Myanmar's snub of Ban may prompt U.N. council push
Reuters - July 06 2009, 02:10 am
Louis Charbonneau - Analysis
The Myanmar junta's refusal to allow U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to visit detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi will likely prompt a new push for Security Council action, but all depends on China. Skip related content
The 15-nation council has been unable to take serious action in the case of the former Burma because China, the nearest Myanmar has to a major ally, has been opposed.
Like the United States, Britain, France and Russia, China is a permanent veto-wielding member of the council and can block any action.
The last time the council said anything about Myanmar was in May 2008, when it issued a non-binding statement urging the junta to ensure an upcoming referendum on the country's new constitution would be "an inclusive and credible process."
At the time, critics said the referendum that approved the constitution was a farce. Many U.N. officials and diplomats worry next year's multi-party election will be the same.
China has shown flexibility on North Korea. It has supported two sanctions resolutions against Pyongyang for its nuclear weapons program.
But Beijing has been unwilling to allow the council to impose sanctions on Myanmar, whose nearly 2,000 km (1,250 mile) coastline provides neighbour China with easy land and sea access to South Asia markets.
One Security Council diplomat said it may be time to try again to press China to use its influence on the secretive military rulers of Myanmar to reform.
"I think China knows the council will have to look again at Myanmar," the Western diplomat told Reuters on condition of anonymity after Ban's visit. Other Western diplomats have expressed similar views.
BAN REBUFFED
Ban embarked on his two-day visit to the Southeast Asian country with low expectations, telling reporters ahead of time it would be a "very tough mission."
His goal was to inform the generals of the growing international dismay over what rights groups say is the country's dismal human rights record and to urge Senior General Than Shwe to release the country's more than 2,000 political prisoners and keep his promise to democratize.
Ban travelled to Myanmar's remote new capital, Naypyidaw, where he asked Than Shwe to let him meet with Suu Kyi, being held at a guest house at the notorious Insein prison in Yangon on charges of breaching the terms of her house arrest.
After making Ban spend the night in Naypyidaw, Than Shwe told him on Saturday he could not visit Suu Kyi because she was on trial and he did not want it to appear as if the junta was being "interfered with or pressured from outside."
Critics say Nobel laureate Suu Kyi's trial is a sham intended to ensure she does not take part in the country's first election since 1990, which Suu Kyi's party won. She has spent most of the time since then under house arrest at her Yangon lakeside home.
On Saturday evening, Ban told a packed audience of non-governmental organizations, opposition members, government officials and diplomats in Yangon he was "deeply disappointed that they rejected my request" to see Suu Kyi.
Ban also said Myanmar's human rights record was of "grave concern" and its people would suffer if the regime continued to be isolated as a result of its failure to initiate meaningful, inclusive democratic reforms.
There was no applause during Ban's speech but his rebuke of the generals in front of a local audience prompted murmurs throughout the crowd at Yangon's Drug Elimination Museum.
Ban may face some criticism since he left without any guarantees from the generals that Suu Kyi and the more than 2,000 political prisoners would be freed. Human Rights Watch had urged Ban not to make the trip.
Ban, however, told reporters in Yangon it was too early to call his visit a failure.
"My meeting with Aung San Suu Kyi or not meeting with her should not be the benchmark of success or failure of my visit," Ban told reporters.
"I believe they will seriously consider my proposals and I believe they got the message."
Among his proposals to the junta were release of all political prisoners before the 2010 election and steps to ensure the poll is free and fair.
U.N. officials said he asked the generals to allow international monitors into the country to observe the elections.
Ban said later that Than Shwe promised him the election would not be rigged and power would be handed over to civilians afterwards.
U.N. officials said privately it would be unfair to blame Ban for the generals' unwillingness to budge on Suu Kyi and other issues. They also said that with the Security Council divided on Myanmar, Ban was the world's only card to play.
"You can't fault him for trying," a U.N. official said.
One of the few top world figures the Myanmar supremo is willing to meet, Ban had hoped he would have some sway with the 76-year-old Than Shwe, having convinced him last year to allow humanitarian aid groups to enter Myanmar to help with post-Cyclone Nargis recovery efforts. But that was not the case.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown wrote in his blog that if Ban was unable to persuade the generals to keep their promises of reform the world would have to act.
"The international community will work with Burma if the generals are prepared to embark on a genuine transition to democracy," he wrote. "But if the Burmese regime refuses to engage, the international community must be prepared to respond robustly."
Reuters - July 06 2009, 02:10 am
Louis Charbonneau - Analysis
The Myanmar junta's refusal to allow U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to visit detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi will likely prompt a new push for Security Council action, but all depends on China. Skip related content
The 15-nation council has been unable to take serious action in the case of the former Burma because China, the nearest Myanmar has to a major ally, has been opposed.
Like the United States, Britain, France and Russia, China is a permanent veto-wielding member of the council and can block any action.
The last time the council said anything about Myanmar was in May 2008, when it issued a non-binding statement urging the junta to ensure an upcoming referendum on the country's new constitution would be "an inclusive and credible process."
At the time, critics said the referendum that approved the constitution was a farce. Many U.N. officials and diplomats worry next year's multi-party election will be the same.
China has shown flexibility on North Korea. It has supported two sanctions resolutions against Pyongyang for its nuclear weapons program.
But Beijing has been unwilling to allow the council to impose sanctions on Myanmar, whose nearly 2,000 km (1,250 mile) coastline provides neighbour China with easy land and sea access to South Asia markets.
One Security Council diplomat said it may be time to try again to press China to use its influence on the secretive military rulers of Myanmar to reform.
"I think China knows the council will have to look again at Myanmar," the Western diplomat told Reuters on condition of anonymity after Ban's visit. Other Western diplomats have expressed similar views.
BAN REBUFFED
Ban embarked on his two-day visit to the Southeast Asian country with low expectations, telling reporters ahead of time it would be a "very tough mission."
His goal was to inform the generals of the growing international dismay over what rights groups say is the country's dismal human rights record and to urge Senior General Than Shwe to release the country's more than 2,000 political prisoners and keep his promise to democratize.
Ban travelled to Myanmar's remote new capital, Naypyidaw, where he asked Than Shwe to let him meet with Suu Kyi, being held at a guest house at the notorious Insein prison in Yangon on charges of breaching the terms of her house arrest.
After making Ban spend the night in Naypyidaw, Than Shwe told him on Saturday he could not visit Suu Kyi because she was on trial and he did not want it to appear as if the junta was being "interfered with or pressured from outside."
Critics say Nobel laureate Suu Kyi's trial is a sham intended to ensure she does not take part in the country's first election since 1990, which Suu Kyi's party won. She has spent most of the time since then under house arrest at her Yangon lakeside home.
On Saturday evening, Ban told a packed audience of non-governmental organizations, opposition members, government officials and diplomats in Yangon he was "deeply disappointed that they rejected my request" to see Suu Kyi.
Ban also said Myanmar's human rights record was of "grave concern" and its people would suffer if the regime continued to be isolated as a result of its failure to initiate meaningful, inclusive democratic reforms.
There was no applause during Ban's speech but his rebuke of the generals in front of a local audience prompted murmurs throughout the crowd at Yangon's Drug Elimination Museum.
Ban may face some criticism since he left without any guarantees from the generals that Suu Kyi and the more than 2,000 political prisoners would be freed. Human Rights Watch had urged Ban not to make the trip.
Ban, however, told reporters in Yangon it was too early to call his visit a failure.
"My meeting with Aung San Suu Kyi or not meeting with her should not be the benchmark of success or failure of my visit," Ban told reporters.
"I believe they will seriously consider my proposals and I believe they got the message."
Among his proposals to the junta were release of all political prisoners before the 2010 election and steps to ensure the poll is free and fair.
U.N. officials said he asked the generals to allow international monitors into the country to observe the elections.
Ban said later that Than Shwe promised him the election would not be rigged and power would be handed over to civilians afterwards.
U.N. officials said privately it would be unfair to blame Ban for the generals' unwillingness to budge on Suu Kyi and other issues. They also said that with the Security Council divided on Myanmar, Ban was the world's only card to play.
"You can't fault him for trying," a U.N. official said.
One of the few top world figures the Myanmar supremo is willing to meet, Ban had hoped he would have some sway with the 76-year-old Than Shwe, having convinced him last year to allow humanitarian aid groups to enter Myanmar to help with post-Cyclone Nargis recovery efforts. But that was not the case.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown wrote in his blog that if Ban was unable to persuade the generals to keep their promises of reform the world would have to act.
"The international community will work with Burma if the generals are prepared to embark on a genuine transition to democracy," he wrote. "But if the Burmese regime refuses to engage, the international community must be prepared to respond robustly."
**********************************************************
U.N. chief urges credible elections in Myanmar
Mon Jul 6, 2009 4:43pm IST
GENEVA (Reuters) - United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called on Monday for Myanmar's generals to prepare for credible multi-party national elections next year.
Ban was speaking to a news conference in Geneva after a two-day trip to Myanmar, where he was denied a visit to detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
"It is up to the leadership to set in place the elements necessary for elections to be credible and legitimate," he said.
Mon Jul 6, 2009 4:43pm IST
GENEVA (Reuters) - United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called on Monday for Myanmar's generals to prepare for credible multi-party national elections next year.
Ban was speaking to a news conference in Geneva after a two-day trip to Myanmar, where he was denied a visit to detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
"It is up to the leadership to set in place the elements necessary for elections to be credible and legitimate," he said.
**********************************************************
Myanmar refugee numbers swell in Thailand
By CAROLINE STAUFFER, Associated Press Writer – Mon Jul 6, 5:25 am ET
MAE SOT, Thailand (AP) – As the 50,000th Myanmar refugee to be resettled abroad recently left Thailand for the United States, thousands of others fled their military-ruled homeland to seek shelter under tarps and in temples along the Thai-Myanmar border.
"We would be happier if we were back home as this is not our land, but we will stay here because that side is not safe," said a 30-year-old medic treating a child for malaria, pointing across an open field to Myanmar.
Escalated violence in rural Myanmar means despite the world's largest resettlement program, Thailand's refugee population — numbering more than 100,000 — is not likely to diminish any time soon. More than 4,000 ethnic minority Karen have crossed the border in the past month.
The exodus was sparked by fighting between the Karen National Union and the Myanmar regime, a brutal conflict that has been going on for 60 years as the Karen seek greater autonomy.
In addition to the refugees in Thailand, the aid group Thai Burma Border Consortium estimates fighting has spawned nearly 500,000 internally displaced people in eastern Myanmar and countless atrocities against civilians.
Critics say Myanmar's army seeks to eliminate opposition from the Karen and other ethnic minorities to seize control of the area's natural resources, a valuable source of income for the impoverished country.
And with elections scheduled for July 2010, securing Karen State would help the ruling generals claim the entire country was behind the vote and their so-called "road map to democracy." Critics have said the moves are a sham designed to perpetuate military rule.
"The main thing is the election — the government wants the Karen out of the picture," said Ba Win, a teacher who worked as a government veterinarian in Karen State for five years.
The latest round of fighting erupted in early June as government troops and the allied Democratic Karen Buddhist Army, or DKBA, moved against Karen military positions and a large civilian camp, sending villagers across the border north of Mae Sot, a Thai border town 240 miles (380 kilometers) northwest of the Thai capital, Bangkok.
The Karen Human Rights Group says the government is also forcing Karen villagers to join the DKBA and turn the group into a border guard force to better control natural resources in Karen State.
Meanwhile, the thin tarps provided the refugees are not keeping the heavy monsoon rains at bay, but they fear if the rain stops, fighting will break out again.
No mosquito nets are available to stop the spread of malaria, and the refugees depend on Mae Sot-based relief organizations and a nearby Thai Karen village for food and supplies.
They won't return home unless land mines in areas surrounding their villages are cleared. "Fighting we can see and run away from, but land mines can be anywhere," said the Karen medic, who like others declined to give a name because of the refugees' precarious status.
A number of the displaced, living in tent clusters according to the village of their origin, say they lost family members to mines during the flight to Thailand.
Other newly arrived Karen refugees have taken shelter in temples and schools along the border, but were wearing out their welcome as Buddhist Lent celebrations began this week, said Kathryn Halley of the aid group Partners, Relief and Development.
The new Karen refugees are to be moved into a single temporary camp, but aid groups and the Thai military have yet to agree on an exact secure location. Permanent camps in the area are too full to accommodate them.
The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees says it will resettle 6,000 of the 112,000 registered Myanmar refugees in Thailand this year. The United States, Canada, Australia and several Nordic countries participate in the resettlement program that began in 2004 and is now the world's largest, according to the agency.
Mae Sot-based aid groups say repatriation has slowed because of the global financial crisis.
The newly arrived are unlikely to become candidates for resettlement abroad and were not even aware of plans to move them to a new location inside Thailand, a trip that will require climbing a muddy mountain pass and crossing a river.
One 50-year-old Karen woman said she had traveled back and forth across the Thai-Myanmar border three times in her life. "I just want to stay still now," she said. "I am tired."
By CAROLINE STAUFFER, Associated Press Writer – Mon Jul 6, 5:25 am ET
MAE SOT, Thailand (AP) – As the 50,000th Myanmar refugee to be resettled abroad recently left Thailand for the United States, thousands of others fled their military-ruled homeland to seek shelter under tarps and in temples along the Thai-Myanmar border.
"We would be happier if we were back home as this is not our land, but we will stay here because that side is not safe," said a 30-year-old medic treating a child for malaria, pointing across an open field to Myanmar.
Escalated violence in rural Myanmar means despite the world's largest resettlement program, Thailand's refugee population — numbering more than 100,000 — is not likely to diminish any time soon. More than 4,000 ethnic minority Karen have crossed the border in the past month.
The exodus was sparked by fighting between the Karen National Union and the Myanmar regime, a brutal conflict that has been going on for 60 years as the Karen seek greater autonomy.
In addition to the refugees in Thailand, the aid group Thai Burma Border Consortium estimates fighting has spawned nearly 500,000 internally displaced people in eastern Myanmar and countless atrocities against civilians.
Critics say Myanmar's army seeks to eliminate opposition from the Karen and other ethnic minorities to seize control of the area's natural resources, a valuable source of income for the impoverished country.
And with elections scheduled for July 2010, securing Karen State would help the ruling generals claim the entire country was behind the vote and their so-called "road map to democracy." Critics have said the moves are a sham designed to perpetuate military rule.
"The main thing is the election — the government wants the Karen out of the picture," said Ba Win, a teacher who worked as a government veterinarian in Karen State for five years.
The latest round of fighting erupted in early June as government troops and the allied Democratic Karen Buddhist Army, or DKBA, moved against Karen military positions and a large civilian camp, sending villagers across the border north of Mae Sot, a Thai border town 240 miles (380 kilometers) northwest of the Thai capital, Bangkok.
The Karen Human Rights Group says the government is also forcing Karen villagers to join the DKBA and turn the group into a border guard force to better control natural resources in Karen State.
Meanwhile, the thin tarps provided the refugees are not keeping the heavy monsoon rains at bay, but they fear if the rain stops, fighting will break out again.
No mosquito nets are available to stop the spread of malaria, and the refugees depend on Mae Sot-based relief organizations and a nearby Thai Karen village for food and supplies.
They won't return home unless land mines in areas surrounding their villages are cleared. "Fighting we can see and run away from, but land mines can be anywhere," said the Karen medic, who like others declined to give a name because of the refugees' precarious status.
A number of the displaced, living in tent clusters according to the village of their origin, say they lost family members to mines during the flight to Thailand.
Other newly arrived Karen refugees have taken shelter in temples and schools along the border, but were wearing out their welcome as Buddhist Lent celebrations began this week, said Kathryn Halley of the aid group Partners, Relief and Development.
The new Karen refugees are to be moved into a single temporary camp, but aid groups and the Thai military have yet to agree on an exact secure location. Permanent camps in the area are too full to accommodate them.
The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees says it will resettle 6,000 of the 112,000 registered Myanmar refugees in Thailand this year. The United States, Canada, Australia and several Nordic countries participate in the resettlement program that began in 2004 and is now the world's largest, according to the agency.
Mae Sot-based aid groups say repatriation has slowed because of the global financial crisis.
The newly arrived are unlikely to become candidates for resettlement abroad and were not even aware of plans to move them to a new location inside Thailand, a trip that will require climbing a muddy mountain pass and crossing a river.
One 50-year-old Karen woman said she had traveled back and forth across the Thai-Myanmar border three times in her life. "I just want to stay still now," she said. "I am tired."
**********************************************************
The New York Times - North Korean Freighter Said to Be Returning to Port
By CHOE SANG-HUN
Published: July 6, 2009
SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea said Monday that a North Korean freighter suspected of carrying banned cargo was expected to return to home port, as United States officials claimed that international sanctions had forced the ship to turn back.
The 2,000-ton ship, the Kang Nam 1, left North Korea in mid-June and was believed to be heading for Myanmar only days after the United Nations Security Council adopted a resolution that banned the North from nuclear and ballistic missile tests and called for a global embargo on its trade in weapons.
The American Navy tracked the ship amid suspicions that the North was using the voyage to test Washington’s will to enforce the sanctions. Late last month, the ship turned around and began sailing homeward. On Sunday, Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. said the ship turned back because the United Nations sanctions prevented it from entering any port.
The ship was sailing in international waters between China and the Korean Peninsula on Monday and was likely to enter North Korean waters within the day, said Won Tae-jae, a spokesman of the South Korean Defense Ministry.
North Korea has not explained why the ship appeared to have canceled its voyage.
American authorities monitored the ship on the high seas but did not stop and search it — a move the North said it would interpret as an act of war — while working with regional governments to inspect the ship under the United Nations mandate if it entered their ports.
The South Korean authorities suspect the Kang Nam 1 was carrying a cargo of rifles and rocket launchers for Myanmar, the South Korean news agency Yonhap reported on Monday, quoting an unidentified government source. If the ship indeed was carrying weapons, aborting its voyage would be seen as a victory for the sanctions regime.
The Security Council imposed the sanctions after the North tested a nuclear weapon on May 25.
In a gesture of defiance, meanwhile, North Korea fired seven ballistic missiles Saturday during the July 4 holiday in the United States. South Korea’s mass-circulation newspaper Chosun Ilbo reported Monday that the missiles fired on Saturday included three Scud-ER missiles, which have a range of up to 620 miles and can hit Japan.
The Defense Ministry here said it could not confirm the report. But South Korean officials have told reporters that the North appeared to have fired five Scuds and two Rodong missiles.
Five of them plunged into the same zone in the sea between the North and Japan, indicating that the North was improving its firing accuracy, they said.
“Some of it seems like almost attention-seeking behavior,” Mr. Biden told ABC television on Sunday, referring to the North’s latest missile tests. “ I don’t want to give the attention.”
The North Korean cargo ship turned around because the United States has “succeeded in uniting the most important and critical countries to North Korea on a common path of further isolating North Korea,” Mr. Biden said. “There was no place they could go with certitude that they would not be, in fact, at that point boarded and searched.”
Philip S. Goldberg, the American diplomat coordinating enforcement of the sanctions, visited Malaysia on Monday for talks with officials there. Unconfirmed news reports in South Korea said that American officials had found bank accounts in Malaysia used by North Korea for its illicit trading and were seeking to shut them down. The Malaysian foreign minister, Anifah Aman, could not confirm the reports but pledged that his government would work with the United States.
“If they have evidence, we’ll be most willing to work together to solve this problem,” he said, according to The Associated Press.
Mr. Goldberg was in Beijing last week to discuss sanctions enforcement with officials in China, the North’s largest trade partner and provider of aid.
By CHOE SANG-HUN
Published: July 6, 2009
SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea said Monday that a North Korean freighter suspected of carrying banned cargo was expected to return to home port, as United States officials claimed that international sanctions had forced the ship to turn back.
The 2,000-ton ship, the Kang Nam 1, left North Korea in mid-June and was believed to be heading for Myanmar only days after the United Nations Security Council adopted a resolution that banned the North from nuclear and ballistic missile tests and called for a global embargo on its trade in weapons.
The American Navy tracked the ship amid suspicions that the North was using the voyage to test Washington’s will to enforce the sanctions. Late last month, the ship turned around and began sailing homeward. On Sunday, Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. said the ship turned back because the United Nations sanctions prevented it from entering any port.
The ship was sailing in international waters between China and the Korean Peninsula on Monday and was likely to enter North Korean waters within the day, said Won Tae-jae, a spokesman of the South Korean Defense Ministry.
North Korea has not explained why the ship appeared to have canceled its voyage.
American authorities monitored the ship on the high seas but did not stop and search it — a move the North said it would interpret as an act of war — while working with regional governments to inspect the ship under the United Nations mandate if it entered their ports.
The South Korean authorities suspect the Kang Nam 1 was carrying a cargo of rifles and rocket launchers for Myanmar, the South Korean news agency Yonhap reported on Monday, quoting an unidentified government source. If the ship indeed was carrying weapons, aborting its voyage would be seen as a victory for the sanctions regime.
The Security Council imposed the sanctions after the North tested a nuclear weapon on May 25.
In a gesture of defiance, meanwhile, North Korea fired seven ballistic missiles Saturday during the July 4 holiday in the United States. South Korea’s mass-circulation newspaper Chosun Ilbo reported Monday that the missiles fired on Saturday included three Scud-ER missiles, which have a range of up to 620 miles and can hit Japan.
The Defense Ministry here said it could not confirm the report. But South Korean officials have told reporters that the North appeared to have fired five Scuds and two Rodong missiles.
Five of them plunged into the same zone in the sea between the North and Japan, indicating that the North was improving its firing accuracy, they said.
“Some of it seems like almost attention-seeking behavior,” Mr. Biden told ABC television on Sunday, referring to the North’s latest missile tests. “ I don’t want to give the attention.”
The North Korean cargo ship turned around because the United States has “succeeded in uniting the most important and critical countries to North Korea on a common path of further isolating North Korea,” Mr. Biden said. “There was no place they could go with certitude that they would not be, in fact, at that point boarded and searched.”
Philip S. Goldberg, the American diplomat coordinating enforcement of the sanctions, visited Malaysia on Monday for talks with officials there. Unconfirmed news reports in South Korea said that American officials had found bank accounts in Malaysia used by North Korea for its illicit trading and were seeking to shut them down. The Malaysian foreign minister, Anifah Aman, could not confirm the reports but pledged that his government would work with the United States.
“If they have evidence, we’ll be most willing to work together to solve this problem,” he said, according to The Associated Press.
Mr. Goldberg was in Beijing last week to discuss sanctions enforcement with officials in China, the North’s largest trade partner and provider of aid.
**********************************************************
Monday, July 06, 2009
The Manila Times - Myanmar gamble backfires for UN’s Ban–analysts
for UN’s Ban–analysts
BANGKOK: Myanmar’s junta has dealt a humiliating blow to Ban Ki-moon’s credibility, but the UN chief must use the setback to push the regime’s powerful allies to finally take a tough stance, analysts said.
Ban left Myanmar empty-handed on Saturday after military ruler Than Shwe snubbed his pleas to meet democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi and ignored calls for the release of political prisoners ahead of elections in 2010. (See related story C4)
He admitted he was “deeply disappointed” but has given fresh ammunition to critics of his quiet diplomatic style who said he should have never have gambled on going to Myanmar while Aung San Suu Kyi was on trial.
“If Ban is saying it’s disappointing it must be really bad—it basically means he’s got absolutely nowhere. He should have realized it was going to be a disappointing trip,” David Mathieson from Human Rights Watch told Agence France-Presse.
“He didn’t even get one of the empty gestures the SPDC [State Peace and Development Council, the name for the ruling junta] probably should have given him so he could cast it as a minor victory.”
Ban defended himself after leaving Myanmar, saying on Saturday that being allowed to see Aung San Suu Kyi should not be seen as a “benchmark” of success and adding that Than Shwe had not rejected any of his other proposals.
He apparently gambled on hoping to repeat his success of May 2008, when he was able to persuade Than Shwe to allow international aid into Myanmar after Cyclone Nargis hit the country in 2008, killing 138,000.
But analysts said that his faith in his ability to win over the ruling generals was outweighed by their own determination to maintain their iron grip over the country and avoid all outside interference.
PR strategy
They warned that the South Korean diplomat’s high-profile visit could give the junta a veneer of legitimacy ahead of next year’s elections, which critics said were a sham designed to entrench the generals’ power.
“They [Myanmar’s ruling generals] brought Ban Ki-moon for public relations purposes,” said Zarni, a Myanmar analyst at the London School of Economics who goes by only one name.
“This regime has absolutely no interest in working with the UN in any meaningful or substantive manner. If Ban Ki-moon wants to be useful on Burma they need to review their policy on unconditional engagement.”
Silver lining
But Ban could wrest some benefits from his apparently fruitless trip, analysts said, by underscoring the junta’s intransigence and by pressing its allies on the UN Security Council to get tough.
China and Russia, which are both close to the regime, have repeatedly blocked UN sanctions against Myanmar. The United States and EU have both imposed tough sanctions against the country.
“Now he has to go back to New York and brief the Security Council and basically say ‘We have got nowhere. We have to seriously rethink our engagement strategy,’” Human Rights Watch’s Mathieson said.
“This really shows that he’s got to put more pressure on China and Russia in the Security Council, I think that’s one thing to come out of it.”
Aung Myo Thein of leading activist group the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners of Burma, based in Thailand, said Than Shwe’s hard-line stance could itself backfire by causing international outrage.
“In a way it’s a good situation. People can now know the intentions of the regime and discuss with each other about the situation,” he said.
“They should now take whatever the regime says with a grain of salt.”
The Manila Times - Myanmar gamble backfires for UN’s Ban–analysts
for UN’s Ban–analysts
BANGKOK: Myanmar’s junta has dealt a humiliating blow to Ban Ki-moon’s credibility, but the UN chief must use the setback to push the regime’s powerful allies to finally take a tough stance, analysts said.
Ban left Myanmar empty-handed on Saturday after military ruler Than Shwe snubbed his pleas to meet democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi and ignored calls for the release of political prisoners ahead of elections in 2010. (See related story C4)
He admitted he was “deeply disappointed” but has given fresh ammunition to critics of his quiet diplomatic style who said he should have never have gambled on going to Myanmar while Aung San Suu Kyi was on trial.
“If Ban is saying it’s disappointing it must be really bad—it basically means he’s got absolutely nowhere. He should have realized it was going to be a disappointing trip,” David Mathieson from Human Rights Watch told Agence France-Presse.
“He didn’t even get one of the empty gestures the SPDC [State Peace and Development Council, the name for the ruling junta] probably should have given him so he could cast it as a minor victory.”
Ban defended himself after leaving Myanmar, saying on Saturday that being allowed to see Aung San Suu Kyi should not be seen as a “benchmark” of success and adding that Than Shwe had not rejected any of his other proposals.
He apparently gambled on hoping to repeat his success of May 2008, when he was able to persuade Than Shwe to allow international aid into Myanmar after Cyclone Nargis hit the country in 2008, killing 138,000.
But analysts said that his faith in his ability to win over the ruling generals was outweighed by their own determination to maintain their iron grip over the country and avoid all outside interference.
PR strategy
They warned that the South Korean diplomat’s high-profile visit could give the junta a veneer of legitimacy ahead of next year’s elections, which critics said were a sham designed to entrench the generals’ power.
“They [Myanmar’s ruling generals] brought Ban Ki-moon for public relations purposes,” said Zarni, a Myanmar analyst at the London School of Economics who goes by only one name.
“This regime has absolutely no interest in working with the UN in any meaningful or substantive manner. If Ban Ki-moon wants to be useful on Burma they need to review their policy on unconditional engagement.”
Silver lining
But Ban could wrest some benefits from his apparently fruitless trip, analysts said, by underscoring the junta’s intransigence and by pressing its allies on the UN Security Council to get tough.
China and Russia, which are both close to the regime, have repeatedly blocked UN sanctions against Myanmar. The United States and EU have both imposed tough sanctions against the country.
“Now he has to go back to New York and brief the Security Council and basically say ‘We have got nowhere. We have to seriously rethink our engagement strategy,’” Human Rights Watch’s Mathieson said.
“This really shows that he’s got to put more pressure on China and Russia in the Security Council, I think that’s one thing to come out of it.”
Aung Myo Thein of leading activist group the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners of Burma, based in Thailand, said Than Shwe’s hard-line stance could itself backfire by causing international outrage.
“In a way it’s a good situation. People can now know the intentions of the regime and discuss with each other about the situation,” he said.
“They should now take whatever the regime says with a grain of salt.”
**********************************************************
Los Angeles Times - In Myanmar, expectations were low for U.N. visit
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expresses disappointment at not being allowed to see pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi. A former prisoner says he's not surprised.
By Charles McDermid
July 5, 2009
Reporting from Bangkok -- Aging former political prisoner Win Tin says he wasn't surprised that U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's visit to Myanmar to plead for the release of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi ended in failure.
Ban said Saturday he was "deeply disappointed" that Senior Gen. Than Shwe refused to allow him to see Suu Kyi, adding that she should be released "without delay." He said Myanmar's human rights record was a matter of serious concern.
But Win Tin, 80, a former journalist and founding member of Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy, said he didn't expect a breakthrough.
"I am not being cynical, but I expected nothing much from the visit. Even though he came at the invitation of the regime, it can be seen as the regime's response to worldwide pressure due to Aung San Suu Kyi's trial," he said by telephone Saturday from Myanmar, also known as Burma. "If there is no real political progress, we will see Burma under a military dictatorship for many years."
Since Win Tin was released in September after 19 years in Yangon's Insein Prison, he has worn his prison uniform as a sign of defiance. Last month, he was barred from testifying on Suu Kyi's behalf.
Suu Kyi has been detained for nearly 14 of the last 20 years. She was charged with violating her house arrest after an American swam uninvited to her home and stayed there for two days. The American, John Yettaw of Falcon, Mo., is also being held.
Ban said his two-day visit, which ended Saturday, would be used to call for the release of Myanmar's estimated 2,100 political prisoners, promote dialogue between the regime and the opposition, and assure a credible vote in general elections scheduled for next year.
Historian Thant Myint-U, grandson of U Thant, secretary-general of the U.N. from 1961-1971, said it was unfair to blame Ban for the trip's failure.
"Many governments were pushing him to go, the same governments that can't agree among themselves on what to do about Burma," he said. "As long as the big powers are deadlocked, it's easy to push the U.N. secretary-general into the limelight, and then blame him for not producing results."
Pro-democracy opposition and exile groups were left with the largely ineffectual tools they started with: international outcry and economic sanctions.
"The trouble with sanctions is that they are easy to put into effect and very difficult to get rid of. If you want to achieve an objective, sometimes you have to give people a way out," said David Steinberg, a Myanmar expert at Georgetown University.
Meanwhile, Win Tin says he is practically homeless. His property was seized by the government when he went to jail on July 4, 1989, and his friends have been denied the government approval needed to house him.
Born into a poor family in north Yangon, also known as Rangoon, Win Tin dreamed of joining Myanmar's struggle for independence from the British. When he was a teenager, he met Aung San, the nation's independence hero and father of Aung San Suu Kyi. Win Tin asked if he could join the resistance and was rebuffed.
"Aung San plainly said 'Stick with your studies. There are many people to fight. The time will come for you,' " Win Tin said.
When an uprising broke out in 1988, he became a founding member of NLD and a close aide to Suu Kyi. He was arrested a year later and jailed, and his sentence was extended when he managed to smuggle out a report to a United Nations official about torture and other human-rights violations rampant in Myanmar's jails.
According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, Win Tin had repeatedly refused to sign a letter promising to give up his political activities as a condition of his release. Local media have reported that Win Tin could be jailed for refusing to return his prison-issue dungarees. He says he will continue to wear the prison blues until Myanmar is free.
"I remember Daw Suu Kyi's response to this kind of warning about her security. She said, 'If a quack shoots me with a pistol, then the whole world will know where this bullet comes from,' " he said.
McDermid is a special correspondent. Special correspondent Swe Win contributed to this report.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expresses disappointment at not being allowed to see pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi. A former prisoner says he's not surprised.
By Charles McDermid
July 5, 2009
Reporting from Bangkok -- Aging former political prisoner Win Tin says he wasn't surprised that U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's visit to Myanmar to plead for the release of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi ended in failure.
Ban said Saturday he was "deeply disappointed" that Senior Gen. Than Shwe refused to allow him to see Suu Kyi, adding that she should be released "without delay." He said Myanmar's human rights record was a matter of serious concern.
But Win Tin, 80, a former journalist and founding member of Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy, said he didn't expect a breakthrough.
"I am not being cynical, but I expected nothing much from the visit. Even though he came at the invitation of the regime, it can be seen as the regime's response to worldwide pressure due to Aung San Suu Kyi's trial," he said by telephone Saturday from Myanmar, also known as Burma. "If there is no real political progress, we will see Burma under a military dictatorship for many years."
Since Win Tin was released in September after 19 years in Yangon's Insein Prison, he has worn his prison uniform as a sign of defiance. Last month, he was barred from testifying on Suu Kyi's behalf.
Suu Kyi has been detained for nearly 14 of the last 20 years. She was charged with violating her house arrest after an American swam uninvited to her home and stayed there for two days. The American, John Yettaw of Falcon, Mo., is also being held.
Ban said his two-day visit, which ended Saturday, would be used to call for the release of Myanmar's estimated 2,100 political prisoners, promote dialogue between the regime and the opposition, and assure a credible vote in general elections scheduled for next year.
Historian Thant Myint-U, grandson of U Thant, secretary-general of the U.N. from 1961-1971, said it was unfair to blame Ban for the trip's failure.
"Many governments were pushing him to go, the same governments that can't agree among themselves on what to do about Burma," he said. "As long as the big powers are deadlocked, it's easy to push the U.N. secretary-general into the limelight, and then blame him for not producing results."
Pro-democracy opposition and exile groups were left with the largely ineffectual tools they started with: international outcry and economic sanctions.
"The trouble with sanctions is that they are easy to put into effect and very difficult to get rid of. If you want to achieve an objective, sometimes you have to give people a way out," said David Steinberg, a Myanmar expert at Georgetown University.
Meanwhile, Win Tin says he is practically homeless. His property was seized by the government when he went to jail on July 4, 1989, and his friends have been denied the government approval needed to house him.
Born into a poor family in north Yangon, also known as Rangoon, Win Tin dreamed of joining Myanmar's struggle for independence from the British. When he was a teenager, he met Aung San, the nation's independence hero and father of Aung San Suu Kyi. Win Tin asked if he could join the resistance and was rebuffed.
"Aung San plainly said 'Stick with your studies. There are many people to fight. The time will come for you,' " Win Tin said.
When an uprising broke out in 1988, he became a founding member of NLD and a close aide to Suu Kyi. He was arrested a year later and jailed, and his sentence was extended when he managed to smuggle out a report to a United Nations official about torture and other human-rights violations rampant in Myanmar's jails.
According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, Win Tin had repeatedly refused to sign a letter promising to give up his political activities as a condition of his release. Local media have reported that Win Tin could be jailed for refusing to return his prison-issue dungarees. He says he will continue to wear the prison blues until Myanmar is free.
"I remember Daw Suu Kyi's response to this kind of warning about her security. She said, 'If a quack shoots me with a pistol, then the whole world will know where this bullet comes from,' " he said.
McDermid is a special correspondent. Special correspondent Swe Win contributed to this report.
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The New Kerala - Regime snubbed international community again: Myanmar Opposition
Bangkok, Jul 5 : Myanmar's pro-democracy opposition has said UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's visit to the country has shown the military regime has no genuine interest in promoting national reconciliation and democratisation.
''Mr Ban Ki-moon is leaving Burma empty-handed, without even meeting Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, much less achieving his goal of securing the release all political prisoners and getting the regime to engage in a dialogue with the opposition,'' said Aye Thar Aung, a senior member of the Committee Representing the People's Parliament in Myanmar.
''We do not believe in hopeful diplomacy, and we are not hopeful of political change in our country,'' he added.
Mr Thar Aung said the UN chief's visit was an opportunity for the military regime to ''showcase'' its road map to a kind democracy that would ensure the military's continued grip on the levers of power.
Nyan Win, a spokesman for Miss Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) party said the military rulers' refusal to allow the UN chief to meet the detainee was a clear indication of their lack of commitment to either genuine political reform or national reconciliation.
The UN Secretary-General told reporters in Bangkok on his return from Myanmar late last night that while he was ''deeply disappointed'' at not being able to meet Miss Suu Kyi, but his mission was not a failure.
''I asked to meet with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. I am deeply disappointed that Senior General Than Shwe refused my request.
Allowing a visit to Daw Aung San Suu Kyi would have been an important symbol of the government's willingness to embark on the kind of meaningful engagement that will be essential if the elections in 2010 are to be seen as credible,'' the UN chief said.
''I believe the Government of Myanmar failed to take a unique opportunity to show its commitment to a new era of political openness,'' he added.
During his visit, Mr Ban was able to convey the international community's concerns ''very frankly and directly to Senior General Than Shwe and his Government'', the Secretary-General said.
''My meeting with Aung San Suu Kyi, however, should not be seen as the only benchmark for success or failure of my visit. Because I believe that there are many more fundamental issues which we addressed, during the visit, which (will) help move Myanmar forward'' he stated.
The UN Secretary-General said he told Myanmar's leaders the nations world over wanted him to tell Myanmar’s government that the international community was ready to help the country's people achieve their legitimate aspirations.
In his talks with General Than Shwe, the UN chief said he ''emphasized that neither peace nor development can thrive without democracy and respect for human rights.'' The proposals for progress he outlined to Myanmar's military rulers included immediate release of all political prisoners including Miss Suu Kyi and allowing them to participate freely in the political process.
''I said I wanted to see resumption of substantive and time-bound dialogue between the Government and Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy at the higher level of engagement,'' he informed.
''I set out detailed criteria for a conducive environment for free and fair elections in 2010. Only then will the elections be seen as credible and legitimate,'' he added.
The UN chief urged Myanmar's government to publicise as soon as possible the rules governing next year's parliament election, set up an election commission and announce a date for the 2010 polls.
''I believe that they will seriously consider, they have not rejected any of what I proposed; and therefore it would be extremely important for the international community to follow up on all the issues which I have discussed,'' he said.
Bangkok, Jul 5 : Myanmar's pro-democracy opposition has said UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's visit to the country has shown the military regime has no genuine interest in promoting national reconciliation and democratisation.
''Mr Ban Ki-moon is leaving Burma empty-handed, without even meeting Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, much less achieving his goal of securing the release all political prisoners and getting the regime to engage in a dialogue with the opposition,'' said Aye Thar Aung, a senior member of the Committee Representing the People's Parliament in Myanmar.
''We do not believe in hopeful diplomacy, and we are not hopeful of political change in our country,'' he added.
Mr Thar Aung said the UN chief's visit was an opportunity for the military regime to ''showcase'' its road map to a kind democracy that would ensure the military's continued grip on the levers of power.
Nyan Win, a spokesman for Miss Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) party said the military rulers' refusal to allow the UN chief to meet the detainee was a clear indication of their lack of commitment to either genuine political reform or national reconciliation.
The UN Secretary-General told reporters in Bangkok on his return from Myanmar late last night that while he was ''deeply disappointed'' at not being able to meet Miss Suu Kyi, but his mission was not a failure.
''I asked to meet with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. I am deeply disappointed that Senior General Than Shwe refused my request.
Allowing a visit to Daw Aung San Suu Kyi would have been an important symbol of the government's willingness to embark on the kind of meaningful engagement that will be essential if the elections in 2010 are to be seen as credible,'' the UN chief said.
''I believe the Government of Myanmar failed to take a unique opportunity to show its commitment to a new era of political openness,'' he added.
During his visit, Mr Ban was able to convey the international community's concerns ''very frankly and directly to Senior General Than Shwe and his Government'', the Secretary-General said.
''My meeting with Aung San Suu Kyi, however, should not be seen as the only benchmark for success or failure of my visit. Because I believe that there are many more fundamental issues which we addressed, during the visit, which (will) help move Myanmar forward'' he stated.
The UN Secretary-General said he told Myanmar's leaders the nations world over wanted him to tell Myanmar’s government that the international community was ready to help the country's people achieve their legitimate aspirations.
In his talks with General Than Shwe, the UN chief said he ''emphasized that neither peace nor development can thrive without democracy and respect for human rights.'' The proposals for progress he outlined to Myanmar's military rulers included immediate release of all political prisoners including Miss Suu Kyi and allowing them to participate freely in the political process.
''I said I wanted to see resumption of substantive and time-bound dialogue between the Government and Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy at the higher level of engagement,'' he informed.
''I set out detailed criteria for a conducive environment for free and fair elections in 2010. Only then will the elections be seen as credible and legitimate,'' he added.
The UN chief urged Myanmar's government to publicise as soon as possible the rules governing next year's parliament election, set up an election commission and announce a date for the 2010 polls.
''I believe that they will seriously consider, they have not rejected any of what I proposed; and therefore it would be extremely important for the international community to follow up on all the issues which I have discussed,'' he said.
**********************************************************
Memo From Myanmar
International Herald Tribune - With No Clear Path Out of a Diplomatic Thicket, a Push to Redraw the Map
By NEIL MacFARQUHAR
Published: July 5, 2009
YANGON, Myanmar — Some people from this country despair at the rigid choreography of what might be called the Myanmar diplomatic minuet. United Nations interlocutors come and go, declaring that the moment is at hand for the military junta to release the endlessly prosecuted Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, but the generals do not budge.
Over the weekend, it was Ban Ki-moon, the United Nations secretary general, who, despite the weight of his personal intervention, failed to secure so much as a chat with Asia’s most famous political prisoner, much less any concessions.
The fact that Mr. Ban emerged empty-handed after his two-day visit that ended Saturday provides the strongest evidence yet that a different approach is overdue, analysts of Myanmar said.
Rather than tying negotiations, not to mention sanctions, to the treatment of just one figure, say policy analysts, humanitarian workers and exiles, the world should engage the junta on a broad range of economic, humanitarian and ethnic issues that will return electoral politics to its rightful place as one concern among many. They admit that borders on heresy, considering Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi’s virtual beatification in the West, but they consider it a shift she would readily accept given her lifelong commitment to solving Myanmar’s problems.
“People are angry with the U.N. because how many missions have we seen over the past 20 years jetting in and out,” said Aung Zaw, who went into exile after the bloody 1988 uprising and is now the Thailand-based editor of Irrawaddy magazine. “Have they produced any progress?”
Mr. Ban took a stab at articulating a new policy toward Myanmar, formerly Burma, in an unusual speech on Saturday to the humanitarian and diplomatic community. He called on the government to respect human rights, address the dire humanitarian needs in the wake of Cyclone Nargis that killed about 130,000 people in May 2008 and try to join the rest of Asia’s economic tigers.
But for the bulk of his visit, Mr. Ban focused on pushing for free and fair elections, and the release of Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi and some 2,000 other political prisoners.
What is missing from this approach, analysts note, is a vision of Myanmar as seen by Senior Gen. Than Shwe and the other four generals who together make up the ruling State Peace and Development Council. General Than Shwe views himself as having shut down a failed socialist system; opened up the country to foreign gas companies that discovered reserves worth billions of dollars; signed cease-fires with some 20 ethnic groups in guerrilla wars that lasted since independence from Britain in 1948; and pushed through a new Constitution that enshrines military control of the country behind a civilian leadership.
Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi’s sweeping national following makes her a threat to this plan. But analysts said they believed that as military men, the generals worry far more about insurgent armies financed by narco-trafficking, including the 20,000-strong United Wa State Army in the north and the Kachin Independence Army, with 10,000 men.
Senior United Nations officials are dismissive about addressing the armed conflicts, saying their General Assembly mandate covers only political matters. But critics argue that they are being too timid.
“I think we need a more general view of the problems in the country,” said Thant Myint-U, the author of a Burmese history titled “The River of Lost Footsteps” and a former United Nations official. “Some new agreement between the Burmese Army and its armed opponents is essential for new elections. The opponents with the guns are in many ways more important to them than the opponents who are locked up.”
Western attempts at isolation combined with the endless domestic civil war have made the generals comfortable in their siege mentality, analysts said. A prime way to bust through that would be humanitarian aid, though analysts say the United Nations has failed to convince donor nations of its importance. In Mr. Ban’s “Five Plus One” pillars for Myanmar, humanitarian aid comes after various aspects of political freedom and economic development.
Given Myanmar’s pariah status, countries have balked at providing aid for recovery and reconstruction. Emergency relief after Cyclone Nargis came quickly, but donors have pledged only about $100 million of the more than $600 million sought for the next phase, said Catherine Bragg, the deputy United Nations humanitarian coordinator.
A report last fall by the International Crisis Group said that aid should be seen not only as a means to alleviate suffering, “but also as a potential means of opening up a closed country, improving governance and empowering people to take control of their own lives.”
It has worked that way at least in the Irrawaddy Delta — the area hit hardest by the cyclone — where villagers have adopted a modicum of self-governance through being consulted by foreign or local organizations on issues ranging from divvying up donated tractors to revamping school curriculums.
As a result, the junta has grown wary, clamping down on visas for foreign aid workers. There is a backlog of more than 200, and 100 recently granted were just one-month extensions, Ms. Bragg said.
While some advocacy groups support lifting sanctions, they want it done in a way that helps economically vulnerable groups like textile workers and farmers. “It shouldn’t be about automatically repealing the sanctions and giving a lot of money to the regime — that would be folly,” said David Mathieson, the Myanmar researcher for Human Rights Watch.
United Nations members are deeply divided over Myanmar, with important trading partners like Russia and China protective of the regime and other Asian neighbors often mute. The United States is reviewing its own policy of economic and other sanctions. At his confirmation hearings last month, Kurt M. Campbell, the highest State Department official for East Asia, said that the review had been enormously complicated by the fact that Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi was again on trial, but that Washington was looking for “a more constructive approach.”
The hurdle, of course, is that the country’s star dissident has developed a worldwide following. “Aung San Suu Kyi is the 800-pound gorilla in Burma,” said Maureen Aung-Thwin of the Open Society Institute. “Everything that happens — elections, the political process, reconciliation — is inexorably linked to her.”
An earlier version of this article incorrectly identified Maureen Aung-Thwin as an employee of the International Crisis Group.
International Herald Tribune - With No Clear Path Out of a Diplomatic Thicket, a Push to Redraw the Map
By NEIL MacFARQUHAR
Published: July 5, 2009
YANGON, Myanmar — Some people from this country despair at the rigid choreography of what might be called the Myanmar diplomatic minuet. United Nations interlocutors come and go, declaring that the moment is at hand for the military junta to release the endlessly prosecuted Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, but the generals do not budge.
Over the weekend, it was Ban Ki-moon, the United Nations secretary general, who, despite the weight of his personal intervention, failed to secure so much as a chat with Asia’s most famous political prisoner, much less any concessions.
The fact that Mr. Ban emerged empty-handed after his two-day visit that ended Saturday provides the strongest evidence yet that a different approach is overdue, analysts of Myanmar said.
Rather than tying negotiations, not to mention sanctions, to the treatment of just one figure, say policy analysts, humanitarian workers and exiles, the world should engage the junta on a broad range of economic, humanitarian and ethnic issues that will return electoral politics to its rightful place as one concern among many. They admit that borders on heresy, considering Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi’s virtual beatification in the West, but they consider it a shift she would readily accept given her lifelong commitment to solving Myanmar’s problems.
“People are angry with the U.N. because how many missions have we seen over the past 20 years jetting in and out,” said Aung Zaw, who went into exile after the bloody 1988 uprising and is now the Thailand-based editor of Irrawaddy magazine. “Have they produced any progress?”
Mr. Ban took a stab at articulating a new policy toward Myanmar, formerly Burma, in an unusual speech on Saturday to the humanitarian and diplomatic community. He called on the government to respect human rights, address the dire humanitarian needs in the wake of Cyclone Nargis that killed about 130,000 people in May 2008 and try to join the rest of Asia’s economic tigers.
But for the bulk of his visit, Mr. Ban focused on pushing for free and fair elections, and the release of Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi and some 2,000 other political prisoners.
What is missing from this approach, analysts note, is a vision of Myanmar as seen by Senior Gen. Than Shwe and the other four generals who together make up the ruling State Peace and Development Council. General Than Shwe views himself as having shut down a failed socialist system; opened up the country to foreign gas companies that discovered reserves worth billions of dollars; signed cease-fires with some 20 ethnic groups in guerrilla wars that lasted since independence from Britain in 1948; and pushed through a new Constitution that enshrines military control of the country behind a civilian leadership.
Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi’s sweeping national following makes her a threat to this plan. But analysts said they believed that as military men, the generals worry far more about insurgent armies financed by narco-trafficking, including the 20,000-strong United Wa State Army in the north and the Kachin Independence Army, with 10,000 men.
Senior United Nations officials are dismissive about addressing the armed conflicts, saying their General Assembly mandate covers only political matters. But critics argue that they are being too timid.
“I think we need a more general view of the problems in the country,” said Thant Myint-U, the author of a Burmese history titled “The River of Lost Footsteps” and a former United Nations official. “Some new agreement between the Burmese Army and its armed opponents is essential for new elections. The opponents with the guns are in many ways more important to them than the opponents who are locked up.”
Western attempts at isolation combined with the endless domestic civil war have made the generals comfortable in their siege mentality, analysts said. A prime way to bust through that would be humanitarian aid, though analysts say the United Nations has failed to convince donor nations of its importance. In Mr. Ban’s “Five Plus One” pillars for Myanmar, humanitarian aid comes after various aspects of political freedom and economic development.
Given Myanmar’s pariah status, countries have balked at providing aid for recovery and reconstruction. Emergency relief after Cyclone Nargis came quickly, but donors have pledged only about $100 million of the more than $600 million sought for the next phase, said Catherine Bragg, the deputy United Nations humanitarian coordinator.
A report last fall by the International Crisis Group said that aid should be seen not only as a means to alleviate suffering, “but also as a potential means of opening up a closed country, improving governance and empowering people to take control of their own lives.”
It has worked that way at least in the Irrawaddy Delta — the area hit hardest by the cyclone — where villagers have adopted a modicum of self-governance through being consulted by foreign or local organizations on issues ranging from divvying up donated tractors to revamping school curriculums.
As a result, the junta has grown wary, clamping down on visas for foreign aid workers. There is a backlog of more than 200, and 100 recently granted were just one-month extensions, Ms. Bragg said.
While some advocacy groups support lifting sanctions, they want it done in a way that helps economically vulnerable groups like textile workers and farmers. “It shouldn’t be about automatically repealing the sanctions and giving a lot of money to the regime — that would be folly,” said David Mathieson, the Myanmar researcher for Human Rights Watch.
United Nations members are deeply divided over Myanmar, with important trading partners like Russia and China protective of the regime and other Asian neighbors often mute. The United States is reviewing its own policy of economic and other sanctions. At his confirmation hearings last month, Kurt M. Campbell, the highest State Department official for East Asia, said that the review had been enormously complicated by the fact that Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi was again on trial, but that Washington was looking for “a more constructive approach.”
The hurdle, of course, is that the country’s star dissident has developed a worldwide following. “Aung San Suu Kyi is the 800-pound gorilla in Burma,” said Maureen Aung-Thwin of the Open Society Institute. “Everything that happens — elections, the political process, reconciliation — is inexorably linked to her.”
An earlier version of this article incorrectly identified Maureen Aung-Thwin as an employee of the International Crisis Group.
**********************************************************
Time Magazine - Ban Ki-Moon Leaves Burma Disappointed
By Robert Horn, Sunday, Jul. 05, 2009
Before it began, United Nations officials had described U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's visit to Burma as a diplomatically risky mission that could end in failure. After it ended, following two days in Burma and two rare and lengthy meetings with General Than Shwe, the reclusive leader of the country's military government, Ban had come away with nothing concrete to show for his venture. His requests to meet imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi were rejected. His pleas for the government to release its 2,000-plus political prisoners were ignored. "I believe the government of Myanmar failed to take a unique opportunity to show its commitment to a new era of openness," Ban told reporters at Bangkok's international airport Saturday night.
Burma, which the ruling junta has renamed Myanmar, hasn't seen anything resembling openness for nearly five decades, having been ruled by military regimes since 1962. Its generals have isolated the country, ground it into poverty and brutally suppressed periodic mass uprisings in support of democracy — the last, in 2007, was led by Buddhist monks who were gunned down or arrested. The regime says it will hold national elections in 2010, but many observers say they are designed to cement military rule under a civilian guise. The democracy movement's leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, has been kept under house arrest for 13 of the past 18 years. The regime has now put her on what U.S. President Barack Obama has called a "show trial" for violating the terms of her house arrest after an American man broke into her home, claiming he had visions she would be assassinated. She faces a five-year prison sentence if convicted. Even Burma's normally circumspect neighbors in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations have criticized the regime over the trial and Suu Kyi's never-ending imprisonment. (See pictures of foreign investment in Burma.)
During his first meeting with Than Shwe, Ban asked for permission to see Suu Kyi. Than Shwe refused. The U.N.'s top diplomat said the success or failure of his mission should not be judged solely on the benchmark of meeting Aung San Suu Kyi, though he lamented that it would have been "an important symbol of the government's willingness to embark on the kind of meaningful engagement" that would lend credibility to the elections. Ban said his mission served the purpose of allowing him to convey what the international community and the United Nations expects from the regime, like progress toward democracy, directly to the country's leader. He said he did this "as strongly as possible, as hard as I could press." He believes, he said, that Than Shwe will "seriously consider" his proposals for making national elections scheduled for 2010 "credible, inclusive and legitimate."
Democracy activists remain unconvinced. "The regime thumbed its nose at the entire U.N. system," says Debbie Stothard of ALTSEAN, a Southeast Asia–based network of activist groups campaigning for democracy and human rights in Burma. "It's time for the international community and the U.N. to take off the kid gloves. It's time the international community stopped regarding crimes against humanity, repression and human-rights violations as normal for Burma. The regime didn't fail to take this opportunity, it refused to."
Ban's optimism going into last week's meeting probably sprung from his limited success with Than Shwe during a previous meeting in 2008, convincing him to allow outside humanitarian assistance into the country after Cyclone Nargis. But he is far from the first diplomat to fail to persuade Burma's generals to entertain any serious notion of real political reform. Going forward, Ban said he would brief the U.N. on the visit, and the organization would monitor the regime's progress on his proposals, which he did not outline in detail, save for saying election laws and an election commission should be established, and that all political prisoners should be released and all political parties be allowed to participate in the 2010 polls.
Stothard says the regime fears a Security Council inquiry into war crimes and crimes against humanity. Burma has been engaged in a civil war with various ethnic groups since 1948, although some have signed cease-fire agreements with the government. The regime has been accused of torturing its political prisoners. But China and Russia have opposed any Security Council action on Burma. China, which views Burma as a resource-rich, strategically important client state, is seen as the regime's strongest backer in the international community. "It's time China realized that having instability on its border with Burma is not in its best interests," Stothard says, adding that tensions were increasing between the military and ethnic armies in Burma based near the China border. (Read "The Scramble for a Piece of Burma.")
Russia's expanding trade with Burma includes an agreement to sell the poverty-stricken nation a nuclear research reactor, and the regime has also been bolstering ties with North Korea, receiving arms shipments from its sister Asian pariah state, and employing North Korean engineers to build massive underground bunkers at its fortress-like capital of Naypyidaw.
Ban stressed that he would remain focused on the situation, and said he expected the government "to demonstrate real progress in the near future." Real progress, however, hasn't been seen in Burma since 1962. And contempt for the U.N. is nothing new among Burma's generals. A Burmese, U Thant, served as U.N. Secretary-General for 10 years, from 1961 to 1971. When he died in 1974 and his body was flown back to Burma, leader General Ne Win, the mentor of current ruler Than Shwe, refused U Thant a state funeral or any honors whatsoever.
By Robert Horn, Sunday, Jul. 05, 2009
Before it began, United Nations officials had described U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's visit to Burma as a diplomatically risky mission that could end in failure. After it ended, following two days in Burma and two rare and lengthy meetings with General Than Shwe, the reclusive leader of the country's military government, Ban had come away with nothing concrete to show for his venture. His requests to meet imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi were rejected. His pleas for the government to release its 2,000-plus political prisoners were ignored. "I believe the government of Myanmar failed to take a unique opportunity to show its commitment to a new era of openness," Ban told reporters at Bangkok's international airport Saturday night.
Burma, which the ruling junta has renamed Myanmar, hasn't seen anything resembling openness for nearly five decades, having been ruled by military regimes since 1962. Its generals have isolated the country, ground it into poverty and brutally suppressed periodic mass uprisings in support of democracy — the last, in 2007, was led by Buddhist monks who were gunned down or arrested. The regime says it will hold national elections in 2010, but many observers say they are designed to cement military rule under a civilian guise. The democracy movement's leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, has been kept under house arrest for 13 of the past 18 years. The regime has now put her on what U.S. President Barack Obama has called a "show trial" for violating the terms of her house arrest after an American man broke into her home, claiming he had visions she would be assassinated. She faces a five-year prison sentence if convicted. Even Burma's normally circumspect neighbors in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations have criticized the regime over the trial and Suu Kyi's never-ending imprisonment. (See pictures of foreign investment in Burma.)
During his first meeting with Than Shwe, Ban asked for permission to see Suu Kyi. Than Shwe refused. The U.N.'s top diplomat said the success or failure of his mission should not be judged solely on the benchmark of meeting Aung San Suu Kyi, though he lamented that it would have been "an important symbol of the government's willingness to embark on the kind of meaningful engagement" that would lend credibility to the elections. Ban said his mission served the purpose of allowing him to convey what the international community and the United Nations expects from the regime, like progress toward democracy, directly to the country's leader. He said he did this "as strongly as possible, as hard as I could press." He believes, he said, that Than Shwe will "seriously consider" his proposals for making national elections scheduled for 2010 "credible, inclusive and legitimate."
Democracy activists remain unconvinced. "The regime thumbed its nose at the entire U.N. system," says Debbie Stothard of ALTSEAN, a Southeast Asia–based network of activist groups campaigning for democracy and human rights in Burma. "It's time for the international community and the U.N. to take off the kid gloves. It's time the international community stopped regarding crimes against humanity, repression and human-rights violations as normal for Burma. The regime didn't fail to take this opportunity, it refused to."
Ban's optimism going into last week's meeting probably sprung from his limited success with Than Shwe during a previous meeting in 2008, convincing him to allow outside humanitarian assistance into the country after Cyclone Nargis. But he is far from the first diplomat to fail to persuade Burma's generals to entertain any serious notion of real political reform. Going forward, Ban said he would brief the U.N. on the visit, and the organization would monitor the regime's progress on his proposals, which he did not outline in detail, save for saying election laws and an election commission should be established, and that all political prisoners should be released and all political parties be allowed to participate in the 2010 polls.
Stothard says the regime fears a Security Council inquiry into war crimes and crimes against humanity. Burma has been engaged in a civil war with various ethnic groups since 1948, although some have signed cease-fire agreements with the government. The regime has been accused of torturing its political prisoners. But China and Russia have opposed any Security Council action on Burma. China, which views Burma as a resource-rich, strategically important client state, is seen as the regime's strongest backer in the international community. "It's time China realized that having instability on its border with Burma is not in its best interests," Stothard says, adding that tensions were increasing between the military and ethnic armies in Burma based near the China border. (Read "The Scramble for a Piece of Burma.")
Russia's expanding trade with Burma includes an agreement to sell the poverty-stricken nation a nuclear research reactor, and the regime has also been bolstering ties with North Korea, receiving arms shipments from its sister Asian pariah state, and employing North Korean engineers to build massive underground bunkers at its fortress-like capital of Naypyidaw.
Ban stressed that he would remain focused on the situation, and said he expected the government "to demonstrate real progress in the near future." Real progress, however, hasn't been seen in Burma since 1962. And contempt for the U.N. is nothing new among Burma's generals. A Burmese, U Thant, served as U.N. Secretary-General for 10 years, from 1961 to 1971. When he died in 1974 and his body was flown back to Burma, leader General Ne Win, the mentor of current ruler Than Shwe, refused U Thant a state funeral or any honors whatsoever.
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Japanese language proficiency test to be held in Myanmar
www.chinaview.cn 2009-07-05 20:00:34
YANGON, July 5 (Xinhua) -- A Japanese language proficiency test for Myanmar citizens will be held in the former capital of Yangon in late this year to boost language communication between peoples of Myanmar and Japan, according to Myanmar Association of Japan Alumni (MAJA) Sunday.
Sponsored by the Japanese Embassy and the MAJA, the 11th Japanese language proficiency test will take place on December 6 at the Japanese Embassy here, the sources said, adding that the test will cover four levels.
Meanwhile, the 10th Japanese speech contest was held in Myanmar under the title of "Together Toward the Future, Mekong and Japan" in last May and four winners were produced out of 15 contestants.
Myanmar and Japan have been cooperating closely in the culture sector. Some Japanese film festivals were held over the last few months in Myanmar, while a special piano and flute concert by famous Japanese artists Hiroshi Matsushima and Yoshimi Matsushima is to take place in Myanmar's Yangon and Mandalay in August this year under the Japan-Mekong exchange year program.
The program has introduced music concert, film festival, get-together party, and Japanese speech contest every month since January this year.
Other programs to be added include Karatedo contest, Ekabana flower decoration show, Japanese fashion show, Japanese singing contest, Judo contest and film festivals respectively.
In March this year, a music concert by a 20-member Myanmar Gitamate Music Band, involving Myanmar and Japanese artists, had taken place in Yangon under the program to showcase the cooperation and friendship between Japan and Myanmar.
The Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS)-Economic Cooperation has worked out a plan for development of tourism as part of its economic cooperation in the subregion, designating the year 2009-2010 as GMS tourism year.
The Mekong River is shared by six countries -- China, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam.
www.chinaview.cn 2009-07-05 20:00:34
YANGON, July 5 (Xinhua) -- A Japanese language proficiency test for Myanmar citizens will be held in the former capital of Yangon in late this year to boost language communication between peoples of Myanmar and Japan, according to Myanmar Association of Japan Alumni (MAJA) Sunday.
Sponsored by the Japanese Embassy and the MAJA, the 11th Japanese language proficiency test will take place on December 6 at the Japanese Embassy here, the sources said, adding that the test will cover four levels.
Meanwhile, the 10th Japanese speech contest was held in Myanmar under the title of "Together Toward the Future, Mekong and Japan" in last May and four winners were produced out of 15 contestants.
Myanmar and Japan have been cooperating closely in the culture sector. Some Japanese film festivals were held over the last few months in Myanmar, while a special piano and flute concert by famous Japanese artists Hiroshi Matsushima and Yoshimi Matsushima is to take place in Myanmar's Yangon and Mandalay in August this year under the Japan-Mekong exchange year program.
The program has introduced music concert, film festival, get-together party, and Japanese speech contest every month since January this year.
Other programs to be added include Karatedo contest, Ekabana flower decoration show, Japanese fashion show, Japanese singing contest, Judo contest and film festivals respectively.
In March this year, a music concert by a 20-member Myanmar Gitamate Music Band, involving Myanmar and Japanese artists, had taken place in Yangon under the program to showcase the cooperation and friendship between Japan and Myanmar.
The Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS)-Economic Cooperation has worked out a plan for development of tourism as part of its economic cooperation in the subregion, designating the year 2009-2010 as GMS tourism year.
The Mekong River is shared by six countries -- China, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam.
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UN chief: Myanmar leader promises to hold inclusive general election
www.chinaview.cn 2009-07-05 09:38:41
BANGKOK, July 4 (Xinhua) -- United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon said Saturday that Myanmar top leader Senior-General Than Shwe has promised him the Southeast Asian country will hold a fair and inclusive general election in 2010.
Ban was speaking at a press briefing late Saturday during his stopover at Suvarnabhumi Airport in the Thai capital of Bangkok after concluding a two-day official visit to Myanmar.
During his stay in Myanmar's new capital of Nay Pyi Taw, Ban had two meetings with Than Shwe, who is chairman of the State Peace and Development Council, on Friday and Saturday.
Ban said the meetings covered a broad range of issues including Myanmar's forthcoming general election in 2010 and the release of Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD).
Ban said Than Shwe told him that Myanmar would continue to follow its seven-step roadmap, released in August 2003, to national reconciliation and democracy.
Than Shwe promised that Myanmar's government would promulgate in time the Election Law, which is being drawn, to fairly enable organization of political parties to participate in the election and make the election inclusive, the UN chief said.
Ban said it was a difficult job for him to convince the Myanmar government to release Aung San Suu Kyi.
According to a Saturday report of the state-run Myanmar Radio and Television (MRTV), Ban's request to meet Aung San Suu Kyi was turned down since the opposition leader, along with U.S. citizen John William Yettaw, is under trial.
Prior to the news briefing, Ban met with Thai Prime Minister Abhisit to brief him on his trip to Myanmar and they talked about the upcoming ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) meetings due to occur in October in the southern Thai resort of Phuket.
The trip was the second the UN chief paid to Myanmar. Ban first visited the country in May last year to see first-handed the devastation left by cyclone Nargis.
www.chinaview.cn 2009-07-05 09:38:41
BANGKOK, July 4 (Xinhua) -- United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon said Saturday that Myanmar top leader Senior-General Than Shwe has promised him the Southeast Asian country will hold a fair and inclusive general election in 2010.
Ban was speaking at a press briefing late Saturday during his stopover at Suvarnabhumi Airport in the Thai capital of Bangkok after concluding a two-day official visit to Myanmar.
During his stay in Myanmar's new capital of Nay Pyi Taw, Ban had two meetings with Than Shwe, who is chairman of the State Peace and Development Council, on Friday and Saturday.
Ban said the meetings covered a broad range of issues including Myanmar's forthcoming general election in 2010 and the release of Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD).
Ban said Than Shwe told him that Myanmar would continue to follow its seven-step roadmap, released in August 2003, to national reconciliation and democracy.
Than Shwe promised that Myanmar's government would promulgate in time the Election Law, which is being drawn, to fairly enable organization of political parties to participate in the election and make the election inclusive, the UN chief said.
Ban said it was a difficult job for him to convince the Myanmar government to release Aung San Suu Kyi.
According to a Saturday report of the state-run Myanmar Radio and Television (MRTV), Ban's request to meet Aung San Suu Kyi was turned down since the opposition leader, along with U.S. citizen John William Yettaw, is under trial.
Prior to the news briefing, Ban met with Thai Prime Minister Abhisit to brief him on his trip to Myanmar and they talked about the upcoming ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) meetings due to occur in October in the southern Thai resort of Phuket.
The trip was the second the UN chief paid to Myanmar. Ban first visited the country in May last year to see first-handed the devastation left by cyclone Nargis.
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2009/07/06
The New Straits Times - EDITORIAL: Cults of impunity
CONSPIRACY theorists might make a meal of the double whammy delivered to global consensus by North Korea and Myanmar in the past few days. They've colluded before against their mutual enemies (which include, not to put to fine a point on it, most of the world's nations); most infamously in the 1983 "Rangoon Massacre" of 17 South Korean officials visiting the capital now called Yangon. Now the world's top two rogue states have jointly and severally succeeded in embarrassing global institutions -- the Myanmar junta has humiliated United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon by tantalising him into thinking he might meet imprisoned democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, only to deny him that precious opportunity after the public-relations photographs were taken of Ban in cordial conversation with regime chief Senior General Than Shwe.
Myanmar's regime played Ban like a marionette, in what ought to be taken as an insult and an affront to the global community he represents as figurehead. It is tragic that both Myanmar and North Korea can mock with impunity the sanctions of nations and UN resolutions demanding in the sternest terms that they cease and desist. Pyongyang's response to the ire arising from last month's nuclear test and earlier long-range missile launches was to fire seven short-range missiles into the Sea of Japan -- in observance of the United States' national day, no doubt.
Where the regime of President Kim Jong Il is legendary for its unfathomable irrationality, the cadres of Naypyidaw are nothing if not deliberate in their cynical manipulation of whatever interfaces they are granted with the wider world. But sending away the UN secretary-general in sheepish failure cocks the same snook at global sensibilities as North Korea's inflammatory belligerence: both ride roughshod over the decreasing effectuality of the only mechanisms remaining for the world to act concertedly in service of global law and order. Let it be reiterated, then, that the world must look to China, India and Asean as the last bastions against these intransigent maverick states. Theirs are the shared borders; theirs would be the frontline in defence against Naypyidaw and Pyongyang spiralling out of control in ways that would bring jeopardy to other countries and grief to their own. The responsibility needs to be real, direct and regional, now that the masters of Myanmar and North Korea alike have demonstrated that they consider UN Security Council resolutions to be worth less than the paper they're printed on.
The New Straits Times - EDITORIAL: Cults of impunity
CONSPIRACY theorists might make a meal of the double whammy delivered to global consensus by North Korea and Myanmar in the past few days. They've colluded before against their mutual enemies (which include, not to put to fine a point on it, most of the world's nations); most infamously in the 1983 "Rangoon Massacre" of 17 South Korean officials visiting the capital now called Yangon. Now the world's top two rogue states have jointly and severally succeeded in embarrassing global institutions -- the Myanmar junta has humiliated United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon by tantalising him into thinking he might meet imprisoned democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, only to deny him that precious opportunity after the public-relations photographs were taken of Ban in cordial conversation with regime chief Senior General Than Shwe.
Myanmar's regime played Ban like a marionette, in what ought to be taken as an insult and an affront to the global community he represents as figurehead. It is tragic that both Myanmar and North Korea can mock with impunity the sanctions of nations and UN resolutions demanding in the sternest terms that they cease and desist. Pyongyang's response to the ire arising from last month's nuclear test and earlier long-range missile launches was to fire seven short-range missiles into the Sea of Japan -- in observance of the United States' national day, no doubt.
Where the regime of President Kim Jong Il is legendary for its unfathomable irrationality, the cadres of Naypyidaw are nothing if not deliberate in their cynical manipulation of whatever interfaces they are granted with the wider world. But sending away the UN secretary-general in sheepish failure cocks the same snook at global sensibilities as North Korea's inflammatory belligerence: both ride roughshod over the decreasing effectuality of the only mechanisms remaining for the world to act concertedly in service of global law and order. Let it be reiterated, then, that the world must look to China, India and Asean as the last bastions against these intransigent maverick states. Theirs are the shared borders; theirs would be the frontline in defence against Naypyidaw and Pyongyang spiralling out of control in ways that would bring jeopardy to other countries and grief to their own. The responsibility needs to be real, direct and regional, now that the masters of Myanmar and North Korea alike have demonstrated that they consider UN Security Council resolutions to be worth less than the paper they're printed on.
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Bangkok Post - Cause for hope in Burma after UN visit
By: ACHARA ASHAYAGACHAT
Published: 6/07/2009 at 12:00 AM
Newspaper section: News
The outcome of the UN chief's two-day visit to Burma may have caused frustration and dismay among those who had high expectations of the trip.
But optimists will not have lost hope of seeing change for the better in Burma.
They believe the United Nations still has some leverage in this task and the world body could set the momentum by, among other things, offering economic and financial help to raise Burma's battered economy and engage its people in the process.
But for the pessimists, diplomacy seems to have failed to sway the repressive military regime.
They believe united and swift sanctions are needed and the best venue to deal with Burma is in the UN Security Council.
Panitan Wattanayagorn, acting government spokesman, refuses to share the view of the group wanting sanctions, arguing the Security Council has never made clear its stance on Burma.
"I'm surprised that the international community sees a meeting between UN chief Ban Ki-moon and detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi as the only thing that matters," Mr Panitan said.
The UN secretary-general's trip to Burma should be seen as a success. His mission was to deliver a message of grave concern from the world about Burma's stalled national reconciliation process and the plight of the Nobel laureate Suu Kyi and other political prisoners, he said.
Mr Ban's objective was fulfilled as the leadership there listened to his message, he said.
Mr Panitan said UN members now have to think about what to do next.
The Asean Regional Forum being held in Phuket later this month could provide a platform for such a discussion, he said.
Meanwhile, Mr Ban expressed deep disappointment that Than Shwe, chairman of the ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), had turned down his request to visit Mrs Suu Kyi.
"It would have been an important symbol of the government's willingness to embark on the kind of meaningful engagement that will be essential if the elections in 2010 are to be seen as credible," Mr Ban said.
But he remained optimistic of change, and said other fundamental issues were addressed during his visit that would help move Burma forward.
The UN chief has remained firm in his demands.
He said Mrs Suu Kyi and all political prisoners must be allowed to participate in politics.
He also called for talks between the government and Mrs Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy to resume.
He also demanded that the Burmese government introduce an election law, establish an electoral commission and set a date for the election in 2010.
What was more important during Mr Ban's visit to Burma was his discussion with the SPDC on the need to set up a national economic forum to address the country's development needs, and expansion of humanitarian assistance to areas beyond Cyclone Nargis-affected areas.
The forum will be crucial for democracy, durable peace and prosperity in Burma, he said.
But how much longer can Burma afford to wait for national reconciliation, democratic transition and full respect for human rights? The Burmese junta has yet to give us an answer.
Debbie Stothard, coordinator of the Alternative Asean Network on Burma, said the time for talks on Burma was over.
"There must be political will among the UNSC [UN Security Council] members, not only the permanent five, to start an investigation of potential crimes against humanity or war crimes in Burma," she said.
In May, Harvard University's Law School started researching UN documents, which it says indicate that human rights abuses in Burma are widespread, systematic and part of state policy.
This should justify an investigation to determine whether Burma has committed crimes prosecutable under international law, she said.
By: ACHARA ASHAYAGACHAT
Published: 6/07/2009 at 12:00 AM
Newspaper section: News
The outcome of the UN chief's two-day visit to Burma may have caused frustration and dismay among those who had high expectations of the trip.
But optimists will not have lost hope of seeing change for the better in Burma.
They believe the United Nations still has some leverage in this task and the world body could set the momentum by, among other things, offering economic and financial help to raise Burma's battered economy and engage its people in the process.
But for the pessimists, diplomacy seems to have failed to sway the repressive military regime.
They believe united and swift sanctions are needed and the best venue to deal with Burma is in the UN Security Council.
Panitan Wattanayagorn, acting government spokesman, refuses to share the view of the group wanting sanctions, arguing the Security Council has never made clear its stance on Burma.
"I'm surprised that the international community sees a meeting between UN chief Ban Ki-moon and detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi as the only thing that matters," Mr Panitan said.
The UN secretary-general's trip to Burma should be seen as a success. His mission was to deliver a message of grave concern from the world about Burma's stalled national reconciliation process and the plight of the Nobel laureate Suu Kyi and other political prisoners, he said.
Mr Ban's objective was fulfilled as the leadership there listened to his message, he said.
Mr Panitan said UN members now have to think about what to do next.
The Asean Regional Forum being held in Phuket later this month could provide a platform for such a discussion, he said.
Meanwhile, Mr Ban expressed deep disappointment that Than Shwe, chairman of the ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), had turned down his request to visit Mrs Suu Kyi.
"It would have been an important symbol of the government's willingness to embark on the kind of meaningful engagement that will be essential if the elections in 2010 are to be seen as credible," Mr Ban said.
But he remained optimistic of change, and said other fundamental issues were addressed during his visit that would help move Burma forward.
The UN chief has remained firm in his demands.
He said Mrs Suu Kyi and all political prisoners must be allowed to participate in politics.
He also called for talks between the government and Mrs Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy to resume.
He also demanded that the Burmese government introduce an election law, establish an electoral commission and set a date for the election in 2010.
What was more important during Mr Ban's visit to Burma was his discussion with the SPDC on the need to set up a national economic forum to address the country's development needs, and expansion of humanitarian assistance to areas beyond Cyclone Nargis-affected areas.
The forum will be crucial for democracy, durable peace and prosperity in Burma, he said.
But how much longer can Burma afford to wait for national reconciliation, democratic transition and full respect for human rights? The Burmese junta has yet to give us an answer.
Debbie Stothard, coordinator of the Alternative Asean Network on Burma, said the time for talks on Burma was over.
"There must be political will among the UNSC [UN Security Council] members, not only the permanent five, to start an investigation of potential crimes against humanity or war crimes in Burma," she said.
In May, Harvard University's Law School started researching UN documents, which it says indicate that human rights abuses in Burma are widespread, systematic and part of state policy.
This should justify an investigation to determine whether Burma has committed crimes prosecutable under international law, she said.
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The Irrawaddy - Despite Humiliation, Ban Irked the Generals
By WAI MOE, Monday, July 6, 2009
Local reporters who covered the fruitless two-day visit to Burma by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon say that although he was humiliated by junta leader Snr-Gen Than Shwe, his candid message to the generals would have irked them.
Before leaving Burma empty-handed, Ban told INGO staffers and local reporters that the cost of delaying national reconciliation in Burma would be counted in wasted lives and lost opportunities.
“Nonetheless, the primary responsibility lies with the government to move the country towards its stated goals of national reconciliation and democracy,” Ban said. Failure to do so would prevent the Burmese people from realizing their full potential, such as their right to live in dignity, and to enjoy better standards of life in a broader freedom, he said.
Ban said he had called for the release of political prisoners, including pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, because Burmese stability, national reconciliation and democracy must be rooted in respect for human rights.
“When I met General Than Shwe yesterday [Friday] and today [Saturday], I asked to visit Ms Suu Kyi. I am deeply disappointed that he refused,” Ban said. “I believe the government of Myanmar [Burma] has lost a unique opportunity to show its commitment to a new era of political openness.
“Allowing a visit to Daw Aung San Suu Kyi would have been an important symbol of the government’s willingness to embark on the kind of meaningful engagement that will be essential if the elections in 2010 are to be seen as credible.”
Ban Ki- moon will brief the UN Security Council on his visit.
“I would like ask him to describe the situation exactly,” Win Tin, a prominent leader of the NLD told The Irrawaddy..
“The international community must know the real situation in the country,” he said.
Burma, like North Korea, should be subjected to an arms embargo as a means of pressure on the regime to change course, Win Tin said.
Ban should also talk with Russia and China, who customarily use their vetoes to stall UN Security Council action on Burma, he said—and urged action by the international community to pressure the regime to release political prisoners and agree to a national reconciliation process.
Commenting on Ban Ki-moon’s remarks after his Burma visit, Win Tin said he hoped the secretary-general’s words would be followed by real action. “I hope Mr Ban Ki-moon’s speech will not end just in Rangoon,” he said.
Burma’s state-run-newspapers reported on the meetings between Ban and Than Shwe but did not publish Ban’s remark.
According to The New Light of Myanmar, Than Shwe told Ban that he would like to arrange a meeting with Suu Kyi but could not do so because she was on trial.
Than Shwe told Ban that Burma is focusing on two important tasks: holding elections in 2010 and forming the future government. There was no possibility now to pay attention to any personal cases, he told Ban.
Observers say that Than Shwe’s rejection of Ban’s request to meet Suu Kyi was a humiliation for the UN.
“There was never much chance that Mr Ban would succeed at gaining freedom for Mrs Suu Kyi or the other political prisoners,” Thailand’s Bangkok Post wrote in an editorial on Monday. “Nor was there a chance that the generals would heed the prestige of the UN and switch from brutal dictatorship to democracy.”
Debbie Stothard, coordinator of the Alternative Asean Network (Altsean), said the junta humiliated Ban because the Burmese generals assumed they would not be subject to any real pressure, sanctions and punishment for this behavior.
“I think if we want to stop the violation of human rights in Burma and war in Burma, it is time for the UNSC to take action on the junta,” she said. “At least the UNSC should have the commission inquire into war crimes and crimes against humanity that the State and Peace Development Council is afraid of.”
By WAI MOE, Monday, July 6, 2009
Local reporters who covered the fruitless two-day visit to Burma by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon say that although he was humiliated by junta leader Snr-Gen Than Shwe, his candid message to the generals would have irked them.
Before leaving Burma empty-handed, Ban told INGO staffers and local reporters that the cost of delaying national reconciliation in Burma would be counted in wasted lives and lost opportunities.
“Nonetheless, the primary responsibility lies with the government to move the country towards its stated goals of national reconciliation and democracy,” Ban said. Failure to do so would prevent the Burmese people from realizing their full potential, such as their right to live in dignity, and to enjoy better standards of life in a broader freedom, he said.
Ban said he had called for the release of political prisoners, including pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, because Burmese stability, national reconciliation and democracy must be rooted in respect for human rights.
“When I met General Than Shwe yesterday [Friday] and today [Saturday], I asked to visit Ms Suu Kyi. I am deeply disappointed that he refused,” Ban said. “I believe the government of Myanmar [Burma] has lost a unique opportunity to show its commitment to a new era of political openness.
“Allowing a visit to Daw Aung San Suu Kyi would have been an important symbol of the government’s willingness to embark on the kind of meaningful engagement that will be essential if the elections in 2010 are to be seen as credible.”
Ban Ki- moon will brief the UN Security Council on his visit.
“I would like ask him to describe the situation exactly,” Win Tin, a prominent leader of the NLD told The Irrawaddy..
“The international community must know the real situation in the country,” he said.
Burma, like North Korea, should be subjected to an arms embargo as a means of pressure on the regime to change course, Win Tin said.
Ban should also talk with Russia and China, who customarily use their vetoes to stall UN Security Council action on Burma, he said—and urged action by the international community to pressure the regime to release political prisoners and agree to a national reconciliation process.
Commenting on Ban Ki-moon’s remarks after his Burma visit, Win Tin said he hoped the secretary-general’s words would be followed by real action. “I hope Mr Ban Ki-moon’s speech will not end just in Rangoon,” he said.
Burma’s state-run-newspapers reported on the meetings between Ban and Than Shwe but did not publish Ban’s remark.
According to The New Light of Myanmar, Than Shwe told Ban that he would like to arrange a meeting with Suu Kyi but could not do so because she was on trial.
Than Shwe told Ban that Burma is focusing on two important tasks: holding elections in 2010 and forming the future government. There was no possibility now to pay attention to any personal cases, he told Ban.
Observers say that Than Shwe’s rejection of Ban’s request to meet Suu Kyi was a humiliation for the UN.
“There was never much chance that Mr Ban would succeed at gaining freedom for Mrs Suu Kyi or the other political prisoners,” Thailand’s Bangkok Post wrote in an editorial on Monday. “Nor was there a chance that the generals would heed the prestige of the UN and switch from brutal dictatorship to democracy.”
Debbie Stothard, coordinator of the Alternative Asean Network (Altsean), said the junta humiliated Ban because the Burmese generals assumed they would not be subject to any real pressure, sanctions and punishment for this behavior.
“I think if we want to stop the violation of human rights in Burma and war in Burma, it is time for the UNSC to take action on the junta,” she said. “At least the UNSC should have the commission inquire into war crimes and crimes against humanity that the State and Peace Development Council is afraid of.”
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The Irrawaddy - EDITORIAL: Ban—Empty-handed But Wiser
Monday, July 6, 2009
Although he left Burma empty-handed without any visible sign of progress or concession from the Burmese junta, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s visit was by no means pointless.
Through his official visit to the military-ruled country he should have discovered a deeper understanding of how far the international community—under the name of the United Nations—can expect to go in its current mission to facilitate democratization in Burma through national reconciliation.
Ban's talks with the Naypyidaw regime—and primarily junta chief Snr-Gen Than Shwe—focused on three important issues: gaining the release of all political prisoners including democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi; resumption of dialogue between the military government and its opposition; and creating the conditions for credible elections.
The UN secretary-general’s hopes were quickly dashed. He was even refused a visit with detained opposition leader Suu Kyi.
However, in forcing Than Shwe to show his cards, Ban is left in no doubts as to what degree of flexibility the regime might be prepared to go to—none.
The UN chief had no qualms about publicly criticizing Burma’s military rulers before he left from the country. "I believe the government of Myanmar [Burma] has lost a unique opportunity to show its commitment to a new era of political openness," he said in an emotive speech at Rangoon’s Drug Elimination Museum to 500 state officials, diplomats, INGO staff and local pressmen.
Of course, no one expected much from the visit, and observers noted once again that the junta would manipulate it for propaganda purposes. But at least Ban should have earned the respect of the international community for confronting the junta and for speaking the truth.
Now the gloves are off and Ban can concentrate more forcefully on what he has called "a very tough mission."
At a pit stop in the Thai capital, Bangkok, Ban met with Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, and told reporters that to show his commitment to moving the Burma issue forward, his special envoy, Ibrahim Gambari, will shortly convene the so-called Group of Friends on Myanmar, a gathering of countries supporting greater dialogue.
However, Ban must now know that words without teeth will not worry the Burmese generals.
Naypyidaw has proved to the world that no matter how many resolutions the UN passes—even dragging Burma before the 15-nation UN Security Council—the junta will not willingly release the 2,100 political prisoners in the country, least of all Suu Kyi.
We will all be closely watching the UN secretary-general’s next step.
Ban’s visit may not have achieved any visible outcome, but the people of Burma will remember what he promised: "I have come to show the unequivocal shared commitment of the United Nations to the people of Myanmar. I am here today to say: Myanmar – you are not alone."
Monday, July 6, 2009
Although he left Burma empty-handed without any visible sign of progress or concession from the Burmese junta, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s visit was by no means pointless.
Through his official visit to the military-ruled country he should have discovered a deeper understanding of how far the international community—under the name of the United Nations—can expect to go in its current mission to facilitate democratization in Burma through national reconciliation.
Ban's talks with the Naypyidaw regime—and primarily junta chief Snr-Gen Than Shwe—focused on three important issues: gaining the release of all political prisoners including democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi; resumption of dialogue between the military government and its opposition; and creating the conditions for credible elections.
The UN secretary-general’s hopes were quickly dashed. He was even refused a visit with detained opposition leader Suu Kyi.
However, in forcing Than Shwe to show his cards, Ban is left in no doubts as to what degree of flexibility the regime might be prepared to go to—none.
The UN chief had no qualms about publicly criticizing Burma’s military rulers before he left from the country. "I believe the government of Myanmar [Burma] has lost a unique opportunity to show its commitment to a new era of political openness," he said in an emotive speech at Rangoon’s Drug Elimination Museum to 500 state officials, diplomats, INGO staff and local pressmen.
Of course, no one expected much from the visit, and observers noted once again that the junta would manipulate it for propaganda purposes. But at least Ban should have earned the respect of the international community for confronting the junta and for speaking the truth.
Now the gloves are off and Ban can concentrate more forcefully on what he has called "a very tough mission."
At a pit stop in the Thai capital, Bangkok, Ban met with Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, and told reporters that to show his commitment to moving the Burma issue forward, his special envoy, Ibrahim Gambari, will shortly convene the so-called Group of Friends on Myanmar, a gathering of countries supporting greater dialogue.
However, Ban must now know that words without teeth will not worry the Burmese generals.
Naypyidaw has proved to the world that no matter how many resolutions the UN passes—even dragging Burma before the 15-nation UN Security Council—the junta will not willingly release the 2,100 political prisoners in the country, least of all Suu Kyi.
We will all be closely watching the UN secretary-general’s next step.
Ban’s visit may not have achieved any visible outcome, but the people of Burma will remember what he promised: "I have come to show the unequivocal shared commitment of the United Nations to the people of Myanmar. I am here today to say: Myanmar – you are not alone."
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Mizzima News - Victory over KNU, new order on Thai-Burma border
by Brian McCartan
Sunday, 05 July 2009 21:20
Mae Sot, Thailand (Mizzima) - The victory of the Burmese Army and its proxy, the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA), in attacks on bases of the Karen National Union (KNU) last month, puts the regime in firm control of a major portion of its border with Thailand for the first time in 60 years. Success brings with it a whole new order of forces along the border.
Burmese and DKBA forces took the border camps of the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA), the armed wing of the KNU, after a month-long battle in June. The fighting was relatively light with many of the 200 Burmese and DKBA casualties the result of landmines. Fighting, the threat of landmines and fear of being taken as porters by the attackers resulted in over 3,500 Karen villagers fleeing their homes to take refuge on the Thai side of the border.
The Burmese regime and the DKBA have big plans for the border now that it is under their control. The State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) has long aimed to establish several economic zones along the stretch of the border from Myawaddy north to the confluence of the Salween and Moei Rivers. One of these special economic zones is slated for construction on the outskirts of Myawaddy and another to the east of the township capital of Hlaing Bwe.
Past Thai governments have given their verbal support for these plans, although little money has of yet been put into them. Now that the area is in firmer control and the threat from the KNLA reduced, the economic zone plans may be dusted off again. Burma hopes to entice Thai investment and develop an otherwise economically poor area, while Thailand sees the economic zones as a way of using cheap Burmese labour without having to deal with a large influx of migrant workers. At one point, the area around Hlaing Bwe was also seen as a potential repatriation point for Karen refugees in the Mae La refugee camp.
A component of the DKBA’s acceptance of the junta’s border guard programme is that the DKBA will be allowed to keep, and possibly even expand, its economic activities. Although details of the concessions are still unclear, notes from internal DKBA meetings in May and June seen by Mizzima, indicate that the DKBA is moving some of its tax gates and setting up new units as a part of a major expansion. Certain officers, including Colonel Maw Tho who is already heavily involved in legal and black market trade with Thailand from his base in Myawaddy, will be reassigned to specifically economic activities.
A greatly expanded DKBA taking control of a large portion of the border is likely to make Thai security officials nervous. Following the fall of the KNU headquarters at Manerplaw in January 1995, DKBA troops carried out a reign of terror along the border, burning refugee camps, kidnapping and sometimes killing Karen and Thai civilians, looting Thai shops along the border and even attacking Thai army and police forces. Although the attacks largely stopped in 1998, occasional incursions have taken place since.
This year DKBA incursions increased as it made itself felt along the border. In January 2009, DKBA troops burned down field huts, stole livestock and looted houses along the border in Umphang district of Tak province. During and immediately following the recent attacks on the KNLA’s 7th Brigade, Karen sources say DKBA troops crossed the border several times to demand rations for their troops and to eat and drink in local shops around Mae Salit.
An ambush on June 26 on the Moei River that killed five DKBA soldiers including Colonel San Pyone and wounded another 20 has many Karen worried about possible retaliatory attacks. San Pyone is widely believed to have been the leader and triggerman in the assassination of KNU General Secretary Mahn Sha La Phan on Valentine’s Day last year. The KNLA military officers claim it was not a revenge attack because they have no troops in the area. This leaves open the possibility of involvement of the KNU/KNLA Peace Council, another splinter Karen group, the SPDC or Thai security forces. Whoever carried out the attack, the incident shows that despite greater DKBA and government control, stability is far from assured.
The transformation of the DKBA into a border guard under the central command of the Burmese Army may bring some stability, even if it costs the regime a scapegoat for cross-border incursions. The SPDC has been careful in the past to blame all cross-border attacks on the DKBA and say that it has very little influence on the group’s actions. Recent fighting against the KNLA’s 7th Brigade was described in the state-run media as Karen-on-Karen fighting. With the DKBA’s transformation into a border guard force within the Burmese Army, this pretext will no longer be possible.
One area Thai security forces will be keen to keep a watch on is the effect greater territorial control and legitimization as a unit of the Burmese military will have on the DKBA’s drug trafficking activities. Karen military sources allege the DKBA operates several amphetamine, or yaba, laboratories in areas near the border. While DKBA production and trafficking activities are not at the same level as groups such as the United Wa State Army (UWSA) in Shan State, Thai narcotics officials and opposition sources say the DKBA moves both yaba and heroin through its border camps near Myawaddy and Three Pagodas Pass. The group’s transformation into a border guard unit would make the military regime directly complicit in any continued drug activities.
Recent media reports describing the KNU as all but finished following the loss of its border camps last month are rather premature. KNLA sources say that they intend to continue to operate as guerrilla units in north central Karen State. The loss of the central border region, however, will make it harder for the KNU to communicate and supply its units as well as arrange supplies for villagers and internally displaced villagers that it cares for. The KNLA still has the bulk of its forces in northern Karen State as wells as in parts of Pegu Division and Mon State as well as maintains forces in areas of southern Karen State and Tenasserim Division.
Within Karen State itself, firmer control by the DKBA and Burmese government means that many Karen who still sympathize with the aims of the KNU will now be forced to work with the new rulers. Human rights monitors in the area for several years have said the greater DKBA presence has made their work much more dangerous. DKBA threats of retribution have made many villagers afraid to speak out about abuses.
A KNU source says that greater DKBA control will have little effect on Karen representation in the 2010 elections. The DKBA is different from other ethnic insurgent groups in that it has no political wing. Minutes of a May 7 meeting of DKBA commanders indicate that the DKBA has been told they may participate in politics, but in order to do so, DKBA members, or any other Karen, must either form a new political party or contest the election as an individual. KNU source, however, say it is irrelevant since the SPDC has already decided who the winning candidates are.
The KNU’s position in central Karen State has certainly been greatly weakened by the loss of its border camps last month. Whether firmer government and DKBA control of the area will translate into greater peace and development for the local population is far from clear. Fighting with the KNU in this area may be almost over, but new border tensions may only be beginning.
by Brian McCartan
Sunday, 05 July 2009 21:20
Mae Sot, Thailand (Mizzima) - The victory of the Burmese Army and its proxy, the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA), in attacks on bases of the Karen National Union (KNU) last month, puts the regime in firm control of a major portion of its border with Thailand for the first time in 60 years. Success brings with it a whole new order of forces along the border.
Burmese and DKBA forces took the border camps of the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA), the armed wing of the KNU, after a month-long battle in June. The fighting was relatively light with many of the 200 Burmese and DKBA casualties the result of landmines. Fighting, the threat of landmines and fear of being taken as porters by the attackers resulted in over 3,500 Karen villagers fleeing their homes to take refuge on the Thai side of the border.
The Burmese regime and the DKBA have big plans for the border now that it is under their control. The State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) has long aimed to establish several economic zones along the stretch of the border from Myawaddy north to the confluence of the Salween and Moei Rivers. One of these special economic zones is slated for construction on the outskirts of Myawaddy and another to the east of the township capital of Hlaing Bwe.
Past Thai governments have given their verbal support for these plans, although little money has of yet been put into them. Now that the area is in firmer control and the threat from the KNLA reduced, the economic zone plans may be dusted off again. Burma hopes to entice Thai investment and develop an otherwise economically poor area, while Thailand sees the economic zones as a way of using cheap Burmese labour without having to deal with a large influx of migrant workers. At one point, the area around Hlaing Bwe was also seen as a potential repatriation point for Karen refugees in the Mae La refugee camp.
A component of the DKBA’s acceptance of the junta’s border guard programme is that the DKBA will be allowed to keep, and possibly even expand, its economic activities. Although details of the concessions are still unclear, notes from internal DKBA meetings in May and June seen by Mizzima, indicate that the DKBA is moving some of its tax gates and setting up new units as a part of a major expansion. Certain officers, including Colonel Maw Tho who is already heavily involved in legal and black market trade with Thailand from his base in Myawaddy, will be reassigned to specifically economic activities.
A greatly expanded DKBA taking control of a large portion of the border is likely to make Thai security officials nervous. Following the fall of the KNU headquarters at Manerplaw in January 1995, DKBA troops carried out a reign of terror along the border, burning refugee camps, kidnapping and sometimes killing Karen and Thai civilians, looting Thai shops along the border and even attacking Thai army and police forces. Although the attacks largely stopped in 1998, occasional incursions have taken place since.
This year DKBA incursions increased as it made itself felt along the border. In January 2009, DKBA troops burned down field huts, stole livestock and looted houses along the border in Umphang district of Tak province. During and immediately following the recent attacks on the KNLA’s 7th Brigade, Karen sources say DKBA troops crossed the border several times to demand rations for their troops and to eat and drink in local shops around Mae Salit.
An ambush on June 26 on the Moei River that killed five DKBA soldiers including Colonel San Pyone and wounded another 20 has many Karen worried about possible retaliatory attacks. San Pyone is widely believed to have been the leader and triggerman in the assassination of KNU General Secretary Mahn Sha La Phan on Valentine’s Day last year. The KNLA military officers claim it was not a revenge attack because they have no troops in the area. This leaves open the possibility of involvement of the KNU/KNLA Peace Council, another splinter Karen group, the SPDC or Thai security forces. Whoever carried out the attack, the incident shows that despite greater DKBA and government control, stability is far from assured.
The transformation of the DKBA into a border guard under the central command of the Burmese Army may bring some stability, even if it costs the regime a scapegoat for cross-border incursions. The SPDC has been careful in the past to blame all cross-border attacks on the DKBA and say that it has very little influence on the group’s actions. Recent fighting against the KNLA’s 7th Brigade was described in the state-run media as Karen-on-Karen fighting. With the DKBA’s transformation into a border guard force within the Burmese Army, this pretext will no longer be possible.
One area Thai security forces will be keen to keep a watch on is the effect greater territorial control and legitimization as a unit of the Burmese military will have on the DKBA’s drug trafficking activities. Karen military sources allege the DKBA operates several amphetamine, or yaba, laboratories in areas near the border. While DKBA production and trafficking activities are not at the same level as groups such as the United Wa State Army (UWSA) in Shan State, Thai narcotics officials and opposition sources say the DKBA moves both yaba and heroin through its border camps near Myawaddy and Three Pagodas Pass. The group’s transformation into a border guard unit would make the military regime directly complicit in any continued drug activities.
Recent media reports describing the KNU as all but finished following the loss of its border camps last month are rather premature. KNLA sources say that they intend to continue to operate as guerrilla units in north central Karen State. The loss of the central border region, however, will make it harder for the KNU to communicate and supply its units as well as arrange supplies for villagers and internally displaced villagers that it cares for. The KNLA still has the bulk of its forces in northern Karen State as wells as in parts of Pegu Division and Mon State as well as maintains forces in areas of southern Karen State and Tenasserim Division.
Within Karen State itself, firmer control by the DKBA and Burmese government means that many Karen who still sympathize with the aims of the KNU will now be forced to work with the new rulers. Human rights monitors in the area for several years have said the greater DKBA presence has made their work much more dangerous. DKBA threats of retribution have made many villagers afraid to speak out about abuses.
A KNU source says that greater DKBA control will have little effect on Karen representation in the 2010 elections. The DKBA is different from other ethnic insurgent groups in that it has no political wing. Minutes of a May 7 meeting of DKBA commanders indicate that the DKBA has been told they may participate in politics, but in order to do so, DKBA members, or any other Karen, must either form a new political party or contest the election as an individual. KNU source, however, say it is irrelevant since the SPDC has already decided who the winning candidates are.
The KNU’s position in central Karen State has certainly been greatly weakened by the loss of its border camps last month. Whether firmer government and DKBA control of the area will translate into greater peace and development for the local population is far from clear. Fighting with the KNU in this area may be almost over, but new border tensions may only be beginning.
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DVB News - SPECIAL: Digging the Tunnels, Part Two
July 6, 2009 (DVB)–The tunnel project underway in Burma includes plans to build covert ammunitions factories that will produce surface-to-air missiles controlled from underground command bases, leaked intelligence documents reveal.
Last week DVB revealed that some 800 tunnels were under construction throughout Burma, with sections of the project dating as far back as 1996.
The majority of tunneling and construction equipment for the project has been bought from North Korea in a series of deals over the last three years which total at least $US9 billion, according to two purchase orders received by DVB.
Photographs released by DVB also show North Korean advisors in Burma training their Burmese counterparts in tunnel construction.
There are suggestions that the project includes preparations to withstand chemical and nuclear attacks, following reports last week that the tunnels are lined with bomb-proof material. However there is no hard evidence to verify this.
There will also be room to hold anti-missile batteries and tanks in various sections of the tunnels.
The project, the name of which translates as People’s Militia Strategic Operation, involves an extensive network of tunnels across the whole of Burma.
Engineering documents reveal that close to the remote Burmese capital Naypyidaw is a tunnel believed to house either military operational command headquarters or an advanced weapons factory.
The tunnel site is near to the Pyinmana to Pinlaung road, between Kathedoo North stream and Kathedoo South stream, and is designed to hold more than 1000 soldiers for several months.
The interior is divided into rooms that cater for varying amounts of people. Earth refilling and tree planting projects outside the tunnels have been carried out to camouflage their entrances.
Details about whom the transactions between Burma and North Korea are being channeled through are not known.
Five Burmese companies – Htoo Trading, Kambawza, Asia World, Aden and Shwe Thanlwin – are known however to have provided machinery for the digging of the tunnels.
Htoo Group, the parent company of Htoo Trading, owns the Burmese airline company Air Bagan.
The documents also reveal that security in Rangoon division has been carefully reshuffled and reinforced over recent years to prepare for a possible foreign invasion. It was largely for this reason that the capital was moved in 2005 from Rangoon city to Naypyidaw, 350 miles north.
Six military regions have been developed in Rangoon division to counter “foreign aggression”. Tunnels built throughout these regions are camouflaged and capable of hiding troops in an emergency situation.
Inside the tunnels, there are plans to build ration stores and reserve food supplies exist alongside factories, weapons and ammunition stores, and hospitals.
These tunnels would be controlled by a series of underground command centres linked via an elaborate fibre-optic communication network. The network will connect military operational headquarters to other army units stationed in the tunnels.
Based on intelligence documents, automatic shutting down facilities, poison gas devices and smoke sensors will also be installed. There will be regular power supply lines running throughout the tunnels, along with a ventilation system that the purchase order shows comes from North Korea.
For security reasons, the nearest buildings around them are used as guard posts. Residential buildings and governmental offices are built on top of some tunnels, close to the entrances.
A secret visit by General Thura Shwe Mann, the Burmese regime’s third-in-command, along with 18 other high ranking military officials to North Korea in November 2008, is another indicator of how the two countries have been cooperating.
During the visit, Shwe Mann and North Korean Army Chief General Kim Gyok-sik signed an Memorandum of Understanding on further cooperation plans. The Burmese delegation also visited an underground military hardware factory near Pyongyang.
The government in Burma continually publicises infrastructural developments such as road and dam building but has kept the tunnel project highly secretive.
Despite the extent to which Burma is bolstering its security – it is thought to spend some 40 per cent of its annual budget on the military - it remains without external enemies.
Reporting by DVB
July 6, 2009 (DVB)–The tunnel project underway in Burma includes plans to build covert ammunitions factories that will produce surface-to-air missiles controlled from underground command bases, leaked intelligence documents reveal.
Last week DVB revealed that some 800 tunnels were under construction throughout Burma, with sections of the project dating as far back as 1996.
The majority of tunneling and construction equipment for the project has been bought from North Korea in a series of deals over the last three years which total at least $US9 billion, according to two purchase orders received by DVB.
Photographs released by DVB also show North Korean advisors in Burma training their Burmese counterparts in tunnel construction.
There are suggestions that the project includes preparations to withstand chemical and nuclear attacks, following reports last week that the tunnels are lined with bomb-proof material. However there is no hard evidence to verify this.
There will also be room to hold anti-missile batteries and tanks in various sections of the tunnels.
The project, the name of which translates as People’s Militia Strategic Operation, involves an extensive network of tunnels across the whole of Burma.
Engineering documents reveal that close to the remote Burmese capital Naypyidaw is a tunnel believed to house either military operational command headquarters or an advanced weapons factory.
The tunnel site is near to the Pyinmana to Pinlaung road, between Kathedoo North stream and Kathedoo South stream, and is designed to hold more than 1000 soldiers for several months.
The interior is divided into rooms that cater for varying amounts of people. Earth refilling and tree planting projects outside the tunnels have been carried out to camouflage their entrances.
Details about whom the transactions between Burma and North Korea are being channeled through are not known.
Five Burmese companies – Htoo Trading, Kambawza, Asia World, Aden and Shwe Thanlwin – are known however to have provided machinery for the digging of the tunnels.
Htoo Group, the parent company of Htoo Trading, owns the Burmese airline company Air Bagan.
The documents also reveal that security in Rangoon division has been carefully reshuffled and reinforced over recent years to prepare for a possible foreign invasion. It was largely for this reason that the capital was moved in 2005 from Rangoon city to Naypyidaw, 350 miles north.
Six military regions have been developed in Rangoon division to counter “foreign aggression”. Tunnels built throughout these regions are camouflaged and capable of hiding troops in an emergency situation.
Inside the tunnels, there are plans to build ration stores and reserve food supplies exist alongside factories, weapons and ammunition stores, and hospitals.
These tunnels would be controlled by a series of underground command centres linked via an elaborate fibre-optic communication network. The network will connect military operational headquarters to other army units stationed in the tunnels.
Based on intelligence documents, automatic shutting down facilities, poison gas devices and smoke sensors will also be installed. There will be regular power supply lines running throughout the tunnels, along with a ventilation system that the purchase order shows comes from North Korea.
For security reasons, the nearest buildings around them are used as guard posts. Residential buildings and governmental offices are built on top of some tunnels, close to the entrances.
A secret visit by General Thura Shwe Mann, the Burmese regime’s third-in-command, along with 18 other high ranking military officials to North Korea in November 2008, is another indicator of how the two countries have been cooperating.
During the visit, Shwe Mann and North Korean Army Chief General Kim Gyok-sik signed an Memorandum of Understanding on further cooperation plans. The Burmese delegation also visited an underground military hardware factory near Pyongyang.
The government in Burma continually publicises infrastructural developments such as road and dam building but has kept the tunnel project highly secretive.
Despite the extent to which Burma is bolstering its security – it is thought to spend some 40 per cent of its annual budget on the military - it remains without external enemies.
Reporting by DVB
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