.
But in a closed-door session with the panel Monday, Myanmar Foreign Minister Nyan Win said the human rights body should uphold ASEAN's bedrock policy of noninterference in each other's affairs, a diplomat present at the meeting told The Associated Press.
The diplomat spoke on condition of anonymity because she was not authorized to speak to the media.
Another diplomat who attended a separate meeting between all 10 ASEAN ministers and the panel also said Nyan Win made clear his opposition to the rights body having any monitoring authority.
Myanmar's military government, which has been strongly criticized by Western governments and even fellow ASEAN members for its dismal human rights record, has used the bloc's policy to parry any attempt by outsiders to intervene on behalf of human rights victims in the military-ruled nation.
It has already been decided that the rights body will not have the power to impose sanctions or seek prosecution of violators. But Myanmar's objections, if honored, will make the body even less effective.
A majority of other ASEAN foreign ministers, led by Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand, separately told the panel that the human rights body should at least be empowered to monitor violations and offer advice to prevent such problems, said the first diplomat.
Myanmar officials were not immediately available for comment but in the past they have said the human rights body should only serve as a "consultative mechanism" and that it should not "shame and blame" any ASEAN nation.
The rights body is being set up as part of ASEAN's proposed new charter, which seeks to make the organization rule-based.
ASEAN Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan said the charter will serve as a guide to the panel drafting the terms of reference for the rights body.
"They're going to follow the charter very, very closely - its principle of promoting, upholding and protecting human rights," Surin said.
The international community has condemned Myanmar's junta for its refusal to restore democracy and release pro-democracy leader and Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and other political detainees. ASEAN has also been criticized for not doing enough to pressure Myanmar's military leaders.
ASEAN foreign ministers, disappointed with the Myanmar junta's foot-dragging on democracy, expressed "deep disappointment" in a statement Sunday at the junta's May decision to extend Suu Kyi's detention.
ASEAN's members are Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
Burmese MPs urge UN to reject new constitution - Lalit K Jha
Irrawaddy: Tue 22 Jul 2008
Reflecting a growing sense of frustration, Burmese parliamentarians who were elected in the 1990 general elections urged UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and members of the UN Security Council to declare that a new constitution adopted by the country's military junta through a "sham referendum" is not legitimate.
Spokesperson to the secretary-general, Michelle Montas, told reporters at UN headquarters in New York that the UN chief had received a letter from five parliamentarians calling for the declaration. The issues raised by these parliamentarians are being discussed, Montas said in response to a question.
The letter comes before a planned consultation in the Security Council on Burma later this week and an expected visit to the country by Ibrahim Gambari, the UN special envoy on Burma, to meet with members of the ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) in mid-August.
"Now is the time for the United Nations to declare that the seven-step road map of the SPDC is no longer relevant and the constitution is not legitimate," the parliamentarians said. Copies of the letter have also been sent to US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and US First Lady, Laura Bush.
The letter also called on the UN to exert greater effort to support reconciliation talks among Burma's major political forces "by instructing the SPDC, with a binding resolution, to abandon its road map and start negotiating with the [opposition National League for Democracy] and ethnic representatives immediately for a negotiated political settlement within a specific timeframe."
Two permanent members of the Security Council-China and Russia-have threatened to veto any attempt to pass a binding resolution on Burma, after having rebuffed similar efforts in the past by the United States, France and Britain.
Referring to the secretary-general's recent strong statements on Zimbabwe, the Burmese parliamentarians said they hoped he would take a tougher position on Burma, too. "We expect that secretary-general will also stand for the rights of the people of Burma/Myanmar, who were unable to express their real aspirations in the referendum conducted by the SPDC," the letter said.
On June 30, the secretary-general said that the outcome of a run-off presidential election in Zimbabwe did not reflect the true and genuine will of the country's people or produce a legitimate result.
"We applaud the courage of the secretary-general and his expression of moral authority, defending the right of the people of Zimbabwe to choose a legitimate government in a free and fair election," said the letter.
Referring to the unilateral steps being taken by the Burmese military junta, despite requests made by the international community, the parliamentarians said the regime's seven-step roadmap is no longer relevant.
"The referendum was a sham, the constitution is illegitimate and we continue to call for the SPDC to establish a meaningful and time-bound dialogue with the NLD and the ethnic nationalities," the letter said.
"As we are the ones who will have to decide the future of our country, we have decided not to recognize the constitution and not to join in the SPDC's process," wrote the parliamentarians.
Reflecting deep frustration over the UN's inability to get things moving in Burma, they added: "When we are faced with the military regime, which has never been reluctant to crush any peaceful activity by brutal and excessive force, we expect the United Nations would be able to change the murderous behaviors of the SPDC by diplomacy and pressure."
"At the very least, we don't want the United Nations siding with the dictators, and forcing the people of Burma/Myanmar into an untenable position," they wrote.
Expressing confidence in the UN and the Secretary General, the parliamentarians indicated that their patience was running out.
"We trusted the secretary-general, his good offices role, and his special envoy and hoped that the secretary-general, with the support of the Security Council, would be able to persuade the SPDC to make the road map process credible and include the NLD and ethnic representatives," they wrote.
"We have expected that under the facilitation of the secretary-general and his special envoy, the seven-step roadmap would become the venue of a meaningful political dialogue and an all-party inclusive process. Therefore, we agreed to support the mission of the secretary-general and prepared ourselves to work with the SPDC within the seven-step road map framework," they said.
Millions in Myanmar cyclone aid still to be released
Agence France Presse: Tue 22 Jul 2008
More than 5.8 million dollars in emergency aid for victims of Myanmar's cyclone Nargis is still to be released by donor countries, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said Tuesday.
WHO has reviewed emergency aid following May's devastating storm and now puts the amount needed at more than 12.8 million dollars.
Donor countries - including Australia, Britain, Denmark, Italy, Monaco, Norway, Romania and the United States have already released seven million dollars for the aid effort, a WHO spokesperson told journalists.
In total, aid to Nargis victims and reconstruction will cost a billion dollars, WHO and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), said on Monday.
It is estimated that a little over a billion dollars is needed over the next three years with priorities including food, agriculture, and housing as well as assistance to restore livelihoods, they said in a statement.
Myanmar's ruling generals attracted worldwide condemnation after the cyclone for blocking entry to many foreign aid workers and relief shipments, relenting only after a personal visit by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.
The disaster left at least 138,000 missing or dead.
ASEAN turns blind eye to Burma rights - Hannah Beech
Time: Tue 22 Jul 2008
A new charter for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) was signed on July 21 with much flourish and a promise to "strengthen democracy, enhance good governance and the rule of law, and to promote and protect human rights and fundamental freedoms." An admirable undertaking, except that the person formally ratifying the charter was Nyan Win, the Foreign Minister of Burma, a country with one of the world's most appalling human-rights records. Indeed, Burma's signing of the document during this year's ASEAN ministerial meeting in Singapore threatens to render meaningless the lofty humanitarian goals set by the organization's 10 member nations.
Burma's economy limps along with help from its regional neighbors, including ASEAN members such as Thailand and Singapore as well as non-members India and China. Critics of ASEAN say the forum has not done enough to pressure Burma to end human-rights abuses. Although Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines indicated earlier that they might delay their own ratifications of the charter until Burma cleans up its human-rights record, they have been less publicly forceful in their demands since then. While the U.S. and the European Union have tightened sanctions against Burma's ruling military junta since it violently crushed monk-led protests last year, ASEAN has continued with a "constructive engagement" approach that it hopes will, through dialogue and investment, convince Burma's leaders to treat its people more kindly.
So far, the approach has failed. Since Burma's junta took over the country, also known as Myanmar, in 1962, its people have gone from some of the richest in Asia to among its poorest. An election won by the opposition was duly ignored. Political prisoners crowd jails. The most recent example of the generals' callousness came in May when Cyclone Nargis devastated the country's Irrawaddy Delta, leaving 138,000 people dead or missing and causing $4 billion in damage, according to an international assessment released on July 21. Yet instead of promptly accepting offers of help from around the world, the regime spent weeks refusing visas to foreign aid workers and setting up roadblocks to stop international agencies from delivering relief supplies. Even today, after Burma promised in an ASEAN-brokered deal to stop impeding foreign aid groups, non-Burmese still have to apply for special permits from the country's Ministry of Defense to visit the delta.
So for ASEAN's nine other members not to at least arch an eyebrow when Burma signed the charter is nothing short of willful ignorance. Yes, ASEAN did speak forcefully on July 20 when Singaporean Foreign Minister George Yeo said the bloc's members felt "deep disappointment" that Burma in May prolonged the detention of opposition figurehead and Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. But any mention of that negative emotion was excised from the formal communiqué issued by ASEAN the following day. And an initial flurry of excitement caused by Yeo when he said that his Burmese counterpart had told him Suu Kyi might possibly be released in six months' time turned out to be a misunderstanding. A clarification was quickly issued in which the Burmese government was quoted as saying the earliest Suu Kyi might be freed would be after May 2009.
Of course, ASEAN's kid-gloves approach toward Burma isn't unique. Another item on the agenda at this year's meeting? A treaty of amity and cooperation with none other than North Korea. After buddying up to Burma for so long, ASEAN, it seems, isn't too picky about its friends.
Burma makes us all look like fools again
The Nation (Thailand): Tue 22 Jul 2008
Now is the time to put more pressure on the junta to make its planned election free and fair.
The foreseeable future for Burma is clear: there will be no opposition to worry the junta. What is emerging from the Asean ministerial meeting is an indication that Burma has again outwitted its fellow Asean members and the international community. It is a win-win formula for the regime, which has shown defiance to the whole world. Foreign Minister Nyan Win was succinct in stating that Aung San Suu Kyi will be further incarcerated until the end of next year.
In a joint communiqu้ released at the end of the meeting, Asean urged Burma to take bolder steps towards a peaceful transition to democracy and a free and fair election in 2010. Asean foreign ministers also repeated their appeal for Suu Kyi's freedom. However, it is useless for Asean to express any disappointment over her continued detention. Burma will not budge, knowing full well there is nothing Asean can do. Of course, what the junta is doing is to ensure that she is isolated from the political process. The junta will hold the planned election in 2010 and it will be a fait accompli. The generals will use all kinds of trickery to maintain their power and dodge international sanctions. If the national referendum in May was any indication, the future poll will certainly be rigged.
Burma's ratification of the Asean Charter was timed for maximum benefit. For the first time, the pariah state was able to say it is committed to the values and norms of Asean. In the 11 years since Burma joined Asean, it has caused only headaches for the group. Now, Asean and the international community are committed to help revitalise Burma after Cyclone Nargis. An assessment report by Asean, the UN and Burma said that at least $1 billion dollars is needed over the next three years.
The amount is much less than what the junta had originally proposed when the international donors met for the first time in Rangoon; they had asked for a staggering $11 billion. Recently, the UN agencies assessed that $303 million would be needed over the next twelve months to improve health, housing and other priorities.
As the international cooperation and the recovery continue, Burma has invited UN special envoy Ismail Gambari to return. It remains to be seen how he will be treated by the junta. Is he in for more humiliation or more cooperation? Initially it is possible the generals might treat him more respectfully this time, granted the increased role of the UN and international community in assisting the victims of Nargis. But nothing is certain because the junta could easily abandon any such etiquette. Burma's engagement with the UN will be time-consuming to ensure that, within two years, such engagement will mitigate all possible hostile reaction from Western countries to the junta's reluctant move towards recovery and rehabilitation.
After Nargis, the UN and international community promised not to politicise the issue of providing humanitarian aid. The US, UK and France dispatched ships full of medicine and food to the Bay of Bengal to save lives but they were turned away by the junta.
But aid was the precondition that Asean and its international partners agreed to and supported. It provides opportunities for Western governments and donors to use as a pretext to communicate with Burma's leaders. So, while the Burmese people suffered from the effects of the cyclone, the junta continued with the national referendum and renewed Suu Kyi's house-arrest. Although it was a blatant act of hostility, nothing could be done about it. The junta could not care less. Indeed, it fits the pattern of Burma's continued defiance. Therefore, it is important that in the months to come, the UN Security Council and the international community raise the ante and assert pressure on the regime to ensure that the national reconciliation process really takes place.
In other words, it is time to call for a political outcome. If the political status quo remains the same in the next two years, the Burmese junta will be the biggest winner. The losers will be the suffering Burmese people.
Political prisoner dies in Mandalay prison - Khin Hnin Htet
Democratic Voice of Burma: Mon 21 Jul 2008
Political prisoner Ko Khin Maung Tint has died aged 46 in Mandalay prison after suffering from tuberculosis, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners.
Khin Maung Tint, also known as Htate Tin Maung Maung Yar Pyae and Yar Pyae, died on 18 July.
AAPP offered its condolences to his family in a statement and said that Khin Maung Tint was the second political prisoner to die in prison this year, and the 137th since 1988.
According to AAPP, Khin Maung Tint joined the pro-democracy movement around the time of the 1988 uprising and later joined the All Burma Students' Democratic Front (North).
After being mistakenly accused by the ABSDF (North) of being a government spy and being detained and tortured, he escaped back to Mandalay.
He continued to fight for human rights and democracy, and in 1998 was arrested and sentenced to 20 years' imprisonment for sedition.
U Myo Naing, a member of Mandalay NLD organising wing, said Khin Maung Tint had been ill for some time.
"Before Ko Khin Maung Tint's death, we heard news from his colleagues who were serving time in the same prison that he had been in the prison hospital for quite a while," U Myo Naing said.
"He was suffering from lung and liver diseases and he needed to take medication which would cost around 65,000 kyat," he went on.
"After we learned that, we raised money for him and ordered the medicine from Germany on 9 July. He had a chance to take the medicine but died on 18 July," he said.
"We can only hope that he didn't suffer a lot before he died because he had taken the medicine."
U Myo Naing, who spent time in prison with Ko Khin Maung Tint, said he was from the royal blood line of the Burmese monarchy and his full formal name was Htate Tin Maung Maung Yar Pyae.
Ko Khin Maung Tint is survived by his wife Ma Htay Htay Yee, a son and a daughter.
A new generation of activists arises in Burma
Washington Post: Mon 21 Jul 2008
They operate in the shadows, slipping by moonlight from safe house to safe house, changing their cellphones to hide their tracks and meeting under cover of monasteries or clinics to plot changes that have eluded their country for 46 years.
If one gets arrested, another steps forward.
"I feel like the last man standing. All the responsibility is on my shoulders.... There is no turning back. If I turn back, I betray all my comrades," said a Burmese activist who heads a leading dissident group, the 88 Generation Students, named for a failed uprising in 1988. He took command after the arrest last August of its five most prominent leaders.
In a nearly deserted Rangoon coffee shop one recent morning, he spoke in an urgent whisper, often glancing over his shoulder to look for informers.
The security apparatus of Burma's military junta was thought to have largely shattered the opposition last August and September, in a crackdown that included soldiers firing on an alliance of monks and lay people who had taken to the streets by the thousands to protest a rise in fuel prices. More than 30 people died. At least 800 were detained and many more were forced into exile, according to the Thailand-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners.
But a new generation of democracy activists fights on, its ranks strengthened both by revulsion over last year's bloodletting and the government's inept response after a cyclone that killed an estimated 130,000 people two months ago. Largely clandestine, these activists make up a diffuse network of students, militant Buddhist monks, social service workers and leaders of the 1988 uprising.
Some activists express impatience with what they call the largely passive policies of the National League for Democracy, the country's main opposition party and one of the few anti-government groups that operates legally. In 1990, the league won a national election by a landslide, but the military prevented it from taking office. Its emblem, a fighting peacock, endures as a symbol of resistance to the military for millions of Burmese.
From its closely watched headquarters in downtown Rangoon, a clutter of dusty wooden desks and chairs, the league is led by three octogenarians whom many people here call the "uncles." The men oversee the party while its leader, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, languishes under house arrest.
"Their biggest goal in life is to return the party to the lady," the honorific that sympathizers here use for Suu Kyi, said the leader of the 88 Generation. "They won't do anything. They are just guardians. . . . Because of them, their party is divided."
One woman who is active in the new opposition said she thinks that "the NLD has lost the trust of the people. They have been issuing many announcements, that the government must do this. But the government has not, and anyone who gets involved with the NLD gets in trouble."
Because of what it sees as an absence of clear direction from the NLD's leaders, the 88 Generation has acted on its own, issuing statements with the All Burma Monks Alliance and the All Burma Federation of Student Unions. The most recent statements criticized the junta for holding a referendum on a new constitution while the bodies of cyclone victims still floated in the waterways of the Irrawaddy Delta.
Since its founding in late 2006 by newly freed political prisoners, including legendary student leader Min Ko Naing, the group has launched a series of creative civil disobedience campaigns. Last year, people were invited to dress in white as a symbol of openness; to head to monasteries, Hindu temples or mosques for prayer meetings; and to sign letters and petitions calling for the release of Suu Kyi and other political prisoners. That effort resonated with so many that the group had to extend its closing date.
The group was at the forefront of the protests in August and reached out to monks, the 88 leader said.
"The struggle is still on," said a young lawyer who was sentenced to seven years in jail for starting a student union at a university. Since his release, four years early, he said, he has resumed regular contact with several groups of politically active current and former students. "Students will fight if they think it's just," he said, continuing a tradition among young people here that dates to the era of British colonial rule.
One group of young people, whose members gathered as a book club, decided to organize votes against the proposed constitution, dismissing it as a sham that reinforces the military's control of the country. So they created hundreds of stickers and T-shirts bearing the word "no" and scattered them on buses, in university lecture halls and in the country's ubiquitous tea shops.
Another student said he and some of his peers acted as unofficial election monitors during the referendum, taking photos and interviewing voters who were given already marked ballots or coerced to vote yes.
The 88 leader said such efforts have given him a stock of evidence to show that the vote was neither free nor fair.
Despite the obstacles, the group has not ruled out trying to become a legal party to run for elections in 2010, he said. "People think that if you accept to run, that means you accept the constitution. No! I want to have a legal party to fight from within," he said.
Outside experts have compared the network to Poland's Solidarity movement in the early 1980s, a broad-based coalition of workers, intellectuals and students that emerged as a key political player during the country's transition to democracy.
Just as Solidarity organized picnics to keep people in touch, some new groups here meet as book clubs or medical volunteers but could easily turn at key moments to political activity, said Bertil Lintner, a journalist and author of several books on Burma.
Meanwhile, the devastation wrought by the cyclone has sometimes been a trigger for more overt political activities. A handful of members of an embattled activist group called Human Rights Defenders and Promoters headed to the delta after the storm to hand out relief supplies as well as copies of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, according to a lawyer. They were subsequently sentenced to four years in jail, he said.
Monks remain politically active, too, in spite of increased harassment from security forces since the protests.
Some have hidden pamphlets inside their alms bowls to distribute when they go out to collect food in the mornings, according to a Mandalay monk. They have smuggled glue and posters inside the bowls to stick on street walls.
Ten years ago, the monk said, he started a library that has since expanded to 14 branches across the country. Under cover of membership, patrons take classes in public speaking and pass around poems and pamphlets that are often scathing about their rulers, he said.
"I told people to read lots of books, so they can start to know, and then they can change the system," he said. "Because we want freedom. Because it is difficult to speak and write in this country."
The cyclone's aftermath has also spurred vast new stores of anger, sometimes among monks, who take vows of nonviolence.
"Now we want to get weapons," said a monk known to other dissidents by the nom de guerre "Zero" for his ability to organize and vanish without a trace. "The Buddhist way is lovingkindness. But we lost. So now we want to fight."
In the dormitory of a monastery one recent afternoon, he sat among piles of handwritten speeches and recent clandestine pamphlets stamped with names of groups such as Generation Wave and the All Burmese Monks Alliance. Two young monks listening from a tattered mattress nearby nodded excitedly, and a third pretended to wield a machine gun.
Because of his role as a chief galvanizer of the monks in the protests, the monk has been on the run since September, moving from one monastery to the next. But since the cyclone, he has managed nonetheless to make about 20 trips to the devastated areas, where he buried more than 200 bodies and coordinated with monks and lay people.
"In September, we lost because everywhere, every village did not follow, because of fear," he said. But in the post-cyclone period, "we can do more. Now I can grow and grow."
At a 1,500-strong ceremony commemorating the victims of the cyclone, 15 dissident monks and lay people pondered their options, he said. Should they organize a strike in September to mark the first anniversary of the protests? Hold one to coincide with the auspicious date of 8-8-08, twenty years since the 1988 uprising?
Asked about prospects for an armed struggle, the 88 leader demurred. "We are totally, from beginning to end, peaceful," he said. But the militant monk, he said, chuckling, was a force to be reckoned with.
From house to house, meanwhile, Burmese whisper a new slogan:
"Mandalay, pile of ashes" - for a fire that the government was barely seen to help extinguish.
"Rangoon, pile of logs" - for city trees felled by the cyclone and still cluttering the streets.
"Naypyidaw" - the generals' new capital - "pile of bones."
Three more Rohingya refugees die of starvation in Lada camp
Kaladan News: Mon 21 Jul 2008
Three more Burmese Rohingya refugees in the unofficial Lada camp died of starvation in July 2 to 19. They have been facing severe food crisis because incessant heavy rain and consequent lack of work to support their families, said Olison Majee from the camp.
The dead were identified as Md. Hussain (77), son of Ullah Meah, A-Block and Shed No.77, Mabia Khatoon (60), wife of late Mohamed, Block C, Room No. 02, and Eman Hussain (35), son of Mohamed Siddique, Block E, and Room No. 273. They were starving unable to go out to work as they had no bus fare to go to Teknaf, said Hafez Md. Ayub from the camp.
Md. Hussain (77) died of starvation on July 19, Mabia Khatoon (60), died on July 3, and Eman Hussain (35), died on July 2.
The situation in Lada camp is terrible. Though their living conditions have improved a little compared to the Dum Dum Meah camp but they are now facing acute food crisis and other problems relating to local villagers. The refugees were going out in search of work without any problems when they were in Dum Dum Mea camp and could walk to Teknaf. But, in Lada camp, the refugees are facing myriad problems in supporting their families, said another refugee on condition of anonymity.
The refugees have not been provided with rations from NGOs and other organizations. But they got some ration from the Islamic Relief Organization (IRO) when they were transferred to Lada camp. Since then they have received no rations from any quarter. The refugees thus have been trying to eke out a living by working outside the camp.
Besides, on July 15, a refugee Abdu Salam (45), son of Abdul Zabber, Block C, and Room No.193 of Lada refugee camp died of starvation.
Currently the Lada camp hosts 1,972 families.
Another Burma promise
Bangkok Post: Mon 21 Jul 2008
Burma ratified the charter of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Monday and vowed to uphold its democratic ideals, but dashed hopes of releasing opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi within the next six months.
The country, vilified for its dictatorial government and human rights abuses, became the seventh of the 10-member regional grouping to ratify the document, which was signed by the leaders in November last year.
"Myanmar's ratification of the charter demonstrates our strong commitment to embrace the common values and aspirations of the peoples of Asean," Foreign Minister Nyan Win said, using the military dictators' new name for Burma.
"It is my honest hope that with the growing momentum of ratification, our common goal and commitment to complete ratification of the charter by all member states will be realized at the time of our leaders' summit in Bangkok" in December, he added.
While foreign ministers attending the 41st Asean Ministers Meeting watched, Nyan Win handed over the document to Asean Secretary General Surin Pitsuwan, to the applause of observers.
Burma was also among the Asean countries which unanimously set up a high-level panel on an Asean human rights body, and endorse its terms of reference.
"We urged Myanmar to take bolder steps towards a peaceful transition to democracy in the near future," and work towards the holding of free and fair general elections in 2010," said the minister's communique at the end of the meeting.
"We reiterated our calls for the release of all political detainees, including Suu Kyi, to pave the way for meaningful dialogue involving all parties concerned."
In a separate statement, Singapore Minister for Foreign Af`fairs George Yeo said Ngan Win had clarified that Suu Kyi would not be released in the next six months, but six months from May 2009, the expiry date of the existing one-year detention order.
Yeo, who is also Asean chairman, and other foreign ministers "misunderstood the point made by the Burmese foreign minister on the limit of the detention period," a statement said.
The "clarification" was made at the ministers' meeting Monday afternoon.
Suu Kyi has spent 13 years in detention since 1989. Her house arrest was recently extended.
Surin said he was sure the Philippines, Thailand and Indonesia would soon ratify the charter and that he expected the ratification process to be completed by December.
"The charter will help us building an Asean community we can all be proud of," he said.
The document, which will turn the 41-year-old regional grouping into a legal entity, was initially opposed by the ruling junta because of its inclusion of human rights.
Several Philippine senators said they would oppose the ratification of the charter until the military junta that has ruled Burma since 1962 institutes democratic reforms.
In opening the meeting, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said Asean had decided to press on with the charter's implementation without waiting for all 10 members to ratify it.
"The internal processes of member countries are different and some will be more difficult than others, Lee said.
The Burmese ratification occurred a day after Asean ministers expressed their "deep disappointment" over the continued detention of Suu Kyi and undetermined numbers of political prisoners.
Asean comprises Brunei, Burma, Cambodia, Laos, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
Divided opinion among Kachins over Gen. Aung San's promise of autonomy
Kachin News Group: Mon 21 Jul 2008
Sixty one years after Burmese General Aung San's assassination opinion is still divided among ethnic Kachin leaders on autonomy arrived at by Gen. Aung San before Burma's independence. July 19 marked 61st year of the general's assassination.
Dr. Manam Tu Ja, the Kachin Independence Organization's (KIO) Vice-president No. 2, Head of Political Consultative Committee and former KIO delegate to Burma's ruling junta's National Convention said, "After Aung San's assassination, the U Nu led Anti-fascist People's Freedom League (AFPFL) redrafted the country's constitution as a unitary or centralized system which was opposite to Aung San's promise of genuine federal union for hill tribes. Unlike General Aung San's promise, autonomy of all hill tribes was neglected by Prime Minister U Nu led AFPFL government after Burma was given independence by the British on 4 January, 1948."
"If General Aung San was not assassinated, I think the country would have headed for a genuine federal union including autonomy of ethnic Kachins in keeping with General Aung San's promise to ethnic Kachins, Shans and Chin hill tribes," Dr. Tu Ja told KNG.
Maran Di La, chairman of Kachin Refugee Committee (KRC) based in Malaysia said, "In my opinion, Burman leader General Aung San just came and organized ethnic Kachins during Burma's independence together with Kachins and Burmans. This was cheating and he wanted to depress the Kachins and all Burma's hill tribes with Burmanization."
But, Ma Tu, a modern Kachin political study said, "The death of Aung San directly led to a loss of the cause for ethnic Kachin's autonomy because Kachin leaders signed a concrete agreement only with General Aung San. If Aung San was alive, the autonomy of Kachins was partly or fully guaranteed in the constitution as Aung San had promised."
88 generations Kachin students' leader Awng Wa said, "The question, 'Would Kachins get autonomy, if General Aung San was alive?' had arisen after Aung San's assassination. It is uncertain that Kachins would have got autonomy whether Aung San was alive or dead. This is because the 1947 constitution was similar to the constitutions of former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) and Yugoslavia ruled by dictators."
Duwa Bawmwang Laraw, vice-chairman of Thailand-based Ethnic Nationalities Council (ENC) and, chairman of Kachin National Council (KNC) and Kachin National Organization (KNO) warned, "If Burmans want ethnic Kachins as well as all other Burma's ethnic nationalities in a union, the country's constitution must be drafted based on equal rights and identity. If it is not so, secession would be better."
Agreement between General Aung San and Kachin leaders before Burma's independence
Before the Panglong Agreement was signed between ethnic Kachins, Chins and Shan leaders and Burman leader General Aung San on 12 February, 1947, Kachin leaders met General Aung San separately twice in Myitkyina Township, the capital of Kachin State in 1946.
During the meeting from November 28 to December 1 in 1946 in a school in Manhkring village in Myitkyina, about 30 Kachin hill rulers (Bum Du or Duwa) in Bhamo and Myitkyina districts met General Aung San.
Major agreements on the issues were:
- 1. Kachin territories must be ruled by Kachins themselves.
- 2. Burmans must not rule Kachins.
- 3. Kachin hill areas can be ruled under any system by Kachins.
- 4. Union level economy, security and foreign diplomacy sectors must be governed by the Union Administrative Council formed by Kachin leaders and representatives.
- 5. Practice their-own religion freely.
- 6. All Kachin hill areas must be ruled by Kachin Duwas.
The agreement was crucial for a Burman leader Gen. Aung San before he made second or final journey to England on Burma's independence issues. Gen. Aung San's first journey was failed because he demanded Burma's independence without consensus of hill tribes- Kachin, Chin and Shan.
Kachin struggle for secession
After Kachins and Burmans got independence from the British on 4 January, 1948, Kachins felt the autonomy was degrading and armed struggle began. The political-wing of the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) and the armed-wing Kachin Independence Army (KIA) were officially formed on 5 February, 1961 demanding secession by Kachins.
Following the situations in the world and neighbouring counties, KIO/A changed its secessionist policy into one of autonomy as a state in the Union of Burma from 1976 to now. It even it signed a ceasefire agreement with Burma's ruling junta in 1994.
At the moment, the KIO/A have clearly declared that it will support till the end the junta's seven-step roadmap for disciplined-democracy in the country.
However, KIO/A leaders said, they will solve the political problems by political means through a meaningful dialogue on the table between the KIO/KIA and military rulers of Burma for Kachin State's autonomy.
UN to end Myanmar aid flights on Aug. 10 - Eliza Bates
Associated Press: Fri 18 Jul 2008
A United Nations decision to end aid flights to Myanmar next month could hurt relief efforts already struggling to reach millions of survivors with adequate food and water, humanitarian groups said Friday.
The U.N. plans to stop aid flights between Thailand's Don Muang airport and Myanmar's commercial capital, Yangon, on Aug. 10 and withdraw the last five U.N. helicopters that have been ferrying relief supplies to the hard-hit Irrawaddy delta. Five other helicopters have already stopped flying.
Without the helicopters, relief groups will be forced to depend on boats and trucks to get supplies to the delta. The cargo at Don Muang will be transported by sea.
"It is a bit of a blow not to have the helicopters guaranteed," World Vision emergency coordination specialist Ashley Clements said by telephone from Myanmar.
"We're already dealing with a load that we didn't have enough helicopters for, so now the pressure will be compounded even more," he said. "If we have to go by road it means that supplies will be delayed."
Christine Kahmann, a spokeswoman for Action Against Hunger, agreed that ending the flights would hurt the relief effort.
The U.N. World Food Program's Paul Risley said the move to end the flights is a routine step as relief efforts in Myanmar shift to reconstruction following the May 2-3 cyclone that killed 84,537 people and left 53,836 more missing, according to the government.
The U.N. helicopters have allowed relief workers to reach remote stretches of the flooded delta that were cut off when the cyclone hit.
U.N. officials and aid groups have criticized Myanmar's military junta for its slow response to the disaster and for restricting access to the delta, saying it prevented enough food, water and shelter from reaching survivors.
The U.N. says many survivors still lack adequate food and water.
U.N. humanitarian chief John Holmes said last week that one out of two families in Myanmar have food supplies of only about one day or less and some 60,000 children are at risk of malnutrition. He said the cyclone wiped out 42 percent of the nation's overall food stocks.
Burmese opposition ready to escalate pro-democracy fight - Clancy Chassay
Guardian (UK): Fri 18 Jul 2008
Members of Burma's battered and disparate opposition are growing disillusioned with the old methods of the pro-democracy movement and are seeking ways to escalate their armed struggle.
"There is a very real debate among us about how to begin a more sustained armed struggle," an organiser of last September's failed uprising told the Guardian. "We are ready for that kind of action, if we can get the supplies and training that we need."
Speaking from exile in Thailand, Soe Aung, the chief spokesman for the National Council of the Union of Burma (NCUB), an umbrella group representing nearly all facets of Burma's disparate opposition, said he was witnessing a significant shift in the public attitude across Burma.
"After the September uprising and then the terrible cyclone response, the anger is surging. Some are considering violent means the Burmese people are not that kind of people, there has been a real change."
Soe Aung spoke openly of how covert Western support, primarily from the US state department-funded National Endowment for Democracy (NED) and its subsidiary the International Republican Institute (IRI), had been fundamental to the success of the uprising.
"The US is certainly doing the most for the opposition. There has been real success in training and forming an underground movement through religious organisations and monastic organisations. These provide the best cover inside Burma. The monks can spread their training very effectively."
The NED describes itself as a private organisation but was created by, and remains accountable to, the US Congress. Set up under the Reagan administration in 1983, it has since played a leading role in influencing civil society and electoral processes in countries around the world unfriendly to US interests.
According to Brian Joseph, the man in charge of the group's Burma project, the NED gave $3m (£1.5m) to Burma in 2007. "We would send more, but there is a limit to what you can do in Burma," said Joseph.
Opposition activists both inside and outside Burma largely describe the improvements in political awareness and spread of information as a result of NED-funded projects, but also attribute them to the introduction of the internet to Burma in 2003.
"We could see in September how the advances were utilised. It wasn't just the monks but a massive increase of awareness among Burmese of all types. This was thanks largely due to media organs, the Democratic Voice of Burma, satellite TV, and, of course, the internet," said Soe Aung.
Is Burma ready for a new election? - Htet Aung Kyaw
Democratic Voice of Burma: Fri 18 Jul 2008
Although the National League for Democracy and main ethnic parties didn't recognise the results of the constitutional referendum in May, the ruling junta is now gearing up to drag the opposition into a new election.
So is there any chance of a compromise before the 2010 election?
Many activists, including leading members of the NLD, were upset when the state media urged them to prepare for the forthcoming elections instead of clinging to the 1990 election results.
In fact, this is not first time in the last 18 years that the junta's propaganda machine has told them to forget the 1990 result. But it is the first direct challenge to the NLD since the junta adopted its new constitution last month.
"This has been forced through at gunpoint" said Thein Nyunt, constitutional affairs spokesperson for the NLD. "We don't recognize their announcement and so we won't prepare for a new election."
He claimed the NLD would pursue all avenues to challenge the SPDC on the fairness and legitimacy of the constitutional referendum.
However, the situation on the ground is not the same as it was in 1990. "We are preparing to form a political party for the 2010 election. This is an opportunity for us," says Za Khun Ting Ring, chairman of the New Democratic Army-Kachin, a ceasefire group based on the China-Burma border.
"If we oppose the seven-step road map, there is no way to move ahead. So we must follow it to bring about a civilian government," the 62-year-old former rebel leader told this correspondent in a telephone interview.
The NDA-K and dozens of former rebel armies who signed ceasefire agreements with the junta in the 1990s attended the government-backed National Convention in 2004 to draw up the guidelines for the constitution which the junta adopted last month.
Apart from the opposition and ethnic groups, the notorious pro-junta Union Solidarity Development Association is systematically preparing for the election. "Their latest move was to select two candidates to stand as MPs in each township who are well-educated, rich and respected in their communities," said Htay Aung, author of a book on the USDA called "Whiteshirts" which compares the organisation to Hitler's Nazi "Brownshirts".
Founded in 1993 and the darling of general Than Shwe, the USDA civilian wing is now 27 million strong in a country of 55 million people. The USDA has played key roles in attacking Aung San Suu Kyi's motorcade in 2003, organising the mass rallies in support of the National Convention in 2006 and forcing people to vote "Yes" in the constitutional referendum in May.
Major Aung Lin Htut, a key member of former prime minister Gen Khin Nyunt's spy network, said that most of the USDA's leading members were opportunists who were trying to win the favour of general Than Shwe. "But they not yet getting any support from army chief general Maung Aye and front line troops." the former spy says.
Another challenge for the USDA and Than Shwe will be to gain support from former rebel armies, he pointed out. "Many know well how general Than Shwe broke his promise on the 1990 election result but very few know how he ignored his promises to ceasefire groups," major Aung Lin Htut said.
This view is shared by the New Mon State Party, one of 17 former ethnic rebel groups. "We walked out of the National Convention when they rejected our proposals. That was broken promise which they agreed in 1995 ceasefire agreement" said Nai Aung Ma-nge, a spokesperson for the Thai-Burma border-based Mon rebel group.
"So we do not accept the referendum, constitution or election. The SPDC should seriously consider how to guarantee the futures of 100,000 strong troops from former rebel groups before the election," the outspoken rebel leader said.
In this scenario, can there be any opportunity left to reconsider the SPDC-led seven-step road map before the 2010 election?
Yes, if the UN-led international community works seriously for Burma this time.
United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon and other world leaders well knew how badly the SPDC had dealt with the aid operation to support millions of survivors after Cyclone Nargis struck on 2-3 May leaving 135,000 people dead and missing.
But Ban did not say a word about politics when he meet Than Shwe in Naypyidaw and focused only on humanitarian mission. However, Than Shwe didn't listen to the UN chief's warnings but went ahead with all his political plans; the constitutional referendum in May, the adoption of the constitution in June and now the preparations for an election.
As Than Shwe's seven-step road map draws near completion, the UN special envoy to Burma, Ibrahim Gambari, was invited to visit Naypyidaw in mid-August. Although there was no tangible outcome from his last visit in March, the door is still open for dialogue. Aung Kyi who was appointed minister for relations with Aung San Suu Kyi after last September's Saffron Revolution is still in post but has been left twiddling his thumbs at the moment.
Former UN special envoy to Burma Razali Ismail supports keeping the way clear for dialogue but warns that the Burmese themselves must do more. "The ability to talk to the regime must be maintained in all aspects, including the political," he told this correspondent in a telephone conversation.
"I don't think the people of Myanmar should lose hope in the UN. The UN is doing the best it can," he went on. "When I was working there, I was doing the best I could, but finally it is up to the government and the people of Myanmar to make all the necessary changes."
* Htet Aung Kyaw is a journalist for the Oslo-Based Democratic Voice of Burma.
Members of Parliament-elect from Burma: Announcement on the 2010 Elections (Unofficial Translation)
Fri 18 Jul 2008
(1) With the aim of emergence of democratic system in Burma, the people of Burma effectively toppled the single-party dictatorship in 1988. However, the military generals took control of the state power on 18 September 1988 and since then they are ruling the country with the name of SLORC (later SPDC) [State Law and Order Restoration Council (later State Peace and Development Council)], aggressively oppressing the people, and trying to transform the military dictatorship to a legal government.
(2) In the statement (1/88) issued by the SLORC (SPDC), the generals stated that "the military takes over the country's sovereign power to carry out the four major tasks", and that "holding a multi-party general election will be their last task". The SLORC successfully held the multi-party general elections on 27 May 1990 and therefore, the military has completed its last task dutifully.
(3) The Election Commission acknowledged that the National League for Democracy (NLD) party won a landslide victory with securing 82% of the parliamentary seats. The Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces also said on 30 May 1990 that "this election was actually free and fair." In her speech on 2 July 1999, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi clearly said that "until and unless the 1990 election result is implemented, we have no reason to think about the next election". Without implementing the 1990 election result according to the existing laws, new elections should not be carried out. If do so, it will not be free and fair.
(4) Therefore, we, Members of Parliament elected from the 1990 elections, will not recognize and accept the 2010 election, and will not contest in that election. We clearly announce that we continue to try to solve the problems in Burma by means of political dialogue and for emergence of a democratic government, as wished by the people of Burma.
Date: 18 July 2008
- Members of Committee Representing the Peoples' Parliament
- Members of Parliament
- Members of States and Divisions Organizing Committee
Burmese junta profiting from aid funds? - Mungpi
Mizzima News: Thu 17 Jul 2008
Even as cyclone victims reel under the devastating impact of Nargis, the military rulers are lining their pockets from the aid funds donated by the international community including the UN. The money is being made by way of a twisted currency exchange mechanism - dollar to local Burmese kyat, a source in the Burmese military establishment said.
Following the killer Cyclone Nargis lashing Burma on May 2 and 3, several international non-governmental organizations as well as UN aid agencies rushed in to help cyclone victims.
The source, who declined to be named for fear of reprisal, said the ruling junta is making a huge killing from these donations by keeping a margin in the conversion rates - from foreign currency to Burmese Foreign Exchange Certificates (FEC).
According to the source, the government-owned Myanmar Foreign Trade Bank is the principle bank that is used by aid agencies for transferring funds. And when aid agencies withdraw their money from the MFTB, it is given in the form of Foreign Exchange Certificates (FEC), which is treated as equivalent to the US dollar.
While the information cannot be independently verified, the source said the difference in exchange rates between the dollar and FEC is the margin that the government makes.
A businessman in Rangoon, who is into exchanging foreign currency in the black market said, currently a US $ is worth 1,175 Kyat while the FEC is valued at 850 Kyat. While the rates continue to fluctuate depending on the market, the US Dollar and FEC have never been treated equally in the market.
"The rate between the FEC and Dollar is only equal in the government exchange rates but here in Burma things are done only in the black market," the businessman told Mizzima.
The source, who is also close to the Myanmar Foreign Trade Bank, said, while the bank retains the in coming foreign exchange, it also profits from the marginal difference in the conversion.
The UN World Food Programme, one of the largest UN agencies currently involved in helping cyclone victims in Burma, however, declined to comment on it.
But Paul Risley, the WFP spokesperson in Bangkok admitted that it uses the MFBT to transfer funds to Burma.
UN Humanitarian Chief, John Holmes, who is scheduled to visit Burma next week, on Wednesday, told reporters at a news conference in New York that he would look into the issue of aid money going into the coffers of the ruling junta through a twisted currency exchange mechanism.
But reports quoted him as saying, "My impression from what I heard is that there is not a significant problem. There may be moments when the difference between the dollar and FEC is significant, but by and large it is not."
The source, however, said the Burmese military generals have made millions of Kyat from the exchange margin.
"For every dollar, if the junta is profiting about two to three hundred Kyats, you can imagine how much they will have pocketed since aid agencies made their way into Burma," the source said.
Burma's military junta has asked for US $ 11 billion in aid for emergency relief as well as for reconstruction work to be done in cyclone hit areas of Irrawaddy and Rangoon division.
The regime, in an article carried in its mouthpiece newspaper early this month, even challenged the international community particularly the US, UK, French, and Japan for failing to come up with more donations to help cyclone victims in Burma while spending huge amounts of money on wars.
The UN, last week, launched a fresh appeal urging governments to donate US$ 300 million more to keep humanitarian efforts in Burma going.
Cronyism; unhealthy competition in media market - Htet Win and Hset Linn
Mizzima News: Thu 17 Jul 2008
The workability of most local media outlets in Burma is now apparently harder not just because of irregularities of the censorship board but also the unscrupulous approach of military cronies at their own expenses, resulting in an obstruction of the growth of private media.
Despite the military government's healthier attitude to local private media development in recent years amid private sector's intense struggle to surge up in a still unfair field of operations, a number of media owners, who are in favour of undue government authority, have come to monopolize the industry.
News journal operators in Burma - not more than 12 - could be categorized into two major divisions - one is those who rush to ally with the authority to survive or to gain a lion's share regardless of general public interests and the other is of those who are building their own capacity to be able to take up fair competition in the gradually growing market.
The leading media outlets that are in the first category include few but are strong financially to put the censor board authorities in their pockets.
"They are few in number, but they are strong financially. They reserve their strength for curbing others' growth in order to offset fair competition," said an editor of a recently launched news weekly, adding that they had close relationships with high ranking government authorities such as Brigadier General Kyaw Hsan, the minister for the Ministry of Information, which handles the censorship procedures and grants publishing licenses.
The Press Scrutiny and Registration Division, censorship board is called Sarpay Kempeitai among Burmese writers and journalists in comparison to Japanese military police who suppressed and widely committed atrocities on the Burmese independence revolutionaries during the Second World War. The word Sarpay means literature.
Every article needs to be submitted to the censorship board before publishing and violations can even land persons responsible in jail.
The crony media outlets have since five years ago misused the government to suppress the growth of other local media rivals as they fear fair competition in growing local print media industry - especially of weekly publication business, locally known as journals.
"Their positions are more apparent amid increased regularities of censorship and personal bias of the Government's Office of Press Scrutiny along with domestic political impasse, which also results in limited kits of business survival like in other businesses in Myanmar (Burma), stemmed from part of the government's mismanagement of the country's business environment," the editor said.
They showcase a few things in their editorial works seemingly against government policies, yet virtually applaud pro-government agenda contents run. For example, they carried articles to form the general public's mindset to follow the government's so-called seven step Road Map to democracy.
And the pullout of a popular weekly journal was said to link to their undue influence over the head of the press scrutiny office, which stripped early this year off the weekly's operating license over a news content run despite being banned.
There are several reasons why those media outlets are in position to do so. Colonel Soe Naing Oo, head of the Office of Sr Gen Than Shwe, is a major stakeholder of a leading media company. His business partner used this connection as the press scrutiny office's head Maj Tint Swe to be able to take up that position in late 2004.
"It is okay for us in the industry as a whole - if and when they do for their own business growth. However, they make efforts to suppress others' growth in an early stage development of the Myanmar news media industry, exploiting their close relationship with the authorities," the editor said.
Meanwhile, another senior editor who works for a Rangoon-based leading publication said private print media grows amid myriad challenges including the high cost of raw materials, lack of technology and equipment, pointing out that quality, rather than quantity, will ultimately be the litmus test for long-term success, with possibilities in the long run such as media partnership.
"If we are to look critically at our media, improvements in quality have not necessarily matched that of quantity. We have a considerable issue here," he said.
More than anything, to establish a new media company needs deep pockets.
Local operators had pulled out of the market not because of lack of capital but because of poor technical know-how. And stronger cooperation among the general public, government departments and the media is needed in order to create an up-to-date media sector.
Nevertheless, challenges such as censorship do not hamper capacity building among local journalists. Despite these challenges local journalists are becoming more creative in their professional development. They are working in a unique age that offers them opportunities like training and media fellowships overseas.
Another Rangoon-based journalist talked of private sector role in media partnership in order to push media industry forward faster and enjoy benefits.
"Media partnerships between the public and private sectors work well because they require that the people involved are aware not only of the attitudes of government policymakers towards media development but also of general public expectations," he said.
In a healthy media environment, the public sector would merely act as a regulatory authority and the private sector would have some measure of independence.
"Especially, the broadcasting sector in Myanmar needs to develop more so the country can enjoy benefits like increased business and employment opportunities, and so the people can get information in a timely manner," he added.
Monks continue regime boycott - Naw Say Phaw
Democratic Voice of Burma: Wed 16 Jul 2008
Buddhist monks across Burma have said they are continuing their boycott against government officials by refusing to accept donations or passing them on to needy people.
A monk taking part in the boycott from Kaw Thaung, Tenasserim division, said his monastery had not been able to refuse donations outright.
"Our Pattaneikkuzana act against government members is still ongoing - we have been giving away donation items we received from government members to other people," he said.
"We had to accept these items because they will pressure us if we refuse them."
The monk said some monasteries in Kaw Thaung which had refused donation from government officials had been put under close watch by the military and the monks were also told to inform the authorities when they wanted to travel to other areas.
A monk from one of the lecturing monasteries in Pakokku and another monk from Masoeyein monastery in Mandalay said that they and their fellow monks were also continuing the boycott.
"There is no way we can communicate with these people with loving kindness [metta] according to Buddhist teachings," the Masoeyein monk said.
"We each have different opinions in our hearts and they cannot be reconciled."
Donated fishing equipment taken back from villagers - Naw Say Phaw
Democratic Voice of Burma: Tue 15 Jul 2008
Villagers in Daydaye township, Irrawaddy division, have complained that local authorities have taken back items given to them at a public donation by the government and other private donors.
A private donor told DVB that village authorities had given fishing boats, nets and other equipment to the villagers in front of visiting senior officials but then took them back once the officials had left.
Village authorities gave speeches announcing the donation of 150 fishing boats and other items during the senior officials' visit, the donor said.
"They told the senior authorities how much the boats and fishing nets had cost, and they told them people should be grateful to the government for these supplies as they would now be able to successfully restart the local fishing industry," he said.
"But when the senior authorities had gone, the township authorities and USDA officials took all the stuff back and told the fishermen to go home and that they would get them later," he explained.
"But they never got them and they had to go home empty-handed."
Cyclone refugees in Daydaye have also been pressured to drop their demands for new housing promised to them by the local authorities while the senior officials were visiting, according to the donor.
The donor also said that local authorities had skimmed off some of the money given by private donors to help cyclone victims.
"Donors gave cash to the authorities to buy supplies for the refugees and farmers, but they only bought cheap seeds that you can't grow anything with and kept the rest of the money for themselves," he said.
"Apparently the crop seeds were wet and will never grow anything - they will only waste the farmers' time and energy."
A call to arms? - Kyaw Zwa Moe
Irrawaddy: Tue 15 Jul 2008
"Nothing can defeat Burma's military regime-at least to date." I wrote those words in a commentary after the monk-led uprising was crushed by the junta last year. "All attempts at peaceful or violent means, including armed struggle, people's uprisings, international sanctions and political engagement, have failed."
But I missed one thing: a natural disaster.
The destruction caused by Cyclone Nargis has tested the military regime. It clearly exposed again how restrictive, unreasonable and brutal the generals are, but it couldn't change the generals' mindset-even to fully collaborate with the international community to help their own people.
People expected that the monks uprising in September 2007 would have led to something positive for the country. Again in May this year, many people had hopes that an unreasonable response by the junta to the cyclone disaster might create a positive scenario for humanitarian intervention. But hopes were dashed when the generals largely shunned the international community's effort to provide quick, effective relief aid.
The generals have proved they can handle mass uprising and natural disasters on their own terms, regardless of what others think and feel.
A people's uprising is unlikely to happen again in the near future. Any uprising, if it happened, would be brutally crushed.
Likewise, economic sanctions imposed by Western countries, led by United States, have caused some disruption and inconvenience among the junta's senior leaders and business cronies, but they lack real power to bring about democratic change.
After 20 years, diplomacy has proven to be a failure. Burmese people now realize more than ever that they can't count on the United Nations or the international community to make meaningful change within the country. The generals will continue to do whatever they wish.
The UN is actually useful to the generals-when they want to use it as a political card-but useless for the people.
Perhaps, there is one option left: armed struggle. More Burmese people have been talking about armed struggle in recent months. In fact, armed struggles are nothing new in Burma.
When asked if there is a moral justification for an armed uprising by the people of Burma, Noam Chomsky, the well-known political critic at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said in an interview with Thailand's Bangkok Post newspaper: "There certainly is, in my view, with one qualification: An armed uprising would have to evaluate with care the likely consequences for the people who are suffering."
He said, "I think it's appropriate for people to rise up, but it's not for me to tell people to risk mass murder. As for assassinating leaders, the question is very much like asking whether it is appropriate to kill murderers. They should be apprehended by non-violent means, if possible. If they pull a gun and start shooting, it's legitimate to kill them in self-defense, if there is no lesser option."
Burma has had various forms of armed struggles going on for the past six decades, following the country's independence from Britain. After 1988, ethnic armed groups along the border were reinforced by groups of student activists who fled the country after their movement was crushed by government troops.
In 1989, the once powerful Community Party of Burma split into smaller groups after it faced a mutiny within the party. In the 1990s, about 17 armed ethnic groups gained ceasefire agreements with the military regime. They abandoned their fight, focusing on business concessions offered by the government.
The All Burma Students' Democratic Front (ABSDF), founded by students in 1988, gradually began to lose its momentum after 1991 following a split in the leadership. ABSDF was very popular among the public. It appears that its armed struggle is all but finished.
Today, a few armed groups, including the oldest rebel group, the Karen National Union, haven't reached ceasefire agreements, but their military strength is only a tiny fraction of the regime's 400,000 troops. It has been a long time since armed groups staged large battles against government troops. Brief skirmishes are now the norm.
Armed struggles have had an impact on Burmese politics in the past-positively and negatively.
If an armed uprising could be sustained-one which focused on the freedom of people-it could put pressure on the junta to some extent. It might even move the country's political scenario into a more positive, productive path. If there is a moral justification for an armed uprising of suffering people as Chomsky said, the question is now: Is it time for a new armed uprising?
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