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News Seven
allies call for release of Suu Kyi and her doctor Chiang Mai - The
pro-democracy Burmese Opposition yesterday urged the Burmese military junta to
release their leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her personal physician. The statement issued by
the so-called “Seven alliances” which comprises of women’s groups, ethnic
nationalities, youth, students and 88 generation activists expressed their
concern over the deteriorating health of the opposition leader and democracy
icon. Concern over reports of
her health followed after an American swam across the Inya Lake to intrude into
the 63-year old Aung San Suu Kyi’s residence in Rangoon. “From the very beginning
of her arrest, authorities declared that they had to detain Daw Aung San Suu
Kyi for reasons of 'protective custody' and thus the authorities are the ones
responsible for the intrusion,” said Moe Zaw Oo of National League for
Democracy, – Liberated Area, part of the alliance, in a statement. Dr. Tin Myo Win, the only
person allowed to visit her for monthly check-ups has been detained since May 7
but the regime is still silent on the reasons for the arrest. -------------------- Suu Kyi
Needs Regular Checkups: NLD By Saw Yan Naing Aung San Suu Kyi’s health is getting better, but she needs regular
long-term medical checkups, a spokesman for the opposition National League for
Democracy (NLD) has said. Speaking with The
Irrawaddy on Tuesday, NLD spokesperson Nyan Win said that Pyone Mo
Ei—an assistant to Suu Kyi’s family doctor—visited Suu Kyi on Monday afternoon
at about 1 p.m. and spent about four hours at her lakeside house in Rangoon. “According to the doctor, Daw Suu’s health is improving. She is getting
better. There are no worries about her health at this moment,” said Nyan
Win. However, according to Pyone Mo Ei, although the Nobel Peace Prize winner
can eat meals, regular long-term medical checkups are needed, said Nyan
Win. He added that Pyone Mo Ei has been told she will be allowed to visit Suu
Kyi if the detained leader needs emergency treatment in the future. Except for the condition of her health, Nyan Win said that the doctor
did not report any other matters concerning Suu Kyi to him. Suu Kyi reportedly had difficulty eating last week and was suffering
from low blood pressure and dehydration. According to sources from journalists’
circles in Rangoon, Suu Kyi was also suffering from cramps due to dehydration. Nyan Win said that Suu Kyi’s family physician, Tin Myo Win, who was
arrested last Thursday while waiting to visit Suu Kyi, had not returned home.
He said he had no idea where Tin Myo Win is being held. Last week, Burmese officials arrested US citizen John William Yettaw who
allegedly swam to Suu Kyi’s lakeside home and spent nearly three days there. Tin Myo Win was detained the day after Yettaw was arrested, leading to
several sources speculating that the Burmese military authorities suspected
that Tin Myo Win and Yettaw may have had some connection, in which case Suu
Kyi’s personal physician could face serious charges. The doctor’s detention and the case of the Inya Lake swimmer coincide
with the expiration of Suu Kyi’s detention at the end of May. Her lawyers have
been sending letters of appeal to the junta leaders requesting her release. US Embassy spokesman Richard Mei told Associated
Press that the embassy has requested access to the detained US man,
which as of Monday had still not been granted. He confirmed that Yettaw had
made a previous visit to Burma, and said his family had been told of his
arrest. Meanwhile, a pro-regime Web site, tharkinwe.com, included several
details of John William Yettaw that do not seem to be otherwise publicly
available, suggesting that they were leaked by security officials. It reported that Yettaw admitted that he swam to Suu Kyi's house during
his previous visit to Burma on November 7-December 3, 2008, and spent a longer
period there, although no specific time was given in the report. It cited him
saying that he had scouted his swimming route using the Google Earth Web
service, according to an AP report on Tuesday. The Web site reported that on arrival last week at Suu Kyi's house,
Yettaw first met Suu Kyi’s two female assistants—a mother and daughter, who are
her sole companions—and told them that he was tired and hungry after the swim
and that he has diabetes. The two women were said to have given him meals. The
assistants have not been detained. -------------------- US embassy still denied
access to ‘swimmer’ The US Embassy in Rangoon is yet to meet the man arrested last week after
allegedly entering imprisoned opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s compound,
although they remain optimistic that permission will be granted. The news comes a day after allegations surfaced that the man in question,
US citizen John William Yettaw, may have made another visit to the leader of
opposition party National League for Democracy (NLD) last year. The source of the allegations was a Burmese website, tharkinwe.com, which
seemingly takes a hostile stance toward the NLD’s leader. No further official
information has been reported. A spokesperson at the American Embassy said the only details they had so
far received was confirmation of his name and passport number, but hinted that
cooperation from the government had been unsatisfactory. “We made the request through the Foreign Ministry to see him for consular
access but haven’t gotten a favorable reply yet,” said Richard Mei, Public
Affairs officer at the embassy. “But we’re optimistic we will.” Yettaw was arrested last Wednesday after apparently swimming across Lake
Inya in Rangoon, on the shores of which stand Suu Kyi’s compound where she has
been held under house arrest for 13 of the last 19 years. The state-run Myanmar Ahlin newspaper claimed the man had stayed at the
compound for two nights. Police arresting him allegedly found his passport, some American and
Burmese currency, and a video camera. Reporting by Rosalie Smith -------------------- Washington
Post Urges Regime to Free Suu Kyi’s Doctor The influential Washington
Post newspaper has called on Burma’s military rulers to release
Aung San Suu Kyi’s personal physician, Dr Tin Myo Win, who has been in custody
since an American national was arrested last week for allegedly swimming to the
pro-democracy leader’s lakeside house. The regime has offered no explanation for Tin Myo Win’s arrest, although
dissidents speculate that it is intended to implicate him in the case of John
William Yeattaw, a US citizen who was accused of swimming to Suu Kyi’s house
and staying there for two days. The junta has denied repeated requests from the US embassy in Rangoon
for a counsel visit with the detained American. The Washington Post
editorial also touched on US Burma policy, which is currently under review. On the policy review and the issue of engagement with Burma, the
editorial wrote: “So, by all means, the administration should engage with
Burma’s leaders. But it should insist on the ability to engage with all of
them—including those now behind bars. A good start would be to insist on the
release of Tin Myo Win and on freedom for his courageous patient.” The editorial coincided with a closed-door meeting on Burma taking place
in Washington called “Views from the Ground and the International Community.”
The meeting includes many high-profile pro-engagement, anti-sanctions
advocates. -------------------- UN:
Monsoon Threatens Burmese Cyclone Survivors Hundreds of thousands of survivors in the area of Burma devastated by
Cyclone Nargis one year ago are in extremely vulnerable temporary shelters that
may not survive the upcoming monsoon season, United Nations’ officials warned
on Tuesday. "At the moment half a million people still live in tremendously
poor housing conditions, and with the monsoon coming we are now facing a
humanitarian crisis again," said Mariko Sato, a rapid response coordinator
for the UN human settlement programme UN-HABITAT, in a media conference in
Geneva. Cyclone Nargis devastated the Irrawaddy delta and Rangoon Division on
May 2, 2008, killing at least 140,000 people and displacing 2.4 million. In the
meantime, many survivors of the deadly storm continue to live in makeshift
huts, mainly built from bamboo and sheets of tarpaulin. "The tarpaulins and thatched (roofs) are dilapidated or destroyed,
and they need to be replaced before the monsoon season," Sato told
journalists there. Bishow Parajuli, a resident UN humanitarian coordinator in Burma, said
that about US $10 million for minimum shelter repair was urgently needed. About
US $315 million in international aid came through last year, broadly meeting
the targets for health, food and education, he said. A Tripartite Core Group (TCG) involving the Burmese regime, Asean and
the United Nations launched a three-year US $691 million recovery plan in
February. So far about $100 million has come in, Parajuli said. According to the UN, Burmese families in need received $23 on average to
repair thatched roofs following the cyclone. That compares with an average of
$10,000 per family in Sri Lanka for shelter after the 2004 Indian Ocean
tsunami. Parajuli also told reporters that the process of approving visas for aid
workers was slowing down and it will impact the arrival of new aid workers
before the cyclone season. Following the cyclone, the military government had initially prevented
aid workers from entering the country, but eventually relaxed its objections
and opened the door to many humanitarian aid workers. According to the AP news agency, Parajuli told reporters in Geneva that the
UN is urging the military government to learn from past experience that has
shown a fast-track visa system is essential to moving a large number of aid
workers into the country quickly. -------------------- Blowback on
Myanmar's cyclone disaster By Brian McCartan CHIANG MAI - The tragic
human cost of last year's Cyclone Nargis has never been in question: the killer
storm in Myanmar took the lives of an estimated 146,000 people and left
millions more homeless. One year later, however, there are few answers to how
the disaster's political legacy will shape the future of military run Myanmar. While some hope the
junta's cooperation with foreign aid agencies might signal a move towards
openness, others doubt the regime has any intention of changing fundamentally
its isolationist and authoritarian ways. An estimated 2.4 million
people are still adversely affected by the natural disaster, with hundreds of
thousands still without adequate shelter and reliant on foreign aid
organizations for food and water. The junta was slow to respond to the disaster
and in line with its famous suspicion of foreign influence initially even
blocked access to international aid agencies that offered emergency assistance.
When the scale of the
damage became apparent, the military government under heavy international
pressure eventually allowed foreign relief workers to enter the worst-affected
areas. A deal brokered with the United Nations and the Association of Southeast
Asian Nations (ASEAN) established the Tripartite Core Group (TCG) to coordinate
aid and recovery efforts. That led to a relaxing of
restrictions on aid worker visas, travel, relief supply imports and allowed for
the establishment of aid projects in the worst-hit delta region. The Washington
DC-based refugee advocacy organization Refugees International called last month
for the Barack Obama-led US government to commit US$30 million in food, basic
health care and education aid throughout Myanmar in 2010. Obama's administration
has promised to review the US's current policy towards Myanmar, including the
use of economic and financial sanctions to pressure for political change. A
Washington move towards providing more bilateral emergency aid, some suggest,
could presage a broader policy shift. Joel Charny, Refugees
International's vice president, said on April 29, "The [Myanmar] regime is
one of the most repressive in the world, but the people of [Myanmar] shouldn't
be punished for the actions of the generals." He added: "Now that it
is clearly possible to provide aid inside the country transparently and
effectively, any change in US policy should reflect the needs of the [Myanmar]
people and show a strong and ongoing commitment to assist them." Many international aid
groups are angling to extend their activities beyond the Irrawaddy Delta and
into other areas across the impoverished country. They complain that the junta
has maintained restrictions in other parts of the country, effectively building
an "aid wall" around the Nargis-hit delta. According to a former UN
worker in Myanmar, international aid organizations led by the UN have been
pushing to avoid having their projects legally fixed to the delta through the
memoranda of understanding the junta initially agreed on. Aid as politics Although aid
organizations maintain that their relief and development aid programs are
apolitical, the military rulers clearly still believe an extended relief effort
could have political repercussions, including unwanted observers of its alleged
human-rights abuses and empowerment of grassroots communities. For instance, a famine in
Chin State caused by an infestation of rats in food supplies is ongoing, while
human-rights organization Karen Human Rights Group alleged in an April report
that government policies ordering the army to live off the land had resulted in
widespread extortion of food from already desperate villagers in
conflict-ridden Karen State. While the government has
granted permission for assistance to communities in Chin State, a former aid
worker told Asia Times Online most of those international organizations were
already working in the area. Karen State remains largely off-limits to
international organizations, except for non-government sanctioned cross-border
aid from Thailand. And while the Rohingya refugee crisis in Thailand earlier
this year sparked new international interest in Arakan State's humanitarian
situation, the government has allowed few new aid projects in the area. Outside of the delta,
government restrictions on travel by foreign aid workers and on their projects
are still in place, and approvals for projects remain a time-consuming process.
Government officials are still required to accompany workers on field visits,
making it all but impossible to discuss freely with local counterparts and
civilians about the on-the-ground situation. This month, Oxfam
announced that millions of people in the worst-hit delta region faced worsening
debts since the killer storm as farmers and fishermen without assistance are
forced to borrow money for sustenance and to purchase farming and fishing
inputs. Already struggling to survive before the cyclone, they risk falling
into a cycle of debt that they can never escape. The government's critics
argue that the generals have spent little from their own coffers on relief
efforts. An April 30 press release issued by US pressure group Human Rights Watch
said the regime had accumulated an estimated US$3.5 billion in foreign reserves
and receives some $150 million monthly from gas export revenues. Opponents of
the regime have frequently commented on the generals' preference for military
spending over funding for health and education. The TCG's three-year
recovery plan, known as the Post-Nargis Recovery and Preparedness Plan,
revealed in February that it will require an additional $690 million to restore
the Irrawaddy Delta to pre-cyclone conditions. Only $300 million has been
raised so far and TCG now says that the Myanmar government has committed but so
far failed to provide matching funds. The Emergency Assistance
Team (EAT), a group of foreign and local health and relief workers based on the
Myanmar-Thai that has unofficially provided assistance in the delta, accused
Myanmar government officials in an April 1 open letter to the TCG and ASEAN of
widespread corruption, human-rights abuses, including forced labor and
restrictions on recovery efforts led by local organizations. The EAT is already at the
center of a dispute between largely exile and Thailand-based relief groups and
the international aid community over cyclone relief. A highly critical report
by EAT, together with the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health,
released in March was challenged by a group of 21 international agencies which
questioned its credibility and accused the authors of undermining continued aid
to survivors. Impatient donors Meanwhile, certain
sections of the foreign aid community appear to be losing patience. In December
2008, the European Commission announced that it would give another US$54
million in aid to Myanmar, with $29.3 dedicated to cyclone relief and funneled
through the UN, Red Cross and international agencies, and the rest for other
problems in Myanmar and for refugees along the Thai border. Louis Michel, EU
Development Commissioner said at the time, "The commission will continue
advocating for similar cooperation and access to other parts of the country."
That attitude apparently shifted on April 21 when Koos Richelle, the director
general of the EU's aid office, said after a two-day meeting of Asian and
European aid officials in Manila that there would be no formal talks with
Myanmar on aid or development projects until it opens up. Accusing the generals of
shutting themselves off from the rest of the world, Richelle said, "It's
not us punishing them, it's them not opening up for what we consider to be
normal contact." On April 27, the European Union decided to extend
economic sanctions against Myanmar, underscoring the grouping's discontent with
the junta's lack of political reforms. The EU's sanctions, in
place since 2006, include a travel ban on top Myanmar officials, an arms
embargo, bans on imports of timber and some gems, and a freeze of Myanmar
official assets held in Europe. In its decision to renew the sanctions, the EU
offered to review sanctions if Myanmar's regime showed signs of democratic
reform. US Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton stirred debate on the sanctions question when she said in
February that the US would review its Myanmar policy. However, on April 29, US
State Department Assistant Secretary for Legislative Affairs Richard Verma
wrote in a letter to US congressman Peter King that sanctions would not be part
of any policy review, which apparently will aim instead at exploring options
for creating dialogue with the regime. At the same time, both
the US State Department and Senate are believed to be interested in finding avenues
to increase US humanitarian assistance to Myanmar without directly benefiting
the regime. In the wake of Cyclone Nargis, the US increased its bilateral aid
to Myanmar from US$3 million annually to US$75 million to help cover the relief
efforts. According to a source familiar with the Senate's review, John Kerry,
chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, favors a policy of
increasing humanitarian aid as long as disbursements bypass the ruling junta. Even with those
conciliatory gestures, Myanmar's military regime has failed to answer repeated
international calls to guarantee that elections scheduled for 2010 will be free
and fair. Although it has yet to announce laws concerning the elections and the
establishment of political parties, it has transferred many military officers
to make them eligible to stand for election and strengthened the position of
the Union Solidarity and Development Association, an ostensibly mass
organization that many believe will be the military's political vehicle at the
polls. Opposition organizations
and human-rights groups hold up the regime's refusal to release over 2,100
political prisoners as proof the election's will lack legitimacy. Among those
being held are 21 community relief workers arrested while handing out aid and
criticizing the government's response to Cyclone Nargis. Meanwhile, the
government last week rejected an appeal lodged against opposition leader Aung
San Suu Kyi's continued detention, which was legally supposed to expire this
month. After almost two decades
of confrontation and sanctions, Western policymakers are still searching for
new ways to effectively engage Myanmar's obstinate generals and move them
towards positive political change. In turn, the humanitarian aid community's
outreach in the Irrawaddy Delta has not resulted in greater openness but rather
represents the latest example of the junta's well-worn open-and-closed strategy
for maintaining power. Brian McCartan is a Chiang Mai-based freelance journalist. He
may be reached at brianpm@comcast.net.
-------------------- Burma
expels two American journalists New Delhi - Burma’s
military government has expelled two American journalists who were teaching
feature writing and photography to students in the country’s second largest
city of Mandalay. Jerry Redfern and Karen
Coates on Monday said they were arrested on the evening of May 6 at their hotel
room in Mandalay and were taken to Rangoon on a train and deported to Bangkok
the following day. In a statement, the two
journalists admitted teaching Burmese students non-fiction feature writing and
photography, under an arrangement facilitated by the American Center in Rangoon
and approved by the Burma's Press Scrutiny Board. “We were arrested at our
hotel after dinner on May 6… They said they had received the arrest order from
Naypyitaw half an hour after our last class and lecture had ended,” the two
said in a statement released from Bangkok. The two said Immigration
officials came into their hotel lobby on the evening of May 6 and ordered them
to pack their belongings. They were eventually escorted out of town by two
officials on an evening train. The officials who came to
arrest them gave no reasons for their arrest and seemed possibly unaware of any
specifics regarding the order, the two speculated. “They did not give a
reason for the arrest. Many said they did not know why we were arrested. They
asked us nothing, told us nothing, searched nothing, took nothing. We were not
mistreated or manhandled,” the two said. The two American
journalists said they have been teaching creative non-fiction feature writing
and photography in Burma under a program approved by the Press Scrutiny Board
and the Special Branch (police). “We are heartbroken to
think we might not be able to return to Burma. But that is trivial to how we
worry about the safety of the people who helped us on these trips,” the two
said. While the two said they
are unaware of the possible reason for their deportation, in their statement
they brushed-off rumors of them being agents of the American Central
Intelligence Agency (CIA). They also dismissed
allegations that they were meeting Buddhist monks in monasteries and meeting
politically sensitive people including the famous comedians in Mandalay – the
Moustache Brothers – who are known for their satirical jokes against the ruling
junta. But they said their
arrest and deportation could be a fall-out from the recent actions of another
American citizen, whom they do not know or have connections with, who was
arrested for swimming across Inya Lake and meeting detained opposition leader
Aung San Suu Kyi. Burmese authorities so
far have not made public news about the arrest and deportation. The American Center in
Rangoon, meanwhile, on Tuesday refused to comment on the incident. -------------------- Journalists Say They
Don’t Know Why They Were Deported By Min Lwin Two American
journalists who were deported from Burma last week said that they had no idea
why they were arrested and put on a plane to Bangkok, but local officials told
them that they were acting on orders from Naypyidaw. In a statement
issued on Monday, the two journalists, Jerry Redfern and Karen Coates, said
that they were suddenly taken into custody last Wednesday after they finished
teaching workshops on feature writing and photography in Mandalay. According to the
statement, they were deported to Bangkok the following night after being
escorted to Rangoon by train, despite already having air tickets to the former
capital city. The pair were taking
part in a program organized by the American Center in Rangoon and approved by
the Scrutiny Board—the Burmese regime’s censors—and the Special Branch of the
police. The American and
British embassies have long been active in providing special training programs
in military-ruled Burma. Burmese officials closely monitor students who take
part in workshops and other training programs on offer at the foreign
embassies, and dissidents say that the regime plants informers among the
trainees. In their statement,
the two journalists said that they had heard numerous rumors about why they had
been deported, but were given no explanation by the authorities. They said they
were not questioned or searched, but simply told that they had to leave the
country. In response to
speculation about possible reasons for their deportation, they denied that they
were working for the CIA and said that they had no connection to the American
man who allegedly swam across Inya Lake to the home of detained pro-democracy
leader Aung San Suu Kyi. This was not the
first time that the Burmese junta has pulled the welcome mat out from under the
feet of foreign journalists. Reporters are routinely deported and blacklisted
for meeting opposition figures or gathering information inside Burma. Last year, BBC
correspondent Andrew Harding was deported on arrival at Rangoon International
Airport for visa violations after he attempted to enter the country to report
on the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis. Accorder to a Burmese news presenter, he
was accused of possessing a “disguising tourist visa.” According to media
rights watchdog Reporters Sans Frontières, at least 10 foreign journalists have
been forced out of Burma or banned from entering since Cyclone Nargis struck on
May 2-3. -------------------- Cash
lifeline at risk as Burmese lose foreign jobs By Amy Kazmin in Rangoon For six years Soe Lin sold insurance in Singapore, sending half the $2,700 she earned each month back to Burma to help her parents, whose combined salaries were just a fraction of hers. But as the global financial crisis hit Singapore last year, insurance sales plummeted and Soe Lin's employer sacked many of her co-workers. Fearful she could be next, Soe Lin, 36, found what she thought would be a more secure job as a logistics manager for a German electrical components company. Then in February, three months after she joined, the German company cut many of its senior executives, including Soe Lin. Today she is back in Rangoon, jobless and worried about how she will support her parents, a senior civil servant and a university professor who are both nearing retirement. Her younger brother, an engineer, has also just returned from Singapore, where he was laid off by a tool assembly plant. "If I stay in Singapore it costs $600 [€430, £400] per month for basic living, so I decided to come back and stay with my parents for free and wait for opportunity to come," she says. "A lot of my friends there are losing jobs." Chafing under military rule, Burma may appear cut off from the global economic turmoil. Yet millions of Burmese families are dependent on remittances from relatives working overseas. Already there are signs that this financial lifeline could dry up as countries including Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand have been affected by the global crisis - and cut their foreign workers loose. While no firm figures are available, anecdotal evidence, including flights from south-east Asian capitals crowded with young Burmese on their way home, suggests a significant inflow of returning workers. "Our people outside are losing their jobs and that's going to hurt," says a Rangoon-based economist. More than 2m Burmese have fanned out across south-east Asia, seeking refuge from a dysfunctional economy that is unable to provide work for the large number of young people who join the workforce each year. Educated Burmese are engaged as engineers, sales staff and hotel managers in Singapore, while those with lower skills fill factories, construction sites, restaurants and other labour-intensive jobs across the region. Tens of thousands of Burmese work on the high seas as cargo seamen. Nearly all workers send a good portion of their salaries home. No reliable statistics chart Burmese remittance flows, in part because most bypass the formal banking system. Yet there is little doubt that their combined value far exceeds Burma's meagre foreign aid inflows, excluding those stemming from the devastating May 2008 landing of cyclone Nargis. Now many Burmese families are braced for straitened circumstances. Aung Kyaw, an articulate 22-year-old, has just completed a two-year tourism management course in Singapore. He was supported by his parents - small traders who saved to pay the $13,500 tuition and living costs. Aung Kyaw's intense two-month job search has turned up nothing, forcing him to return to Rangoon and a $50 a month translation job at a private news journal. "I feel quite disappointed, and my parents are quite depressed," he says. "But there is nothing I can do." -------------------- An
Australian Company's Hot Potato Written by Ben Bland Downer EDI abruptly abandons a Burma project after the
press asks questions One of Australia's largest engineering companies is abruptly pulling out of Burma after an investigation by Asia Sentinel revealed that a subsidiary was working on the construction of a lavish new airport for the repressive junta in Naypyidaw, the generals' reclusive capital. Downer EDI's Singaporean consultancy arm, CPG Corporation, was contracted to design the revamped airport at Naypyidaw, working alongside Asia World, the shady Burmese conglomerate whose management are targeted by sanctions in Australia, the US and Europe. The revelation that it has been doing business in Burma is highly embarrassing for a company that has donated thousands of dollars to Australia's ruling Labor Party and has won billions of dollars in Australian government contracts. Prime Minister and Labor leader Kevin Rudd has been vociferous in his condemnation of the Burmese regime and last year his government ratcheted up sanctions against the generals and their cronies. The Sydney-based Downer claimed that it had been unaware that its wholly-owned subsidiary was working on the Naypyidaw project until it was contacted by Asia Sentinel last week. The Australian parent company also said it had been unaware of CPG's involvement as a design consultant for the upgrading of the international airport in Rangoon in 2003. "As soon as this matter was brought to the attention of the chief executive, enquiries were made immediately and a decision followed to withdraw from the contract in an appropriate manner," said Maryanne Graham, a spokeswoman for Downer. The company admitted that its "zero harm" policy had "not been applied at a sub-divisional level" and said that it was launching a "rigorous" review of all its contracts and beefing up its governance procedures to ensure better oversight of future operations. In 2005, the Burmese military government suddenly announced that it was moving its administrative capital from Rangoon to a new site near the town of Pyinmana in the heart of a malaria-infested jungle in central Burma. The government, which calls itself the State Peace and Development Council, claimed that Rangoon had become overcrowded but most observers believe the move to Naypyidaw was the result of superstition and a paranoid desire to build a city that was better protected from both internal and external ‘enemies'. Human rights groups claim that much of Naypyidaw, where the generals hide away in luxuriant palaces, was constructed using forced labor, including children, and that many local residents had their land seized without adequate compensation. Such gross human rights abuses are common practice in large development projects in Burma, which usually directly benefit the regime and its cronies while doing little to alleviate the extreme poverty and hardship faced by many Burmese people. Downer, which is a constituent of Australia's benchmark ASX 200 share index and has a market capitalization of around A$1.7bn (US$1.3bn), is actively involved in a variety of infrastructure, rail and mining projects in Australia, New Zealand and the wider Asia Pacific region. A report in the New Light of Myanmar, the mouthpiece of the military junta, dated 25 April claimed that the expansion of Naypyidaw airport was intended to increase international travel to the city, even though most foreigners are banned from visiting except on official visits. The insecure generals, who regularly talk up the threat of internal and external enemies, have been careful to ensure that most of the country's civilian airports can be easily adapted to military use at short notice. The New Light of Myanmar noted rather ominously that the new runway at Naypyidaw airport will be big enough to ensure that "10 aircrafts can land simultaneously" – an exercise not commonly undertaken by passenger airliners. The newspaper added that while CPG had produced the designs for the airport, the construction work was being carried out by Asia World, the Burmese conglomerate owned and run by two of the junta's key henchmen Steven Law (Tun Myint Naing) and his father, Lo Hsing Han. Last year, the US Treasury implemented economic sanctions against both men as well as Law's wife, Cecilia Ng, and the string of companies they control in Burma and Singapore. In a statement released in February 2008, the Treasury noted that both men had a history of involvement in the illegal drugs trade. "Lo Hsing Han, known as the ‘Godfather of Heroin', has been one of the world's key heroin traffickers dating back to the early 1970s," the Treasury claimed. "Steven Law joined his father's drug empire in the 1990s and has since become one of the wealthiest individuals in Burma." While Canberra does not have any financial sanctions against Burmese companies, both Law and his father are the subject of individual sanctions in Australia. That means that any transactions involving "the transfer of funds or payments to, by the order of, or on behalf of" Law and his father are prohibited without prior approval from the Reserve Bank of Australia. Graham confirmed that CPG was "contracted by a Singapore-based entity to undertake a design assignment for the Naypyidaw Airport". She added that while CPG was not doing business directly with Asia World, Downer believed that "the Singapore-based entity may be a subsidiary of Asia World". "We take zero harm very seriously and while not insinuating anything against our direct client in Singapore, we are taking action to withdraw from this assignment in an appropriate manner," Graham said. "We are also working to ensure that we meet all of our reporting obligations to the relevant authorities in light of this unintentional oversight." CPG started life as the Singapore government's public works department before it was corporatized and eventually sold off by sovereign wealth fund Temasek to Downer for S$131m (US$90) in 2003. While many Australian companies refuse to do business in Burma, there are fewer qualms in Singapore, which is one of the biggest investors in its Southeast Asian neighbor. But although CPG has been active in the country for some time, it was initially reluctant to talk about its Burmese operations, with a Singapore-based spokeswoman telling Asia Sentinel that "we cannot discuss any details of this project due to client confidentiality". However, alarm bells went off in Downer's Sydney headquarters when the company was contacted by Asia Sentinel and the chief executive, Geoff Knox, was forced to act quickly to prevent further reputational damage. Questions still remain about how a large publicly-listed company such as Downer could have allowed a subsidiary to operate with such a free hand and how its audit and governance procedures failed to pick up on the fact that CPG had consistently been doing business in such a controversial location. Downer has faced a series of mounting problems in recent years, including a string of profit warnings and contractual disputes. But a new management team was appointed last year and it has only recently completed a lengthy restructuring process. Downer is likely to face some sort of financial penalty as it seeks to withdraw from the Naypyidaw airport contract but Graham said that the company's main focus was on its "strong value-based system". "Any financial ramifications aren't our greatest concern," she explained, adding that, as a publicly-listed company, Downer would update the market if there was any material impact to its financial position. -------------------- Bangla
to take maritime issue with India, Myanmar to UN Dhaka - Bangladesh has
decided to seek the UN intervention for settlement of its maritime boundary
issue with India and Myanmar as its planned attempt for hydrocarbon exploration
in Bay of Bengal were foiled by overlapping claims from New Delhi and Yangon. "We are making
preparations to put forward our objection at the UN by June to Myanmar's claim
and by November to India's claim in the Bay of Bengal," an unnamed
official familiar with the process told the 'New Age' newspaper. Foreign Ministry
officials were not immediately available for comments on the report, which came
weeks after Foreign Minister Dipu Moni said that "based on international
law and geographical and geo-morphological evidences, Bangladesh will acquire
her rightful share in the Bay of Bengal." "Our foreign policy efforts
will be geared towards securing our right to the resources of the continental
shelf adjacent to our coast on the basis of equity," she had said. Officials said Myanmar
already submitted its claim on maritime delimitation to the Commission on the
Limits of the Continental Shelf, a UN body to deal with the law of the sea, in
December 2008 while India is set to submit its claim shortly. PTI -------------------- Senior Burmese
Commander Killed by KNLA Soldiers By Min Lwin A Burmese senior
commander was killed in an ambush by the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA)
on Monday in Bawgaligyi in Karen State, The Irrawaddy has confirmed with
Burmese and KNLA sources. A KNLA source said
that as Brig-Gen Kaung Myat, the commander of No 5 Military Operation Command
based in Taungoke in Arakan State, was en route to Bawgaligyi, soldiers in the
KNLA 2nd Brigade ambushed and killed him and several body guards. No other casualties
were reported. The clash involved around 100 Burmese and KNLA troops. Military analysts
said it was the first time since 1948 that KNLA soldiers have killed a
top-level Burmese commander. Brig-Gen Kaung Myat
had reportedly been aggressively using force labor in the area, ordering
villagers to construct roads and perform other work in Pegu Division in Karen
State. Kaung Myat, 49, had served as the commander in MOC (5) since 2008. He
graduated from the Defense Service Academy, 23rd intake. According to KNLA
reports, 225 armed Burmese soldiers, including 12 officers, have been killed in
the first quarter of 2009, and 434 soldiers were injured. The KNLA has fought
the Burmese government since 1948. Its headquarters was overrun in 1995, and
its area of engagement has since moved to the eastern Burmese-Thai border area.
Since then, the KNLA
has used guerilla-like tactics and based small units in temporary jungle camps
along the border. -------------------- KNU
claims Burmese Army Brigadier General killed by Phanida Chiang Mai - The body of
Brigadier General Kaung Myat of the Burmese Army, who reportedly died during a
clash with ethnic Karen rebels, will be cremated on Wednesday. The Karen National Union,
an armed resistance group that has fought Burma’s central government for over
60 years, said Brigadier General Kaung Myat was killed during a recent battle. Major Saw Hla Ngwe, Joint
Secretary (2) of the KNU, on Wednesday said Brigadier General Kaung Myat,
commander of Military Operations Command No. (5) based at Thandaung Township in
Pegu Division, was killed during a battle with the KNU on May 11th. While the Burmese Army
made no announcement of the battle, the state-run newspaper, New Light of
Myanmar, on Wednesday carried an obituary of Brigadier General Kaung Myat. The
paper, though not mentioning where the cremation will take place, did say
family members would hold a 'Swan' offering to Buddhist monks for the deceased
Brigadier General at the family's residence in Rangoon's Thingankyun Township.
Brigadier General Kaung
Myat, age 49, graduated from officer training batch 23 and is the third son of
Captain Khin Hla, who lives in Mandalay. He is survived by his
wife Khin Htwe, son Maung Kaung Kyaw Myat and daughter Hla Myat Noe, who live
in the Thingyankyun residence. -------------------- Mizoram
prohibits trade with Burma to prevent Swine Flu In a bid to prevent the outbreak of Swine Flu within its territory, the Mizoram government has started restricting the import of pigs from Burma. According to a report, the government shut down Indo-Myanmar border trade no.2 on May 3, 2009 as the first step towards prevention of the disease. The second step would be posting some medical staff in Zokhawthar village, which is located in Champhai District, near the border area on the road of No. 2 border trade. They will check all those people, who are coming from Burma. Other border roads also would be monitored and checked by the security personnel and medical experts. Due to the closure of the border gate, many traders and domestic animals like pigs are stuck in the border area. There has been no further information regarding when the gate would reopen. “My pigs, almost 80 in number are being kept at Tiau gate for a week. There are more than 200 pigs from Kalemyo. We do not know when it will be opened,” a trader of domestic animals said. The Swine Flu disease broke out in Mexico, initially, this year. It is a disease pigs are afflicted with and it can also be fatal for humans. According to a WHO report, on May 5, 2009, 29 people have been killed due to this disease, 1490 have been infected and the disease has already spread to 21 countries. The disease, called SARS which had originated from China spread all over the world, except in Mizoram state, India. According to a source, hundreds of pigs died in Twenti town
on April 26, 2009, in Rangoon Division. The Health Department has undertaken
investigations in this regard. -------------------- Burmese education
department lowers the bar in hopes of projecting student success Report by Mon Son In an effort to improve the public image of the school systems, the Burmese government’s education department issued a mandate that teachers must facilitate the student’s graduation process regardless of their skill level. In Moulemin Townships the Burmese government is attempting to control enrolment in the school system in order project increases in both student numbers and graduation rates. However most of the high school students can’t read or speak English and students are struggling to write Burmese properly, according to headmasters. The instructions given to the school system required that students in grades 1 to 7 must pass every year, despite poor grades, and that students in their 8th and 9th year must achieve a certain percentage on their tests, according to a source from the Burmese government education department in Mon State. “About two months before student test results came out, the education department called the head school in every township, and insisted that in grades 8 and 9, 70 to 80 percent of the student class must graduate,” said a Moulemin high school principle. Many 10th year students, facing their final year in high school before exams that will place them in university, never complete their studies in their subjects, as they are now able to pass their exams at a reduced skill level. Many students in Burma, from grades 1 to 10, now seek tutoring in the subjects they would otherwise cover in school. Additionally the Burmese government announced to teachers that all children who are of age must to attend school, in order to increase the student enrolment at each school. “In my opinion most students have not received enough education since they were in elementary school under the system the government education system.” stated a 58 year old headmaster, “Although they go on to graduate from University, they don’t have the skills that would allow them to work in the government departments or at a private company. So instead, students leave Burma to find jobs in other countries. The government does not have enough jobs to give students who have graduated from university.” Jobs in the government are gained after students who make the highest rank in their class attend elite government universities, where they receive specific training that will qualify them to enter the government work force. The high school scoring scale works on a 100 point system, where students achieve distinction if they score between 75-80, and receive distinction in ranks of I, II, or III. Students who do not rank at the top of their class do go on to university (also run by the government). Some parents, are not particularly concerned about their children’s education because the changes make it easier for them to graduate. However the government demands have also undermined the ability of teachers to teach. The mother of one student from Mudon township said, “ I am very happy because my children pass every year until 7 grade. But I am worried about grades 9 and 10. If their basic knowledge is not up to par, they will not pass their final high school test.” “Because of our students’ poor education, we have to make even more of an effort to ensure they understand all the subjects, especially in match and English classes.” An elementary class teacher in Mudon Township said, “For parents who understand the government changes, they worry for their children. These parents encourage their child to succeed, and to study hard even if their friends are not. However students are very happy because they know that they will pass every year.” In Burma, students in grades 1 through 7 have monthly tests and at the completion of each exam will not study the subject again. In these grades students can pass their exams with a score of 40 (out of 100), however if students fall below this mark, they will graduate regardless, and move on to the next year. Students in grades 8, 9, and 10 do face the possibility of failing however only in grade 10 would failure result in the student having to repeat the year. A former teacher working with the Mon National Education
Committee (MNEC) speculated that students from MNEC possessed a higher degree
of education than that of their Burmese counterparts, as students under the
MNEC do not need attend outside tuition and they study with teachers closely in
a an MNEC school set up in Nyi Sar camp. MNEC operates under the control of New
Mon State Party (NMSP). While the Burmese government may continue work towards
the image of a successful school system, the real results will be seen in the
future generations who must find work. A computer student from Pa-an, Karen
state, who dropped out of university after his first year said, “I attended
computer class for one year and I could have just learnt computer science from
the book since I never even got access to a computer. Some of my friends are
also leaving school. “ -------------------- NDF
against transformation of ceasefire groups into border force Report by Hnoung Hlaing
The National Democratic Front cannot accept the Burmese junta's attempt at transformation of the ethnic ceasefire groups into a border force, the NDF said during its 33rd anniversary celebrations. It is of the opinion that organizing them into a border force under pressure does not fall under granting them basic political rights. It is a trick and a method of disarming the ceasefire groups. Therefore, the ethnic ceasefire groups must be cautious about the junta's actions. The attempt to transform ethnic ceasefire groups into border forces will be legal during the 2010 elections. It will not grant any benefit to each ethnic group. It cannot grant equal rights, for which the ethnic groups have been fighting, Khaing Soe Naing Aung, Vice-Chairman of NDF told VOA news agency. NDF will continue to organize and gather revolutionary armed groups. NDF will continue to fight against the military junta and to build a national union, he said. U Myint Thein, an assistant secretary of NCUB (National Council of Union of Burma), said, "NDF has done armed struggle earlier. NDF will continue to gather revolutionary armed groups. Then, NDF will participate in armed struggle to build a National Union." NDF's statement to SPDC (State Peace and Development Council) claimed that to declare a nationwide ceasefire for genuine political changes leading to peace, meant releasing Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, U Tin Oo, Khun Htun Oo and all political prisoners unconditionally and to initiate dialogue with all concerned political groups. He said, "Ethnic groups will be repressed until the junta changes its stand. Therefore, the priority should be towards cooperation among ethnic groups and fighting together against the military junta for its downfall.” NDF was founded on May 10, 1976, for gaining basic rights of
freedom, justice, equality and building up a National Union. -------------------- KIO’s
emergency meet on reforming armed wing In the wake of the Burmese military junta’s directives to transform its armed wing the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) into a "border security force", central committee members of the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) concluded its two-day emergency meeting in Laiza HQ today evening, said KIO sources. At the meeting, KIO central committee members mainly discussed reforming its armed wing the KIA into a "border security force". It also went into what kind of rights the KIO should demand from the ruling junta for changing the KIA, said KIO central committee sources. Dr. Manam Tu Ja, KIO's Vice-president No. II and a member of the central committee told KNG before the meeting, "On the matter of transforming of KIA, both sides have to have a series of negotiations on political, economic and other organizational rights." The KIO delegates led by KIO's Vice-president No. I Lt-Gen Gauri Zau Seng were called to Myitkyina to be told to change its armed force into a border security force by the junta's Northern Command (Ma Pa Kha) commander Brig-Gen Soe Win on April 28. KIO leaders have always maintained that the KIA will be changed into the "Kachin State's security force" one day when KIO accomplishes its goal of autonomy for Kachin State. However, the KIO conducted an unusual meeting with Kachin community leaders from the whole of Burma on the nomenclature of KIA and KIO in Laiza headquarters on October 22 to 24, 2007 after the completion of the junta-led National Convention for drafting a new constitution. The meeting was headed by KIO's Vice-president No. I Lt-Gen Gauri Zau Seng and all participants were told "It's time to change KIO and KIA" meaning the word "Independence" from the KIO and KIA should be changed." The meeting did not get off the ground because the changes in KIO and KIA were strongly opposed by KIO/A itself and Kachin people inside and outside the country. This KIO's central committee meeting was held before the KIO delegates and the junta's Northern Command or Kachin State commander Brig-Gen Soe Win will once again meet on May 20 in Myitkyina, the capital of Kachin State, said KIO officials. According to KIO officials in Laiza headquarters, the KIO will also conduct a public meeting in Laiza before they meet the junta's Northern Command commander Brig-Gen Soe Win in Myitkyina. KIO leaders always keep saying that they will not take any
political step without consensus of the Kachin people. -------------------- Businessmen
suffer due to severe restriction Businessmen, mostly Arakanese, are suffering setbacks while trading with Bangladesh because of restrictions imposed by local government authorities on the western Burma border, said a businessman in Maungdaw. “There are various restrictions imposed by local government authorities on businessmen on the western Burma border. We cannot run our business freely. Despite having permission from the authorities to trade with Bangladesh, we are facing many restrictions,” he said. The border security force Nasaka has imposed varied restrictions on businessmen travelling to Bangladesh without ascribing any reason. “The Nasaka authorities allow ferry boats to leave for Teknaf in Bangladesh from Maungdaw only at 4 pm every day. It does not allow any ferry to Bangladesh at other times of the day. We are allowed a 7-day visa to visit Bangladesh but we have to go by ferry boat to Bangladesh across the Naff River,” he said. When traders arrive in Teknaf, it is nightfall and they lose the opportunity of doing business there, he added. Local sources say if any businessman wants to go Bangladesh with the 7-day visa, they have to submit an application to Nasaka headquarters. After Nasaka issues the permission they (businessmen) have to visit the immigration office to collect their visas. “The Nasaka officials issue the permission around 2 pm every day. It becomes very late. It is never issued before 2 pm. After receiving permission from Nasaka we have to go to the immigration office to submit our passport for visa. The immigration office issue visas at 4 pm every day. This delays going to Bangladesh by ferry boat,” the businessman added. Even though many businessmen face this problem every day, they have to go Bangladesh every evening. “When we return to our town of Maungdaw from Teknaf, it is midnight. All businessmen face the problem daily. But the authorities have not changed their time table to suit businessmen,” he said. Senior government authorities in Naypyidaw always say when they visit Maungdaw that the government encourages local businessmen to trade with Bangladesh for development of the region but in actual terms the authorities are creating problems for the businessmen in border trade. -------------------- Junta
donating rags Hseng Khio Fah Sources in eastern Shan State say junta leaders have created a new activity “collecting and distributing old clothes” from and to the people. Towards the end of April, Prime Minister General Thein Sein made a visit to several townships in Eastern Shan State to canvass support for 2010 elections bringing with him bundles of clothes to some towns, a source said. On 25 April, Thein Sein together with Shan State-Kayah State Commander, Lieutenant General Min Aung Hlaing donated two packs of clothes to people in Mong Yang Township, 90 km northeast of Keng Tung, where they talked about the planned 2010 elections and promised 200 mobile phones with cheap price to secure their support. The clothes, they said, were for the poor people. These were kept at the Township Peace and Development Council (TPDC) office before handing over to the village heads. “The bags were very heavy. About 3 or 4 people had to carry each bag,” he added. About four days later, some members of the junta-backed Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA) opened the packs and found that the clothes were very old, some even worn out. “The clothes were like rags and almost torn out. No one took them,” said another source. On 10 May, Kengtung based Shan State East Peace and Development Council ordered the Mongyang TPDC to collect old clothes from every household from each village and send to Kengtung within three days, a source said. Villagers were told to bring their clothes to their village headmen’s house. The village headmen then brought the accumulated clothes to the TPDC office. “They are collecting clothes from our township to donate them to another township, and from another township to us,” commented a villager. “They are trying to win our support.” Thein Sein was quoted by The National of United Arab Emirates, 6 April 2009 issue, to have said: We cannot afford to lose this election. Otherwise we have wasted the last 20 years for nothing. -------------------- Natala
villagers stab Rohingya youth in Maungdaw Maungdaw, Arakan State: Natala (model) villagers from Taungbro left, a sub-town under Maungdaw Township, stabbed a Rohingya villager on May 10, at about 11:00 pm, when the Rohingya villagers stopped them from catching fish from their shrimp projects, a close relative of the victim said. On that night, a group of Natala villagers, including women carrying lethal weapons went to nearby shrimp projects of Rohingya villagers, to catch fish. Seeing the Natala villagers, the Rohingya villagers, who were watching for thieves and robbers at their shrimp projects, barred them from catching fishes. However, the Natala villagers defied them and caught fishes from the projects. Hence, there was an altercation between the Natala villagers and Rohingya villagers, who were watching over their projects. One of the Natala villagers stabbed a Rohingya villager called Salim (20), son of Abu Taher, who hailed from Ward No.1 of Taungbro left Sub-town. Witnessing the incident, the rest of the watchers raised a hue and cry. Hearing the noise, some of the Nasaka and Rohingya villagers rushed to the spot, but the Natala villagers ran away from the scene. However, one of the female Natala villagers accompanied by her child was arrested from the street and was brought to the Nasaka camp. The victim is not in a critical condition and is being treated at a local clinic, said one of the victim’s family members. The following morning, on May 11, a group of Nasaka went to the Natala village and arrested five Natala villagers after encircling the village and brought them to the Nasaka camp. They have been detained, a trader from the locality said. Initially, the State Peace and Development Council’s (SPDC‘s) set up model villages in northern Arakan calling Rakhines from inside and outside of Arakan State. Later, the authorities brought poor Burmans from central Burma, mostly retired civil servants, former prisoners, and street people to establish Natala villages. There is a little difference between a Model village and a Natala village, which is most of the Natala villagers, are Burmans and get many facilities than those of model villagers. The people were not willing to come to Arakan, but they were forcibly brought there. They were even tied by the legs while they were brought to Arakan by ship from Rangoon, said a schoolteacher from the locality. The Natala villagers frequently create problems for Rohingya villagers. They steal cattle, fowls, goats, vegetables from Rohingya villagers and even rob and kill Rohingya travellers. They are encouraged by the concerned authorities, who give them all the facility and protection to become gangsters in Northern Arakan. Natala villages have resulted in the confiscation of lands and extraction of forced labor from the Rohingya community. Most of the Natala villagers in Maungdaw Township, do not like to stay in their remote Natala villages, so they go to Maungdaw-Aley Than Kyaw road, establishing tents by the road-side with the cooperation of the local Nasaka authorities. Afterwards, they establish small markets, bar shops, video rooms and even indulge in gambling, said an elderly man from Maungdaw town. The State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) set up a police out-post or army battalions close to Natala villages to give them security. If the Natala villagers commit any crime against the Rohingya villagers, the police or Nasaka take no action against them. But, sometimes, the concerned authority takes slight action against the Natala villagers if necessary to please the Rohingya villagers. Natala villagers never hesitate to commit any crimes against the Rohingya community. Natala villagers are doing whatever they want, encouraged by
the concerned authorities, who give them all the facility and protection to
become gangsters in Northern Arakan, said a student from Taungbro. -------------------- Opinion & Analysis Editorial:
Engage With Burma? Sure, but not just with the generals AT FIRST GLANCE, the
stars seem aligned for a new era of U.S. engagement with the dictators who run
Burma, the Southeast Asian nation of 50 million people also known as Myanmar.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has ordered a review
of U.S. policy. Several humanitarian organizations are pushing hard for change,
arguing that the regime has modified its behavior since infamously barring aid
after a devastating cyclone a year ago. United Nations officials are always
eager to conduct more diplomatic missions, the meager fruits of past efforts
notwithstanding. There's just one
problem: Burma's maximum leader, Gen. Than Shwe, doesn't seem to have gotten
the memo. While advocates of engagement insist that the regime has changed its
stripes, in reality it is constantly finding new ways to shock the conscience.
The latest reminder of its nature is the detention of Tin Myo Win, the personal
physician of Burma's democracy leader, Aung San Suu Kyi. A little background:
Aung San Suu Kyi, 63, is the daughter of the hero of Burma's battle for
independence from colonial status. In 1990, when Burma's ruling generals
imagined they were popular enough to win an election, she led her political
party, the National League for Democracy, to a resounding parliamentary
victory, though she was even then under house arrest. The generals nullified
the election and arrested many of Aung San Suu Kyi's followers. She has been
held incommunicado and under house arrest for most of the time since, even as
she won a Nobel Peace Prize and continued to espouse nonviolent change. In
recent days, she has been reported to be ill, and -- until his arrest -- her
doctor had been the only visitor she was permitted. Burma's junta has
drafted a new constitution and is planning to stage elections in 2010 that it
hopes will legitimize military rule. The pro-engagement campaign in Washington
is urging the Obama administration to take those elections seriously, even if
Aung San Suu Kyi and the National League for Democracy are excluded. We think
Desmond Tutu, a fellow Nobel Peace Prize laureate and former archbishop of Cape
Town, South Africa, showed a better understanding, in a Post op-ed
last month, when he urged the administration to energize its diplomacy on Burma
but also not to marginalize that country's democracy advocates -- as many as
2,000 of whom languish in terrible prisons. "[T]hose who support or have
resigned themselves to their government's approach are free to speak out,"
he wrote. "This repression cannot be rewarded; the voices of those it has
silenced must be heard as if the walls of their jails did not exist." So, by all means,
the administration should engage with Burma's leaders. But it should insist on
the ability to engage with all of them -- including those now behind bars. A
good start would be to insist on the release of Tin Myo Win and on freedom for
his courageous patient. -------------------- COMMENTARY:
Threatening Suu Kyi’s Health By Kyaw Zwa Moe Here’s a relevant question that no one has raised yet: is the Burmese
junta deliberately manipulating events in hope that Aung San Suu Kyi will die
from natural causes, which—in this case—would not be natural at all? That’s not possible, you say? The ruling generals in Naypyidaw see the
63-year-old pro-democracy movement leader as an “enemy of the state.” They
believe she’s the No 1 enemy, the leader of the “destructive elements”
that have sabotaged “the peace and stability of the country”and threaten
their rule. So, is it out of the question that the generals would be happy if Suu
Kyi died by natural causes or was physically impaired? They can’t assassinate
her because of the counterproductive reaction from the international community,
even from such loyal allies as China and Russia. But they can ensure that her
medical treatment is lacking or dispensed at a minimum level. You can judge for yourself regarding the incidents that unfolded last
week at her lakeside house at No 54 University Avenue. Actually, the house is
not a real home for the Nobel peace laureate. For 13 years, it’s been her
prison. Suu Kyi now has low blood pressure; she is dehydrated; she has
difficulty eating. In short, she is ill again, but on Thursday her primary
physician was barred from visiting her for a routine medical checkup and
detained for questioning. Another doctor treated her with an intravenous drip on Friday. Following
her request and demands by the National League for Democracy (NLD), she was
allowed to return on Saturday and Monday. "We are worried about Daw Suu's health,” said NLD spokesman Nyan
Win last week. If you look at these and earlier incidents in light of basic humanity,
law and human rights you can see a pattern of willful negligence by the regime.
Of course, in Burma the local population is used to neglect. The fact is that Suu Kyi has been detained illegally for 13 years, with
no just cause and only the minimum of proper medical treatment, which could
lead to an early death or a premature loss of physical strength. This month is more critical than ever for the junta. Suu Kyi’s lawyer,
Kyi Win, said that according to the law, she should be released on May 27, the
date marking six years since May 2003 when her NLD motorcade was attacked by a
junta-backed mob in upper Burma and she was detained Suu Kyi’s lawyer is right, but the generals redo their own rules and
laws, using them like a rubber band—to stretch and shrink at will. For example, Suu Kyi was detained for the first time in 1989 under 10
(b) of the State Provision Act, under which a person could be detained under
house arrest for a maximum of three years under the existing law. But one year
later, the government changed the law to a maximum of five years. Suu Kyi was
detained at that time until 1995, a total of six years. This is a critical moment for the generals, since they plan to hold a
national election in 2010. If Suu Kyi is free, it greatly complicates the
election. In 1990, the junta held an election while Suu Kyi was under house
arrest, believing the state-backed National Unity Party, formed by former
members of the dictator Ne Win’s Burma Socialist Programme Party, could win the
election. Instead, Suu Kyi’s NLD party won by landslide. If a healthy Suu Kyi is free prior to the 2010 election her most loyal
supporters and the general public will return to the political activism of 1995
and 2002 when she was free. In light of that, you should expect the generals to find a way not to
release Suu Kyi, in spite of their own law. So what now? Several options could play out during the course of the
next year. The junta’s rubber-band law could find a way to keep her under house
arrest. Or perhaps Suu Kyi does develop a serious illness, effectively limiting
her leadership ability. Or, if the regime does release her—somehow seeing a political gain in
that act—it could always fabricate a new reason for her arrest, as it did in
2003. -------------------- Previous Headlines:12/05/2009 News Aung San Suu Kyi suffering from muscle cramp - Mizzima - 12 May 2009 US demands Myanmar grant Aung San Suu Kyi access
to doctor - AFP – 11 May 2009 NLD Requests Treatment
for Suu Kyi - Irrawaddy – 11 May 2009 Local media awaits permission to print intruder's
photograph - Mizzima - 12 May 2009 Detained American Visited Suu Kyi Before? - Irrawaddy - 12 May 2009 Political
Prisoners Suffering Ill Health: AAPP - Irrawaddy - 11 May 2009 Burma’s rural economy on verge of collapse:
economist - Mizzima - 11 May 2009 ‘False votes and intimidation’ ratified Burma’s
constitution - DVB – 11 May 2009 Mounting
desertions in riot police force - Narinjara News - 11 May 2009 Burma claims confidence in disaster warning system - DVB – 12 May 2009 Seven year old girl raped in Maungdaw - Mizzima - 11 May 2009 Confiscating
land for Natala villagers in Maungdaw - Kaladan Press - 11
May 2009 Indo-Myanmar
border road blocked; traders suffer - Khonumthung News - 11 May 2009 KNLA commander lashes out at ‘rumour mongers’ - Mizzima - 11 May 2009 Rohingya: Activists slam effort to expose traffickers - Bangkok Post – 12 May 2009 Australia
supports Rohingya refugees - Kaladan Press - 11 May 2009 Safeguarding
the Myanmar gaung baung - Myanmar Times – 4 May 2009 Opinion & Analysis Time for a fresh approach to Burma's military government - Vancouver Sun – 11 How
I took on the Burmese junta and won - Telegraph.co.uk / The
Asia File – 11 May 2009 Click on the links below to access all previous articles in the PDF versions of the Daily News archives: |
