Japan ‘to freeze aid’ unless Suu Kyi walks

By Joseph Allchin

Japan’s foreign minister Katsuya Okada has said that Tokyo will freeze aid to Burma unless the junta releases opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and allows her to participate in elections this year.

Okada said that “the current situation [in Burma] will not result in receiving [fully-fledged economic assistance from Japan]”, according to Kyodo News. The junta’s refusal to allow Suu Kyi a platform in the elections has drawn widespread international condemnation.

He also crucially backed calls for the powerful Group of Eight (G8) industrialised nations to add Burma’s political situation and human rights abuses by the military government to its agenda for upcoming talks in Toronto in June.

Okada conveyed these sentiments to Burma’s ambassador to Japan, U Hla Myint, on 25 March before speaking to a press conference.

Kanae Doi, Tokyo director at Human Rights Watch, who had also called on the G8 to discuss Burma, welcomed Okada’s stance. “[He] is committed to making the upcoming elections free and fair. It’s very important now that foreign minister Okada reaches out to ASEAN countries, which he said he would do at the press briefing on Friday”.

The 10-member ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) bloc, which includes Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia, as well as Burma, has been criticised for its soft approach to the ruling junta and has resisted calls to expel Burma from the grouping.

Japan has been one of the biggest aid-giving nations to the whole Southeast Asia region, including Burma, but the election to office in 2009 of the left-leaning Democratic Party of Japan raised questions as to how strong Japanese support of the military government would remain.

This is not the first time that Japan has used its donor clout to attempt to pressure the junta. Following the shooting by Burmese military in September 2007 of Japanese photojournalist, Kenji Nagai, Japan cancelled a grant to the military government. It also made similar threats in November last year in the wake of Suu Kyi’s renewed house arrest.

Tokyo has had an ambiguous relationship with the junta, as civil society and business interests have pulled successive Japanese governments in opposing directions.

Doi added that “there are many diplomats who fear that the Chinese influence in Burma is going to hamper the influence of Japan. Therefore Japan needs to maintain or increase their influence with the [junta]; this sort of position is very counterproductive to promoting rights in Burma”.

Reference:

This is from DVB (Democratic Voice of Burma) by the author Joseph Allchin.

My opinion:

Well, what Japan did is good, but I guess the junta doesn't care blocking aids or international trading or business because it is not he but the civilians who is now suffering. Of course, as long as the junta has strong relationship with China, he doesn't care anyone. And also, damn China!!! stupid China!!!! fucking China!!!!

Western envoys visit NLD headquarters

By Khin Hnin Htet

Australian and the United States’ diplomats yesterday paid a so-called ‘fact finding’ visit to the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) party’s main office in Rangoon.

The party on Monday announced that it would not register for controversial elections in Burma later this year, meaning that under recently announced laws it will soon be abolished.

Senior NLD member Win Tin said that the diplomats, whose frequent visits to NLD offices are closely monitored by the Burmese government, enquired about Suu Kyi’s role in the decision and about the party’s tenuous future now that it will no longer be able to officially operate within mainstream Burmese politics.

Prior to Monday Suu Kyi had voiced her objection to registering but asserted that the party must make up its own mind. Win Tin said that her remarks only “made our decisions more firm”.

“But we shouldn’t forget about the people’s role; the people will not accept the points in the election laws which ban Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and political prisoners [from participating]. These are the reasons for our decision.”

There were reportedly no objections to the election boycott from within the NLD’s Central Committee, who made the final decision, despite a small number of party members having previously urged the NLD to compete.

The international community has on the whole been supportive of the NLD’s decision, despite mixed reactions from inside Burma. The US has repeatedly condemned the elections as a sham while Australia’s foreign minister said this week that the polls cannot now be considered free and fair.

As to the future of Burma’s main opposition party, the prospects are worrying – Suu Kyi remains under house arrest and the majority of the influential senior members are elderly. But, Win Tin said, there is scope for a new emphasis on greater engagement with Burmese people, something that the party has been restricted from doing in its 22-year history.

“We explained [to the diplomats] that we will be working on social welfare programmes for the people as well as programmes to provide aid and protect people from suffering,” he said. “Holding on to these policies, we will make our stand. Our party won’t just sit and watch.”

Reference:

This is from DVB (Democratic Voice of Burma) by the author Khin Hnin Htet.

My opinion:

I respect NLD party's decision. It is totally and absolutely crazy if NLD bans Suu Kyi and runs in the election. Their decision is praiseworthy.

US policy ‘risks legitimising’ Burma elections

By Francis Wade

The Burmese junta may be using the new US policy of bilateral engagement to justify to its population controversial elections later this year, a report warns.

The New York-based Asia Society think tank also cautions against high expectations of the policy shift, claiming that so far “there is no concrete evidence to suggest that Burma’s leaders will respond positively” to US demands on elections.

Washington last year announced that it would break with its unsuccessful policy of isolating the military government in favour of greater engagement with Burma’s ruling generals, in keeping with president Obama’s professed emphasis on dialogue with so-called ‘rogue’ states.

But although still in its early stages, there has been little tangible evidence so far that engagement has made any headway in the pariah Southeast Asian state. Recently announced election laws have forced Burma’s main opposition party, the National League for Democracy (NLD) to boycott the polls and risk dissolution.

“It is quite possible that the leadership’s primary objective in engaging with the United States is to demonstrate to its own population that the United States endorses the regime’s seven-step process toward democracy,” the report said.

It added that the US “must tread carefully through this minefield, avoiding the appearance of sanctioning or legitimizing a flawed election process, while pressing Burma’s military leaders to carry out credible elections”.

Furthermore, any direct US monitoring of the polls “could be seen as conferring legitimacy on a seriously flawed election process”.

Burmese political analyst Aung Naing Oo supported the reports findings, but warned further that Burmese government likely “does not care” about US policy in whichever form.

“The geopolitical conditions ultimately favour the Burmese military – for the Indians it’s better if they have a government [in Burma] who spends high on the military, and likewise the Chinese.

Indeed the report adds that Burma does not feature high enough in US foreign policy priorities “so resources to address US goals in Burma will be limited”.

The decision by the NLD to opt out of the elections has received mixed reactions from inside Burma, while much of the international community has asserted its support for whichever decision the party makes.

But in the run-up to the opposition party’s exit from mainstream politics in Burma, a number of other parties formed with the authorisation of the government and have begun to register for the elections.

Aung Naing Oo said that this sort of move “will be encouraged by regional powers” and aid the junta’s vows that elections will be free and fair, adding that despite the US repeatedly condemning the polls the momentum towards elections “will go on”.

Reference:

This is from DVB (Democratic Voice of Burma) by the author Francis Wade.

My opinion:

It is indeed important to be careful in analyzing the junta's actions. Like what the author said, the primary reason of the Burmese government's engaging with the United States is to pretend that the United States supports the regime's seven steps towards democracy. So, since the junta never does good things, if he does something that seems to be good, then, it is sure that he is pretending in such a way in order to make good use of it for his own welfare.

Democratic Party registers for elections

By Aye Nai

Burma’s recently formed Democratic Party has submitted its application for elections this year, making it the fourth such group to do so since registration began last week.

The group, part of the ‘third force’ in Burmese politics that holds no stated allegiances to either the incumbent or opposition, has a high-profile member base which includes Than Than Nu, daughter of former prime minister U Nu, and Cho Cho Kyaw Nyein, daughter of U Nu’s deputy, Kyaw Nyein.

“We will try to compete for the People’s Parliament and the National Parliament,” said party leader Thu Wei. “But we can’t say for sure for the Administrative Regions Parliament – we haven’t thought about it yet.”

The cost of registering candidates for the elections is steep, and Thu Wei said that this could be a barrier to full participation. Parties are required to pay 500,000 kyat ($US500) per candidate, so if they are looking to compete for all 500 seats in parliament the cost would reach 250 million kyat ($US250,000).

“Rich politicians are rare in Burma so [parties] will struggle for the money,” he said. “We are worried that things may not happen as we are expecting. For now, our members are contributing their own cash [for the party] but it won’t be enough for the elections.

He added that in Burma’s last elections in 1990 parties had collected donations from the public “in exchange for their opinion and policies”.

Burma’s main opposition party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), on Monday decided to boycott the elections after laws were announced that ban NLD leader Aung San Suu Kyi from running and force her expulsion if the party is to participate.

On the same day the pro-government National Unity Party (NUP) submitted its election registration form. There have also been unconfirmed reports that the Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA), a junta-backed ‘civil society’ group that is often accused of intimidation and harassment of opposition, has registered.

Two other parties, the Union of Myanmar Federation of National Politics and 88 Generation Students (Union of Myanmar), both run by another ‘third force’ politician, Aye Lwin, have also registered.

The election laws unveiled in the past fortnight have drawn international condemnation as they appear to cement fears that the elections later this year will not be free and fair.

The NLD’s decision not to participate has received support from Western policy makers but mixed reactions from inside Burma. Under the laws, the party which was born following the infamous 1988 uprising will now be abolished and unable to officially operate within Burma’s political arena.

Reference:

This is from DVB (Democratic Voice of Burma) by the author Aye Nai.

My opinion:

Well well who knows if they become the junta's animals and do not listen to NLD party's major decision to boycott the election?

US blames junta for election boycott

By Agence France-Press

The United States on Monday blamed Burma’s junta for the opposition’s decision to boycott upcoming elections, saying the regime missed an opportunity to move forward.

State department spokesman Philip Crowley said that the situation in Burma was “disappointing” but indicated that the United States would maintain its policy of engaging the longtime US pariah.

“This is a reflection of the unwillingness of the government in Burma to take the necessary steps to open up the political process,” Crowley told reporters.

“We think this is an opportunity lost in terms of Burma’s ability to demonstrate that it is willing to contemplate a different course of action, a different relationship with its own people,” he said.

The National League For Democracy, which swept the last elections in 1990 but was never allowed to take power, decided Monday to boycott the polls that are expected later in the year.

The move came after the junta introduced a law that would have forced the party to oust democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi as its leader.

The United States has sharply criticized the law, saying that it would make the upcoming election a mockery of democracy.

But Crowley indicated that the United States would continue dialogue despite its failure to persuade the junta to change course on the election.

“I don’t know that we expected necessarily everything to be resolved in one or two or three meetings,” Crowley said.

President Barack Obama’s administration, which has made reaching out to adversaries a signature policy, last year opened talks aimed at bringing Burma out of its isolation.

A senior US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that the administration’s thinking had not changed.

“We will talk to Burma because we think it’s in our interest to talk to Burma,” the official said. “We recognize that other things we’ve done in the past had not been successful.”

The United States has maintained economic sanctions on Burma but said it would be willing to lift them eventually in return for progress.

Japan has called for the Group of Eight major industrial nations, who meet Monday in Canada, to send a strong signal to Burma on democratization.

Reference:

This is from DVB (Democratic Voice of Burma) by the author Agence France-Press.

My opinion:

What a stupid law to ban foreigners and spouses of foreigners participating in the election!! Just say they are afraid of Suu Kyi who has enormous inspiring power on the public and even on the whole world.

CNN reporter again expelled from Burma

By Ahunt Phone Myat

The already blacklisted CNN television reporter deported from Burma on 27 March has said that a clerical error at the Burmese embassy in Bangkok may have been responsible for his initial admittance.

Dan Rivers was arrested after arriving at the remote capital Naypyidaw to cover Burma’s annual Armed Forces Day (or Resistance Day), and then quickly expelled.

It is the second time he has been told to leave the country, following his deportation after covering the aftermath of cyclone Nargis in 2008. Following this he was placed on a blacklist, where names of banned persons are automatically flagged up at immigration checkpoints.

“I can only presume the embassy in Bangkok had made a mistake in issuing the visa in the first place,” he wrote yesterday in his CNN blog.

“It is perhaps a microcosm of the mismanagement of the entire country that has been ailing under a military dictatorship since 1962. Civil servants are terrified of their bosses, and their bosses in turn are paralyzed with fear of the generals above them. Small errors go uncorrected because no one dares to speak out.”

Correspondents from other foreign news agencies, such as the BBC and Japan’s NHK and Asahi Shimbun, were allowed to cover the Armed Forces Day, which marks the start of the Burmese army’s resistance to Japanese occupation in 1945.

The Burmese government is notoriously vigilant about who it issues visas to. During sensitive times, such as the cyclone aftermath or the September 2007 monk-led uprising, foreign journalists are often barred from entering the country.

Zin Linn, vice chairman of the Burma Media Association, said that the ruling generals “only wanted [reporters] to sit at a table and take note of what they say; they only want them to focus on the [Armed Forces Day] event”.

“However, for the big news agencies, everything they lay their eyes on can be turned into news,” he said. “The government may be worried that [the reporters] will write detailed news on what is really going on in the background and that’s why it selectively approves only reporters they want.”

Reference:

This is from DVB (Democratic Voice of Burma) by the author Ahunt Phone Myat.

My opinion:

This is how Burmese immigration checkpoints work for those coming to Burma from other countries with the purpose of politics.

Burma bus company told to ’stop caning drivers’

By Agence France-Press

A bus company in military-ruled Burma has been told to stop caning drivers and conductors for letting too many passengers on buses, a local newspaper reported Monday.

According to the Myanmar Times, Bandoola Transport brought in the punishment on two routes in the commercial hub of Rangoon in late February “because fining drivers and conductors was not improving discipline”.

But it was told last week to do away with the cane – an order thought to have come from the commander of Rangoon division, brigadier general Win Myint, said the privately-run state-censored newspaper.

It said the caning was administered by inspection teams on the spot “on several occasions” but the exact number of times it had been used was unclear.

“If anyone is caught breaking the rules, the inspection teams will make sure they are punished with fines from now on,” Bandoola Transport’s boss who introduced the punishment, retired colonel Myo Myint, was quoted as saying.

He said the caning was brought in because drivers and conductors were flaunting a rule that bus lines were only to allow the same number of passengers as seats onboard, and this was bad for the company’s image.

Bandoola Transport is owned by the army-run Union of Myanmar Economic Holdings Ltd, the paper said. Burma has been military-ruled since 1962.

Reference:

This is from DVB (Democratic Voice of Burma) by the author Agence France-Press.

My opinion:

The junta does something whenever he feels like, ignoring what is happening to the civilians and what they need. Damn the junta!!!

India looks east, prepares to arm junta navy

By Joseph Allchin

As western governments gathered to condemn the junta’s election at the UN, India undeterred welcomes Lt Gen Thar Aye to the eastern city of Kolkata.

He will visit India’s ‘eastern command headquarters’, this comes amidst a claim by the city’s Telegraph newspaper that India is preparing to sell Burma new patrol boats.

Lt Gen Thar Aye is the junta’s head of the bureau of special operations and will no doubt discuss India’s insurgent worries along the shared border.

India’s north eastern states are riddled with separatist movements, whom the Indian’s allege take shelter over the border in Burma. The Indian government has been keen to engage their junta counterparts with a view to joint operations to stamp out the rebel groups. This predicament analysts believe has been occurring for years with limited results.

Of particular concern is the United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA). Captured ULFA soldiers have made the claim that they operate bases in Burma and have links with the Kachin Independence Army (KIA).

Thar Aye is on most western sanctions lists and holds the position of chief of the Bureau of Special Operations 1 (BSO1), which makes him effectively the ‘field commander’ for the north, north west and central commands, a higher rank than regional ‘commanders’.

He was promoted to the said position in 2008 and was previously the regional commander of western Sagaing division. Now he oversees a larger area including Sagaing, but the region is believed to shelter Indian separatist rebels.

He is scheduled to meet Indian Lt Gen Bikram Singh, in early April, who will take over as chief of India’s eastern command later this year.

The naval deal was believed to have been signed in February when Vice-Admiral Nyan Tun also visited India.

India has consistently sought closer ties with the junta since the late 90’s when the government seemingly made a U turn on previous support of the Burmese democracy movements. This U turn was epitomised by the controversial Operation Leech, in which a number of Burmese opposition activists were lured to Indian territory only to be killed or arrested.

The reasoning seems to be the increased energy needs of India and a competitive geo-political rivalry with China for influence over the region.

India has a number of business and military deals with the junta; ranging from the recent inception of a Tata truck factory to military training and importantly, Indian state owned gas companies operating in Burma’s lucrative Bay of Bengal gas fields.

Reference:

This is from DVB (Democratic Voice of Burma) by the author Joseph Allchin.

My opinion:

I wrote a blog titled "Only India benefits Burma" and there, I gave my view that no one benefits Burma out of their welfare. They will only do something good to Burma (especially the junta) when they get something they want from the junta. Even if somebody benefits Burma, that all goes to the junta's pocket.

Human Rights Watch call on the G8 to discuss Burma

By Joseph Allchin

Ahead of a planning meeting before the June summit of the G8 group of industrialised countries New York based Human Rights Watch (HRW) has urged ministers to include Burma on the agenda.

The G8 is a grouping of 8 of the leading economies, formed by France in 1975 it also includes the US, Japan, Italy, Canada, the UK, Germany and Russia. This year’s gathering will take place in the Canadian city of Toronto in June.

“One of the reasons that we sent this letter to the G8 is to say; for an international policy towards Burma to have more effect it’s actually got to have more unanimity”… “That’s why we talked about the commission of enquiry and targeted financial sanctions and the elections” said David Mathieson, HRW’s Burma analyst.

The letter points to four main issues. The commission of inquiry refers to Tomas Ojea Quintana, the UN special rapporteur on human rights in Burma, who recommended on 8 March, after his last visit to Burma, that the UN should initiate a commission of inquiry into the junta’s alleged crimes against humanity.

HRW petition the G8 to support such an inquiry, HRW believe that the grouping; “can play a crucial role in helping to bring an end to these abuses by supporting an impartial inquiry into violations of international human rights and humanitarian law ” said the letter.

Targeted sanctions were an area that HRW felt was an “important way to bring about improvements in human rights” but Mathieson was concerned that; “I am sure the Russians will try to block it because the Russians are pretty interested in diverting attention from all the murky things that they are doing in Burma”.

The letter urged however that; “those punitive measures to be truly effective and effect change, they must be strengthened, fully implemented, and better coordinated among influential international actors”. With Mathieson further labelling US inability to curtail US oil companies operational in Burma as “hypocrisy”.

The elections naturally were included in the letter and it labelled them likely only to “establish a parliamentary facade for continued military rule” but added that “It may be premature to judge the elections themselves, but it is essential that the electoral process conducted in such conditions of repression not be endorsed in any way by the international community.”

The final point was humanitarian assistance with the letter calling for “increased international assistance” concluding that; “strengthening Burmese communities through humanitarian aid while imposing targeted sanctions on the country’s senior leadership is the best approach to support positive change in this long-suffering country”. Mathieson meanwhile asserted that Burma’s dire humanitarian situation could become a “regional security issue”.

The grouping is made up largely of countries who have been critical of the military junta with the exception of Russia; “the danger of course is that the Russians will just act petulant and show contempt for human rights which is what they always do and water down any sought of initiative.”

Reference:

This is from DVB (Democratic Voice of Burma) by the author Joseph Allchin.

My opinion:

Don't just discuss; don't just urge the junta and if the junta doesn't follow, don't just criticize. Do specific actions that can support NLD or can help Burmese civilians.

Shan army ‘kills 20’ Burmese troops

By DVB

One of the few ethnic armies not to have agreed a truce with the Burmese government has claimed responsibility for the killing of 20 troops last week.

The Shan State Army-South (SSA-S) said in a statement that it had launched an ambush against a joint column of Burmese infantry in Namhsan town, near to Lashio in Burma’s northeastern Shan state.

Twenty soldiers, including one captain, were killed in a fight which lasted three hours, the statement said. No troops belonging to the Shan army, one of the bigger rebel factions fighting the government, were reported killed.

The Burmese army has intensified its presence in Shan state, where it awaits a decision over whether the country’s largest ceasefire group, the 30,000-strong United Wa State Army (UWSA), will transform into the contentious Border Guard Force.

Pressure from the ruling junta on all of Burma’s 18 ceasefire groups to transform and come under the direct control of Naypyidaw has ratcheted up tension in the already volatile ethnic states.

Observers have warned of the potential for widespread fighting unless the junta eases up on the demands made to ceasefire groups, many of whom it holds only tenuous truces with.

Reference:

This is from DVB (Democratic Voice of Burma).

My opinion:

Some people even commented and encouraged the Shan army to get more people from the military army. This shows how much people despise the junta and its army.

US activist, Nyi Nyi Aung, was tortured when he was in a Burma prison

By Aye Nai

The US rights activist released yesterday from a Burmese prison has described how he was tortured during interrogation by intelligence agents last year.

Burmese-born Kyaw Zaw Lwin, also known as Nyi Nyi Aung, arrived in Bangkok airport yesterday after being held in detention since September last year.

He told DVB that he had been taken to Rangoon’s Insein prison from another prison on the evening of 17 March and informed by prison authorities that he was going to be released the next morning.

“I began to realise I was going to be released. As my [mother and cousins] are imprisoned I was met by my relatives in Insein prison’s guest room,” he said.

A diplomat at the US embassy in Rangoon officially announced his release yesterday. Kyaw Zaw Lwin was asked to sign an agreement “vowing that I acknowledge that I will have to serve my remaining prison sentence if I get charged again in Burma”.

The activist’s aunt, Khin Khin Swe, said that he was accompanied to the plane by the US embassy counsellor.

Kyaw Zaw Lwin went on to describe how he was “mentally and physically tortured” after being arrested at Rangoon airport on 3 September, following which he was convicted on charges of fraud and forgery and sentenced to three years with hard labour.

“I was punched and had my fingers bent and also threatened with a knee to the face. I wasn’t allowed to lie down for 12 days in a row [during interrogation] and then another 14 days before I was sent to the prison,” he said.

Critics of the ruling junta in Burma said that he was being punished for his high-profile activist work, which included delivering a petition with 600,000 signatures to UN chief Ban Ki-moon calling for the release of political prisoners in Burma.

“I was arrested without a warrant as some as I came out of the plane. I believe it was politically motivated; I was detained for a reason I don’t know,” he said. “I didn’t break any law – I am a person working to bring about a change for Burma and its people’s freedom.”

The reason for his early release remains unclear. His arrest and sentencing drew international condemnation, and the US has repeatedly called for his release, although there had been little inkling prior to Wednesday that this would take place.

Both his mother and two cousins remain in prison in Burma following their role in the September 2007 monk-led uprising. One cousin was given a 65-year sentence.

“In our country the administrative, the legal and the justice pillars have no independence,” he told DVB. “These are merely surviving under the rulers of the country.”

Reference:

This is from DVB (Democratic Voice of Burma) by the author Aye Nai.

My opinion:

It is really cruel of them to torture the prisoners. But, it is true that once you get into the hands of the Burmese military, you will be tortured as if you were an animal. That's the junta's army.

Burma releases US citizen

By Francis Wade

A Burmese-born US citizen who was sentenced in February to three years in prison with hard labour by a Rangoon court has been released.

The announcement came from the US embassy in Rangoon, which has been granted sporadic access to Kyaw Zaw Lwin, also known as Nyi Nyi Aung, since he was arrested upon arrival at Rangoon airport in September last year.

“We can confirm that Kyaw Zaw Lwin has been released from prison and has left the country,” said US embassy spokesperson Drake Weisert, adding that the US “welcomed the development”.

Kyaw Zaw Lwin, a rights activist who fled Burma to the US in 1993, was convicted of forging an identity card, failing to declare currency at customs and violating immigration laws.

Critics of the ruling junta in Burma said however that he was being punished for his high-profile activist work, which included delivering a petition with 600,000 signatures to UN chief Ban Ki-moon calling for the release of political prisoners in Burma.

According to his fiance in the US, Kyaw Zaw Lwin had flown to Burma last year to visit his mother, who has cancer. His sentencing drew international condemnation of the ruling regime in Burma.

Reference:

This is from DVB (Democratic Voice of Burma) by the author Francis Wade.

My opinion:

This is usual custom of the junta to prison activists as soon as they get back to Burma.That is so cruel of the junta to prison Kyaw Zaw Lwin who came back to visit his mother who has cancer.

Election views blocked in Burmese media

By Ahunt Phone Myat

Newspaper editors in Burma have complained that they are being blocked from publishing election opinions given by ‘third force’ parties.

The rule was issued by the Press Scrutiny and Registration Division, which exercises the Burmese government’s draconian restrictions on media freedom.

One editor told DVB on condition of anonymity that it may be because ‘third force’ groups, those who are neither pro-government or opposition, are yet to register their parties for the elections, rumoured to be in October this year.

“We cannot publish material containing opinions on the elections laws,” the editor said. He added that the Yangon [Rangoon] Times newspaper was barred from publishing an interview with Thu Wei, head of the third force Democratic Party.

Thu Wei said that he was “being interviewed every day” but that these were not being published. He added that there is “less freedom and time to campaign” than compared to the 1990 elections.

Newspapers were also prohibited from reporting about the reopening of around 300 opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) party offices last week.

Another editor said however that some journals close to information minister Kyaw San were allowed to publish material in favour of the election laws.

“[Publications] can report material that falls within the guidelines provided by the government but no more than that. Basically, we are not yet allowed to write at our will,” he said.

Burma’s media laws are amongst the strictest in the world; a recent Press Freedom Index released by media watchdog Reporters Without Borders ranked Burma 171 out of 175 countries.

Journalists who publish material deemed to be critical of the ruling junta risk lengthy prison terms. Observers have warned that the junta will clamp down on media in the run-up to the elections.

Reference:

This is from DVB (Democratic Voice of Burma) by the author Ahunt Phone Myat.

My opinion:

This is exactly how Burmese media is restricted.

Election views blocked in Burmese media

By Ahunt Phone Myat

Newspaper editors in Burma have complained that they are being blocked from publishing election opinions given by ‘third force’ parties.

The rule was issued by the Press Scrutiny and Registration Division, which exercises the Burmese government’s draconian restrictions on media freedom.

One editor told DVB on condition of anonymity that it may be because ‘third force’ groups, those who are neither pro-government or opposition, are yet to register their parties for the elections, rumoured to be in October this year.

“We cannot publish material containing opinions on the elections laws,” the editor said. He added that the Yangon [Rangoon] Times newspaper was barred from publishing an interview with Thu Wei, head of the third force Democratic Party.

Thu Wei said that he was “being interviewed every day” but that these were not being published. He added that there is “less freedom and time to campaign” than compared to the 1990 elections.

Newspapers were also prohibited from reporting about the reopening of around 300 opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) party offices last week.

Another editor said however that some journals close to information minister Kyaw San were allowed to publish material in favour of the election laws.

“[Publications] can report material that falls within the guidelines provided by the government but no more than that. Basically, we are not yet allowed to write at our will,” he said.

Burma’s media laws are amongst the strictest in the world; a recent Press Freedom Index released by media watchdog Reporters Without Borders ranked Burma 171 out of 175 countries.

Journalists who publish material deemed to be critical of the ruling junta risk lengthy prison terms. Observers have warned that the junta will clamp down on media in the run-up to the elections.

Reference:

This is from DVB (Democratic Voice of Burma) by the author Ahunt Phone Myat.

My opinion:

It is usual in Burma to censor the media that the junta doesn't want. Most of the civilians are blocked from any kind of news so that they would believe in whatever the military said since only the military's voices are allowed to be published in Burma.

‘We’ve fallen for the generals’ tricks’

By Zoya Phan

So far, March has been a bad month for those countries and so-called Burma experts who advocate for a softer line with Burma’s generals. First were the admissions by the US that its engagement policy was going nowhere; then came the publication of election laws in Burma that don’t give the slightest concession to calls that elections this year be free and fair; and finally the recommendations by the UN special rapporteur on Burma that there be a UN Commission of Inquiry into war crimes and crimes against humanity being committed by the dictatorship. The true nature of Than Shwe and the general’s around him has been revealed again.

The argument over what the international community should do about the situation in our country has grown in recent years. What has surprised me is how badly informed that debate has been, and how willing some people and countries are to turn a blind eye to the reality of what is going in my country. Some people are even worse, playing down the human rights abuses and trying to put a positive spin on the actions of the generals.

What governments and the UN have consistently failed to do is to look at the true nature of the people ruling Burma. Only when you understand them and what they do can you work out how to deal with them.

As a Karen woman growing up in eastern Burma I know this true nature first-hand. I have seen the bodies of villagers and farmers, met the women who have been raped and the orphans whose parents were killed. Like thousands of others I have had to flee for my life as mortar bombs exploded in my village, fired at civilians without warning. Now, finally, the UN’s own Burma expert has described these as possible war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The international community, especially the UN, prefers to ignore what is happening to ethnic people in eastern Burma. Instead they focus on Rangoon and Naypyidaw, and on topics like who gets to meet Aung San Suu Kyi, or can someone repair the roof of her house; but what political significance does that have? When decisions on what to do about the crisis in Burma descend to such ridiculous things, I sometimes feel despair.

And even when the abuses happen right in front of them, how short their memories are. The massacre of thousands in 1988, the crushing of student protests in the mid-1990s, and the firing on monks in 2007, all seem forgotten. The generals defy the UN, draft a constitution that legalises dictatorship, and still the UN and others tell us to wait and see: perhaps they’ll change their mind so let’s wait for election laws, they say.

Now the election laws have been published and of course they are not fair. Did they forget that these are the generals who refused to accept the results of elections in 1990? Have the generals given any indication that they are genuinely interested in reform of the welfare of the people? None at all. It is less than two years since they were prepared to let thousands die in the delta after cyclone Nargis, rather than accept international aid. It is only three weeks since they fired a mortar bomb at a school in Karen state, killing one child and injuring two more.

They still have more than 2,100 political prisoners in jail, and arrest more daily. How clear do the generals have to make it before the international community understands that they are not interested in reform? The nature of these generals is to stay in power. They were brought up under the Tatmadaw [Burmese army] slogan: One Blood, One Voice, One Command. They gained their rank fighting ethnic people, and using the Four Cuts policy where civilians are deliberately targeted, where babies were put in rice pounders and crushed to death, and where women and children were raped as part of official government policy. Even girls as young as five have been raped.

When diplomats and so-called experts sit down with those generals in Rangoon and Naypyidaw and think that somehow they will be the one who will negotiate a breakthrough, remember the true nature of the people you are dealing with. Don’t be fooled by the smiles and plush buildings. The generals you shake hands with are brutal killers. Even the UN’s own expert says responsibility for the abuses in Burma go right to the top. They are not diplomats or politicians, they are soldiers. The generals will never, ever, negotiate themselves out of power unless they are forced to do so.

They are, however, good at playing games with an international community that seems desperate to believe their lies. So within the next few days or weeks we can expect some new so-called concessions from the generals, perhaps letting opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) party leaders meet Aung San Suu Kyi, or the release of a high profile political prisoner. Once again we will see governments and others attach imaginary significance to this, still ignoring the true nature of the people they are dealing with.

Reference:

This is from DVB (Democratic Voice of Burma) by the author Zoya Phan.

Zoya Phan is international coordinator at Burma Campaign UK. Her autobiography, ‘Undaunted’, will be published in hardback in the US in May, and published as ‘Little Daughter’ in paperback in the UK in May.

Burma an ‘enemy of the internet’

By Joseph Allchin

Internet repression in Burma is amongst the strictest in the world, according to a report released today by a Paris-based media watchdog.

The findings were released to coincide with the World Day Against Cyber Censorship, an initiative started by Reporters Sans Frontieres (RSF), which also releases an annual Press Freedom Index.

Alongside Burma on RSF’s Enemies of the Internet report are Saudi Arabia, China, North Korea, Cuba, Egypt, Iran, Uzbekistan, Syria, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, and Vietnam.

It accuses Burma, as well as North Korea, Cuba and Turkmenistan, of being “determined to use any means necessary to prevent their citizens from having access to the Internet”.

The group highlighted last year’s trial of Burma opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, when the junta “did not hesitate to cut the telephone and Internet lines of the city in which she was detained”.

It warns that in times of political instability in Burma the internet will become even slower than it usual poor performance. During these times, such as the 2007 monk-led uprising, it can take up to an hour to send an email with no attachments.

RSF’s revelations will come as no surprise to Burmese web users, not least those who use the popular social networking site Facebook. After the ‘fanpage’ of Suu Kyi had attained more than 150,000 fans last month, Facebook users in Burma found that the website was temporarily blocked.

Suggestion were tabled at a recent technology fair in Rangoon that the country introduce a personalised web passport system, whereby every internet user would have a unique passport so their activities could be easily tracked by the authorities.

Currently owners of internet cafes are required by the authorities to take down the details of their customers in a more primitive attempt to track users.

Such developments have prompted RSF to state that internet censorship is becoming more sophisticated amongst the internet ‘enemies’. Burma however is also cited as having “one of the world’s lowest internet penetration rates”; because of economic and practical reasons, it is estimated to be around 0.2 percent of the population.

Meanwhile exiled media groups regularly receive cyber attacks, apparently from Burmese government technicians whom it is alleged are often trained in Russia.

Russia incidentally became a new addition to the RSF report for having jailed an online political activist. Australia has also drawn the attention of the watchdog for proposing to start blocking websites that the government deems inappropriate.

Reference:

This is from DVB (Democratic Voice of Burma) by the author Joseph Allchin.

My opinion:

This is absolutely true! Because of their sweeping actions, even those who are not doing anything suspicious or related to politics, including students and learners, suffer from slow internet connection or no connection at all.

Burma fuelling China’s heroin crisis

By Francis Wade

China has seen a rapid rise in drug addiction this year, particularly in its southern Yunnan province where opium from Burma’s volatile Shan state is pouring across the border.

More than 60,000 people registered as heroin addicts in Yunnan province last year, a leap from 50,000 the year before, according to an official at an organisation which provides treatment for drug users along the China-Burma border.

“[Heroin addiction] has been one of the big problems in Yunnan over the past 20 years, and the government is trying really hard to crack down on drug traffickers and drug users,” he said.

He added that most of the drug traffickers were being arrested as they transported drugs from Burma into China, while a recent Al Jazeera report found that around 80 percent of heroin addicts in the Chinese border town of Nabang were from Burma.

In Yunnan, the Chinese government has opened more than 50 methadone treatment clinics which are being accessed by “thousands of users”, the official said.

Burma is the world’s second largest source of opium, after Afghanistan, and the findings will do little to support the Burmese government’s repeated guarantees that it is stamping out the country’s drug trade.

The majority of its opium market is allegedly controlled by the United Wa State Army in Shan state, which is made up of ethnic Chinese and which holds a tenuous ceasefire with the Burmese government. A UN report released in June last year found that Burma accounted for 28,500 hectares of opium poppy of a global total of 189,000.

The US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) says that China’s growing role as a transhipment centre “can be attributed to an increase in ethnic Chinese influence in the heroin trafficking trade”.

One of the key areas of concern is the spread of HIV in Yunnan, which already has China’s highest rates for the disease. Its first wave of HIV infections in 1989 was among injecting drug users along the Burma border, and the province is now thought to have around 80,000 diagnosed.

The official said however that the alarm over the spread of HIV in Yunnan had forced the Chinese government into “a more open policy” regarding drug use, compared to heavily punitive measures that had previously been its approach.

Despite the burgeoning of the cross-border heroin trade, however, a serious problem remains within Burma.

A report in January by the Thailand-based Palaung Women’s Organisation (PWO) said that opium abuse was “devastating” Shan communities. The Palaung are an ethnic group from Burma’s northeastern Shan state, which accounts for 95 percent of the country’s opium output.

The report pointed the finger at the Burmese government’s acquiescence in the production of opium by drug lords “in exchange for policing against resistance activity and sharing drug profits”.

Reference:

This is from DVB (Democratic Voice of Burma) by the author Francis Wade.

My opinion:

Well, the Burmese junta does everything that can give trouble to people not only in Burma but also in other neighboring countries.

Than Shwe’s warning to farmers

By Joseph Allchin

Senior general Than Shwe used his ‘peasant’s day’ statement, carried by all national newspapers, to warn farmers “to ward off potential dangers of those who will disrupt State stability and community peace with assistance of aliens in the background.”

‘Peasants day’ was placed on 2 March by the late former dictator, Ne Win. Ironically it is the day that he took power in a coup in 1962.
Than Shwe also used the address to claim huge strides in agricultural progress made in the country: “Now, the nation’s rice supply has far exceeded the demand of the growing population.”

In contrast the World Food Programme notes that: “Although Myanmar [Burma] is a food-surplus country with significant agricultural potential, unfavourable economic policies, vagaries of weather, impaired social cohesion and the marginalization of some sectors of the population adversely affect livelihood opportunities and adequate access to food requirements.

“Food insecurity is particularly pronounced in border areas, home to the majority of the country’s minorities, who face a variety of restrictions including impediments to trade and movement.”

Than Shwe made further reference to the coming election and applauded the peasantry for ‘voting’ for his controversial and much maligned constitution: “State Constitution of the Union of Myanmar, which has been approved with the massive support of the public. The role you the peasantry have played in the Myanmar politics is very important.”

The constitution meanwhile guarantees 25 percent of the seats to the military and gives immunity to the military from prosecution by a civilian court. The constitutional expert Yash Ghai went as far as to state that: “The cynicism with which the regime held the referendum and manipulated the results was on a par with the cynicism and coercion by which the draft was prepared”.

Perhaps in an oblique reference to the current privatisations, the senior general also noted that: “Many new plans are now ongoing for the State-owned and private owned industries to boosting production of farming machinery and tools. Therefore, I would like to urge you the peasantry to work harder than ever for your better socio-economic life.”

Reference:

This is from DVB (Democratic Voice of Burma) by the author Joseph Allchin.

My opinion:

I feel sorry for farmers whom all Burmese people should thank for producing rice, the main food of Burmese people.

Dispute between Suu Kyi and her estranged brother, Aung San Oo, over the renovation of the house where Suu Kyi is now under arrest

By Khin Hnin Htet

Lawyers for Burma opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi yesterday issued their first statements in a hearing regarding an intra-familial dispute over her Rangoon house.

Suu Kyi’s estranged brother Aung San Oo has claimed part-ownership of the lakeside compound where Suu Kyi has been kept under house arrest for 14 of the part 20 years, and is attempting to block renovations that will boost security of the property.

The house was passed down to both parties by their mother, Khin Kyi, although Suu Kyi and her brother have been estranged for many years.

Nyan Win, one of Suu Kyi’s lawyers, said her legal team argued before the judges yesterday that Aung San Oo’s objection against the renovation was not in accordance with Burmese law. The court is to rule on the case on 6 April.

“The law doesn’t state that the renovation shall stop just because U Aung San Oo doesn’t approve it; it says the objection can only be made if something is causing damage to the house’s value or the house is being sold,” said Nyan Win.

“Also, the renovation has already been stopped so there is no reason [for Aung San Oo] to keep up with the objection. Of course, his lawyers argued that they were on the right side.”

Aung San Oo first claimed part-ownership of the house in 2000, amid speculation that he would then sell his half-share to the Burmese junta.

The courts however blocked the case, citing his status as a US citizen. It is illegal for foreign citizens to own property in Burma.

Suu Kyi began renovation on the house after security concerns were heightened following the visit in May last year of US citizen John Yettaw, who swam across Inya lake to her door.

The renovation was approved by Rangoon Division Municipal, but Aung San Oo subsequently filed an objection against the renovation at the municipal.

On 21 January, Aung San Oo, via his lawyer Han Toe, began to seek a court order at the Rangoon Divisional Court to [officially] stop the renovation.

Reference:

This is from DVB (Democratic Voice of Burma) by the author Khin Hnin Htet.

My opinion:

Aung San Oo is like a nuisance for Suu Kyi. He even doesn't have any valid and concrete reasons to block the house renovation. Just stupid brat, Aung San Oo, another animal fed by the junta.

Rangoon strike ends but unrest prevails

By Aye Nai

A 1500-strong strike at a major Burmese brewery has ended peacefully but signs remain of a growing unrest among Rangoon workers.

An agreement was reached on Wednesday between employers and workers at the Grand Royal Whisky brewery in Shwe Pyi Thar industrial zone in Rangoon’s Insein township.

Around 1500 workers at the brewery, owned by International Beverages Trading Co., Ltd (IBCT), carried out a sit-in strike on 3 March amid calls for a 20,000 kyat ($US20) wage increase. It follows salary hikes for government workers.

The protestors also called for enactment of other basic rights, such as time off on public holidays and evaluation for permanent employee status based on workers’ performance.

A number of similar strikes broke out in Rangoon factories last month, despite the Burmese junta’s well-earned reputation for harsh crackdowns on perceived dissenters, and enforcement of media blackouts on demonstrations. All however ended peacefully, with employers making some concessions.

The Grand Royal Whisky protest however ended with only minor gains achieved.

“The workers demanded an 1800 kyat ($US1.8) per day wage plus an additional 20,000 kyat ($US20) per month,” said the father of one of the strikers.

“The brewery owners denied the 20,000 kyat monthly pay and instead offered to raise the bonus money rewarded to workers who are never absent from work from 6000 kyat ($US6) to 10,000 kyat ($US10).”

According to the father, employees who have been with the company less than a year receive 1100 kyat ($US1.1) per day, while longer-term employees get 1300 ($US1.3).

“One can’t really count that as a bonus because there is no chance for people who have been absent from work for just one day,” the father said.

The brewery also responded to demands to evaluate permanent employee status for workers who have been in the brewery for two years by saying that it would only consider evaluation for those who have three years’ work experience, he added.

He also said that a female worker at the brewery died recently after she had to come to work despite being in poor health.

Conditions in the IBCT factory are reportedly poor. Female workers tasked with cleaning used bottles were not given sanitary gloves, according to a source close to the workers.

“These bottles had been everywhere – in garbage and on the street side,” he said. “The bottles are being washed with acid, caustic liquid and soap. The workers have to touch these hazardous things with their bare hands and are suffering skin problems.”

Reference:

This is from DVB (Democratic Voice of Burma) by the author Aye Nai.

My opinion:

Burma is one of the countries that abuses human rights. I'm always sorry for those workers in poor work conditions and in poor salary but with high demand of work.

70 percent of Burma property goes to junta cronies

By Francis Wade

Around 70 percent of property in Burma auctioned off to private enterprise in recent months has ended up in the hands of cronies of the ruling junta.

The Burmese government recently announced the sale of 115 national properties, including major shipping ports and airports. The majority of the remaining 30 percent of property has gone to foreign companies.

Rumours are circulating that the Rangoon Ministers’ Office, where independence hero Aung San was assassinated in 1947, has been sold to a foreign company, although it is not known whom.

A businessman in Rangoon said that local companies not close to the government can only bid for small properties which are unlikely to generate much revenue.

“[The junta] took the [promising properties] off the bidding list. Those are only opened for the big guys and foreign companies but it is impossible for an ordinary business owner to enter the bid,” he said.

“The big companies are not only close [to the ruling generals]; in fact [the generals] also owned shares in these companies. So there is nothing we can do.”

He added that authorities are selling bidding forms for 25,000 kyat ($US25) for each property. Among those being auctioned off are formerly private-owned properties nationalised by the Ne Win government in 1964.

An economist said that the current government was privatizing industry to show that Burma is heading towards a market economy. In reality, however, this will leave nothing for the country when a next [elected] civilian government comes to power.

“The international community and those who don’t have the technical knowledge may think the government is now carrying out the privatisation process in favour of private businesses,” he said.

“At least those properties that were nationalised could be regarded as belonging to the public, but now they are completely in the hands of the companies close to the government.”

Reference:

This is from DVB (Democratic Voice of Burma) by the author Francis Wade.

My opinion:

It is so cruel of the junta that almost every property of Burma goes to the junta's hands. While the junta is enjoying these luxuries, most civilians are suffering from various aspects like lack of education, health care, etc.