Southeast Asia approves long-awaited rights body
by Martin Abbugao – Mon Jul 20, 6:34 am ET
PHUKET, Thailand (AFP) – Foreign ministers from Southeast Asia endorsed the region's first human rights watchdog Monday, rejecting criticisms that it would be powerless to tackle rogue members such as Myanmar.
Officials were also to express "grave concern" over North Korea's nuclear programme and condemn the hotel bombings in Jakarta after meeting in the Thai resort island of Phuket ahead of Asia's main security forum this week.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) will officially launch the long-awaited rights commission at a summit in October after years of claims that it is too soft on military-ruled Myanmar and communist Vietnam and Laos.
But rights groups said the proposed watchdog lacks teeth to punish violators, has no monitoring powers and would merely make the bloc's members provide internal reports on rights conditions inside their countries.
ASEAN officials confirmed that the foreign ministers had endorsed the terms of reference for the rights body at their meeting on Monday.
"It's better to make a start than to leave this hanging with no progress at all," Thai premier and ASEAN chairman Abhisit Vejjajiva said, adding that the body would focus on the "promotion and protection" of human rights.
"What we want to do is establish a body that begins with the issue of promotion, and then the next step obviously once that is put into place, is that there will be more teeth for the body in terms of protection," he said.
Myanmar has been a thorn in the side of ASEAN since it joined in 1997 because of its detention of more than 2,000 political prisoners, including pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
The junta caused fresh headaches for the bloc by putting the Nobel peace laureate on trial following an incident in which an American man swam to her lakeside house in May. She faces up to five years in jail.
ASEAN has been hamstrung throughout its 42-year history by its guiding principle of non-interference in members' internal affairs. The rights commission is being set up under a new ASEAN charter agreed in December.
Rights groups said the new body's remit fell short of international standards.
"The human rights body is born, but it needs a lot of careful care so that it can become a mechanism with teeth and not become toothless," Rafendi Djamin, of the regional group Solidarity for Asian People's Advocacy, told AFP.
Splits emerged in ASEAN's normally placid facade on Sunday as Indonesia objected to the final terms for the rights body and Myanmar protested against changes wanted by the Indonesians, diplomats said.
Meanwhile the ASEAN ministers were set to issue a statement urging North Korea to return to six-party talks on its weapons programme and to "express grave concern over the recent nuclear explosions", an ASEAN official said.
Pyongyang's foreign minister has declined to attend Thursday's ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) in Phuket, which groups 27 nations including the United States.
North Korea quit the talks with the US, South Korea, China, Russia, and Japan after the UN Security Council censured its April 5 long-range rocket launch. It staged its second nuclear test on May 25.
The ASEAN statement was also set to include a condemnation of the bombings of the Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels in Jakarta on Friday which left up to nine people dead and dozens more wounded, the official told AFP.
"In the Indonesian blasts, they will condemn the bombings and ASEAN will also offer help to bring the perpetrators to justice," he said.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is due in Phuket on Wednesday for the ARF. Thousands of police and troops are on duty to prevent a repeat of anti-government protests that derailed an Asian summit in April.
by Martin Abbugao – Mon Jul 20, 6:34 am ET
PHUKET, Thailand (AFP) – Foreign ministers from Southeast Asia endorsed the region's first human rights watchdog Monday, rejecting criticisms that it would be powerless to tackle rogue members such as Myanmar.
Officials were also to express "grave concern" over North Korea's nuclear programme and condemn the hotel bombings in Jakarta after meeting in the Thai resort island of Phuket ahead of Asia's main security forum this week.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) will officially launch the long-awaited rights commission at a summit in October after years of claims that it is too soft on military-ruled Myanmar and communist Vietnam and Laos.
But rights groups said the proposed watchdog lacks teeth to punish violators, has no monitoring powers and would merely make the bloc's members provide internal reports on rights conditions inside their countries.
ASEAN officials confirmed that the foreign ministers had endorsed the terms of reference for the rights body at their meeting on Monday.
"It's better to make a start than to leave this hanging with no progress at all," Thai premier and ASEAN chairman Abhisit Vejjajiva said, adding that the body would focus on the "promotion and protection" of human rights.
"What we want to do is establish a body that begins with the issue of promotion, and then the next step obviously once that is put into place, is that there will be more teeth for the body in terms of protection," he said.
Myanmar has been a thorn in the side of ASEAN since it joined in 1997 because of its detention of more than 2,000 political prisoners, including pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
The junta caused fresh headaches for the bloc by putting the Nobel peace laureate on trial following an incident in which an American man swam to her lakeside house in May. She faces up to five years in jail.
ASEAN has been hamstrung throughout its 42-year history by its guiding principle of non-interference in members' internal affairs. The rights commission is being set up under a new ASEAN charter agreed in December.
Rights groups said the new body's remit fell short of international standards.
"The human rights body is born, but it needs a lot of careful care so that it can become a mechanism with teeth and not become toothless," Rafendi Djamin, of the regional group Solidarity for Asian People's Advocacy, told AFP.
Splits emerged in ASEAN's normally placid facade on Sunday as Indonesia objected to the final terms for the rights body and Myanmar protested against changes wanted by the Indonesians, diplomats said.
Meanwhile the ASEAN ministers were set to issue a statement urging North Korea to return to six-party talks on its weapons programme and to "express grave concern over the recent nuclear explosions", an ASEAN official said.
Pyongyang's foreign minister has declined to attend Thursday's ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) in Phuket, which groups 27 nations including the United States.
North Korea quit the talks with the US, South Korea, China, Russia, and Japan after the UN Security Council censured its April 5 long-range rocket launch. It staged its second nuclear test on May 25.
The ASEAN statement was also set to include a condemnation of the bombings of the Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels in Jakarta on Friday which left up to nine people dead and dozens more wounded, the official told AFP.
"In the Indonesian blasts, they will condemn the bombings and ASEAN will also offer help to bring the perpetrators to justice," he said.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is due in Phuket on Wednesday for the ARF. Thousands of police and troops are on duty to prevent a repeat of anti-government protests that derailed an Asian summit in April.
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Asia will witness 21st century's longest eclipse
By MICHAEL CASEY, AP Environmental Writer – 31 mins ago
BANGKOK (AP) – Millions of people across Asia will witness the longest total solar eclipse that will happen this century, as vast swaths of India and China, the entire city of Shanghai and southern Japanese islands are plunged into darkness Wednesday for about five minutes.
Streams of amateur stargazers and scientists are traveling long distances to witness the once-in-a-lifetime event.
Astronomers hope the eclipse will unlock clues about the sun, while an astrologer in Myanmar predicts it could usher in chaos. Some in India are advising pregnant relatives to stay indoors to follow a centuries-old tradition of avoiding the sun's invisible rays.
The eclipse will appear first at dawn in India's Gulf of Khambhat just north of the metropolis of Mumbai.
It will move east across India, Nepal, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Bhutan and China before hitting the Pacific. The eclipse will cross some southern Japanese islands and be last visible from land at Nikumaroro Island in the South Pacific nation of Kiribati. Elsewhere, a partial eclipse will be visible in much of Asia.
For astronomers, it will be a chance for a prolonged view of the sun's corona, a white ring 600,000 miles (1 million kilometers) from the sun's surface. The previous total eclipse, in August 2008, was two minutes and 27 seconds. This one will last 6 minutes and 39 seconds at its maximum point.
Solar scientist Lucie Green is aboard an American cruise ship heading for that point near the Japanese island of Iwo Jima, where the axis of the moon's shadow will pass closest to earth.
Passengers paid $2,599 to $3,643 for the cruise run by Mayhugh Travel Inc., a California company that specializes in astronomy vacations, according to the company's Web site.
"The corona has a temperature of 2 million degrees but we don't know why it is so hot," said Green of University College London. "What we are going to look for are waves in the corona. ... The waves might be producing the energy that heats the corona. That would mean we understand another piece of the science of the sun."
Scientists are hoping data from the eclipse will help explain solar flares and other structures of the sun and why they erupt, said Alphonse C. Sterling, a NASA astrophysicist who will be following the eclipse in China.
"We'll have to wait a few hundred years for another opportunity to observe a solar eclipse that lasts this long, so it's a very special opportunity," said Shao Zhenyi, an astronomer at the Shanghai Astronomical Observatory.
Man has been recording solar eclipses for 4,000 years, and even today they inspire a combination of fear, fascination and wonder.
One astrologer in Myanmar, also known as Burma, predicted in a magazine that the eclipse would trigger wars, instability and natural disasters for the next several months.
Liang Wei is among more than 40 members of a Chinese solar eclipse fan club traveling to Shanghai to see the event.
"Even though I'm not a scientist, it's an experience I've waited all my life for," said the 29-year-old Guangzhou native, who works at a lighting company and operates an online fan site for eclipse enthusiasts.
In India, hundreds of scientists are gathering in the village of Taregna in Bihar state. One team, led by Dr R.K. Sinha of Patna University, will study bird behavior.
"The researchers will observe whether they suddenly move back to their nests, sound differently and behave in an unusual manner due to sudden darkness," he said.
A travel agency in India is running a charter flight to watch the eclipse by air.
Some families have advised pregnant relatives to confine themselves to curtained rooms, following long-held fears that the invisible rays would harm the fetus and the baby born with disfigurations, birthmarks or a congenital defect.
"I've been told to lie straight on the bed with my eyes open and to chant prayers and verses from the Hindu holy texts during the eclipse," said Sonya Chadha, a New Delhi accountant who is seven months pregnant and plans to take the day off. "If even a tiny sliver of light falls on me, it could harm my child."
In Japan, where the last total eclipse happened in 1963, people are flocking to the small southern island of Yakushima, which is holding a a two-day festival with fireworks, dancing, grilled squid and cotton candy. The island's 180 hotels are fully booked. A partial eclipse will be visible in Tokyo.
By MICHAEL CASEY, AP Environmental Writer – 31 mins ago
BANGKOK (AP) – Millions of people across Asia will witness the longest total solar eclipse that will happen this century, as vast swaths of India and China, the entire city of Shanghai and southern Japanese islands are plunged into darkness Wednesday for about five minutes.
Streams of amateur stargazers and scientists are traveling long distances to witness the once-in-a-lifetime event.
Astronomers hope the eclipse will unlock clues about the sun, while an astrologer in Myanmar predicts it could usher in chaos. Some in India are advising pregnant relatives to stay indoors to follow a centuries-old tradition of avoiding the sun's invisible rays.
The eclipse will appear first at dawn in India's Gulf of Khambhat just north of the metropolis of Mumbai.
It will move east across India, Nepal, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Bhutan and China before hitting the Pacific. The eclipse will cross some southern Japanese islands and be last visible from land at Nikumaroro Island in the South Pacific nation of Kiribati. Elsewhere, a partial eclipse will be visible in much of Asia.
For astronomers, it will be a chance for a prolonged view of the sun's corona, a white ring 600,000 miles (1 million kilometers) from the sun's surface. The previous total eclipse, in August 2008, was two minutes and 27 seconds. This one will last 6 minutes and 39 seconds at its maximum point.
Solar scientist Lucie Green is aboard an American cruise ship heading for that point near the Japanese island of Iwo Jima, where the axis of the moon's shadow will pass closest to earth.
Passengers paid $2,599 to $3,643 for the cruise run by Mayhugh Travel Inc., a California company that specializes in astronomy vacations, according to the company's Web site.
"The corona has a temperature of 2 million degrees but we don't know why it is so hot," said Green of University College London. "What we are going to look for are waves in the corona. ... The waves might be producing the energy that heats the corona. That would mean we understand another piece of the science of the sun."
Scientists are hoping data from the eclipse will help explain solar flares and other structures of the sun and why they erupt, said Alphonse C. Sterling, a NASA astrophysicist who will be following the eclipse in China.
"We'll have to wait a few hundred years for another opportunity to observe a solar eclipse that lasts this long, so it's a very special opportunity," said Shao Zhenyi, an astronomer at the Shanghai Astronomical Observatory.
Man has been recording solar eclipses for 4,000 years, and even today they inspire a combination of fear, fascination and wonder.
One astrologer in Myanmar, also known as Burma, predicted in a magazine that the eclipse would trigger wars, instability and natural disasters for the next several months.
Liang Wei is among more than 40 members of a Chinese solar eclipse fan club traveling to Shanghai to see the event.
"Even though I'm not a scientist, it's an experience I've waited all my life for," said the 29-year-old Guangzhou native, who works at a lighting company and operates an online fan site for eclipse enthusiasts.
In India, hundreds of scientists are gathering in the village of Taregna in Bihar state. One team, led by Dr R.K. Sinha of Patna University, will study bird behavior.
"The researchers will observe whether they suddenly move back to their nests, sound differently and behave in an unusual manner due to sudden darkness," he said.
A travel agency in India is running a charter flight to watch the eclipse by air.
Some families have advised pregnant relatives to confine themselves to curtained rooms, following long-held fears that the invisible rays would harm the fetus and the baby born with disfigurations, birthmarks or a congenital defect.
"I've been told to lie straight on the bed with my eyes open and to chant prayers and verses from the Hindu holy texts during the eclipse," said Sonya Chadha, a New Delhi accountant who is seven months pregnant and plans to take the day off. "If even a tiny sliver of light falls on me, it could harm my child."
In Japan, where the last total eclipse happened in 1963, people are flocking to the small southern island of Yakushima, which is holding a a two-day festival with fireworks, dancing, grilled squid and cotton candy. The island's 180 hotels are fully booked. A partial eclipse will be visible in Tokyo.
*****************************************************
S. Korea plans how to inspect N. Korean ships
By JAE-SOON CHANG, Associated Press Writer – Mon Jul 20, 3:17 am ET
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) – South Korea's coast guard said Monday it is drawing up guidelines on how to inspect North Korean ships suspected of carrying banned items — a move expected to enrage Pyongyang, which has warned it would consider such inspections a declaration of war.
The move came as a senior U.S. diplomat met with South Korea's nuclear envoy about implementing U.N. sanctions punishing Pyongyang for its latest nuclear test and getting the communist regime to return to talks on its nuclear program.
Kurt Campbell, the assistant secretary of state for East Asia and Pacific affairs, also held talks in Japan and goes Monday to Thailand for Asia's main security conference, where North Korea should be a key topic.
"We need to make sure that we're extremely closely coordinated in a very critical period ahead," Campbell said at the start of a meeting with Seoul's nuclear envoy, Wi Sung-lac.
Seoul's Foreign Ministry spokesman Moon Tae-young said the two sides reaffirmed their intention not to reward North Korea's bad behavior and to get Pyongyang back to the negotiating table.
North Korea quit the talks aimed at ending its nuclear ambitions in April in anger over a U.N. rebuke after it launched a long-range rocket. It also conducted a nuclear test in May and a series of banned ballistic missile tests early this month.
Campbell said Saturday there should be consequences for North Korea's provocations, but said the U.S. and its partners would be prepared to offer a "comprehensive package that would be attractive" to North Korea if it returned to the talks and took "serious and irreversible steps" to disarm.
The stalled talks involved China, Japan, the two Koreas, Russia and the U.S.
South Korea's Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan told lawmakers Monday that the "comprehensive package" would be aimed at resolving all outstanding issues at once by putting all of North Korea's obligations and demands on the table. Yu gave no details.
Disarming the North in phases, an approach that the talks have pursued so far, is difficult because the North could reverse the steps it has taken, Yu said.
Pyongyang's No. 2 leader, Kim Yong Nam, said last week that the talks are permanently over because the U.S. and its allies do not respect North Korea's sovereignty.
South Korea's move to draw up the ship inspection guidelines is in line with latest U.N. sanctions that clamp down on North Korea's alleged trading of banned arms and weapons-related material, a key source of hard currency for the impoverished nation.
A coast guard official said the guidelines would call for inspecting North Korean ships traveling in South Korean waters if there is concrete evidence they carry banned items.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity citing the issue's sensitivity, did not give details.
A North Korea ship suspected of heading toward Myanmar with a cargo of banned items turned back home earlier this month after surveillance by the U.S. Navy as part of the U.N. resolution.
The latest resolution toughened sanctions called for in a 2006 resolution adopted after the North's first nuclear test. That resolution bans countries from exporting luxury goods to North Korea — a clause targeting the regime's ruling elite.
Under the ban, Italian police have seized two luxury yachts that North Korean leader Kim Jong Il ordered from an Italian shipbuilder, the daily Libero reported Friday. The paper said European financial authorities also confiscated in early April millions of dollars in deposits for the yachts.
The security conference opening Wednesday in Thailand brings together foreign ministers and senior diplomats from 27 countries, including U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. North Korea is sending a lower-level official, instead of the foreign minister, to the meeting.
By JAE-SOON CHANG, Associated Press Writer – Mon Jul 20, 3:17 am ET
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) – South Korea's coast guard said Monday it is drawing up guidelines on how to inspect North Korean ships suspected of carrying banned items — a move expected to enrage Pyongyang, which has warned it would consider such inspections a declaration of war.
The move came as a senior U.S. diplomat met with South Korea's nuclear envoy about implementing U.N. sanctions punishing Pyongyang for its latest nuclear test and getting the communist regime to return to talks on its nuclear program.
Kurt Campbell, the assistant secretary of state for East Asia and Pacific affairs, also held talks in Japan and goes Monday to Thailand for Asia's main security conference, where North Korea should be a key topic.
"We need to make sure that we're extremely closely coordinated in a very critical period ahead," Campbell said at the start of a meeting with Seoul's nuclear envoy, Wi Sung-lac.
Seoul's Foreign Ministry spokesman Moon Tae-young said the two sides reaffirmed their intention not to reward North Korea's bad behavior and to get Pyongyang back to the negotiating table.
North Korea quit the talks aimed at ending its nuclear ambitions in April in anger over a U.N. rebuke after it launched a long-range rocket. It also conducted a nuclear test in May and a series of banned ballistic missile tests early this month.
Campbell said Saturday there should be consequences for North Korea's provocations, but said the U.S. and its partners would be prepared to offer a "comprehensive package that would be attractive" to North Korea if it returned to the talks and took "serious and irreversible steps" to disarm.
The stalled talks involved China, Japan, the two Koreas, Russia and the U.S.
South Korea's Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan told lawmakers Monday that the "comprehensive package" would be aimed at resolving all outstanding issues at once by putting all of North Korea's obligations and demands on the table. Yu gave no details.
Disarming the North in phases, an approach that the talks have pursued so far, is difficult because the North could reverse the steps it has taken, Yu said.
Pyongyang's No. 2 leader, Kim Yong Nam, said last week that the talks are permanently over because the U.S. and its allies do not respect North Korea's sovereignty.
South Korea's move to draw up the ship inspection guidelines is in line with latest U.N. sanctions that clamp down on North Korea's alleged trading of banned arms and weapons-related material, a key source of hard currency for the impoverished nation.
A coast guard official said the guidelines would call for inspecting North Korean ships traveling in South Korean waters if there is concrete evidence they carry banned items.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity citing the issue's sensitivity, did not give details.
A North Korea ship suspected of heading toward Myanmar with a cargo of banned items turned back home earlier this month after surveillance by the U.S. Navy as part of the U.N. resolution.
The latest resolution toughened sanctions called for in a 2006 resolution adopted after the North's first nuclear test. That resolution bans countries from exporting luxury goods to North Korea — a clause targeting the regime's ruling elite.
Under the ban, Italian police have seized two luxury yachts that North Korean leader Kim Jong Il ordered from an Italian shipbuilder, the daily Libero reported Friday. The paper said European financial authorities also confiscated in early April millions of dollars in deposits for the yachts.
The security conference opening Wednesday in Thailand brings together foreign ministers and senior diplomats from 27 countries, including U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. North Korea is sending a lower-level official, instead of the foreign minister, to the meeting.
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Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS) REPORT
July 14, 2009
Smugglers Assist North Korea-Directed Illicit Trade to Myanmar
David Albright, Paul Brannan and Andrea Scheel
In June 2009, Japan arrested three individuals for attempting to illegally export dual-use equipment to Myanmar via Malaysia,1 under the direction of a company associated with illicit procurement for North Korean military programs.2 The equipment intercepted before it made its way to Myanmar was a magnetometer, which measures magnetic fields. In addition to legitimate commercial uses in archaeological and geophysical sciences, a magnetometer can be employed in ballistic missile guidance and control systems. This item is controlled under Japan‟s "catch-all" regulations, which ban the export of dual-use items for military applications in countries such as North Korea or Myanmar. Japanese officials seized the item in January 2009 and launched an investigation which later led to the arrests. This case suggests that North Korea is either helping Myanmar develop its own ballistic missile capabilities or using it as a turntable to route items to North Korea or another country.
1 That the item was allegedly intended for transshipment through Malaysia is indicated in: Mari Yamaguchi, "Japan Holds 3 Accused of Trading for NKorea," Associated Press. June 30, 2009. http://www.etaiwannews.com/etn/news_content.php?id=990278&lang=eng_news
2 Yamaguchi, "Japan Holds 3 Accused."
The Case
The three individuals, one of North Korean nationality and two of Japanese nationality, were the heads of three separate Japanese entities: Li Gyeong Ho, a North Korean national was president of the Toko Boeki trading company; Hirohiko Muto was president of Taikyo Sangyo trading company (internet searches indicate this may be a clothing company); and Miaki Katsuki, was president of Riken Denshi Company. Riken Denshi was the manufacturer of the dual-use magnetometers.
The original order for the equipment came from the Beijing office of New East International Trading, Ltd., which reportedly operates under the direction of North Korea.
July 14, 2009
Smugglers Assist North Korea-Directed Illicit Trade to Myanmar
David Albright, Paul Brannan and Andrea Scheel
In June 2009, Japan arrested three individuals for attempting to illegally export dual-use equipment to Myanmar via Malaysia,1 under the direction of a company associated with illicit procurement for North Korean military programs.2 The equipment intercepted before it made its way to Myanmar was a magnetometer, which measures magnetic fields. In addition to legitimate commercial uses in archaeological and geophysical sciences, a magnetometer can be employed in ballistic missile guidance and control systems. This item is controlled under Japan‟s "catch-all" regulations, which ban the export of dual-use items for military applications in countries such as North Korea or Myanmar. Japanese officials seized the item in January 2009 and launched an investigation which later led to the arrests. This case suggests that North Korea is either helping Myanmar develop its own ballistic missile capabilities or using it as a turntable to route items to North Korea or another country.
1 That the item was allegedly intended for transshipment through Malaysia is indicated in: Mari Yamaguchi, "Japan Holds 3 Accused of Trading for NKorea," Associated Press. June 30, 2009. http://www.etaiwannews.com/etn/news_content.php?id=990278&lang=eng_news
2 Yamaguchi, "Japan Holds 3 Accused."
The Case
The three individuals, one of North Korean nationality and two of Japanese nationality, were the heads of three separate Japanese entities: Li Gyeong Ho, a North Korean national was president of the Toko Boeki trading company; Hirohiko Muto was president of Taikyo Sangyo trading company (internet searches indicate this may be a clothing company); and Miaki Katsuki, was president of Riken Denshi Company. Riken Denshi was the manufacturer of the dual-use magnetometers.
The original order for the equipment came from the Beijing office of New East International Trading, Ltd., which reportedly operates under the direction of North Korea.
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MYANMAR: Taking bets on increased poverty
YANGON, 20 July 2009 (IRIN) - Illegal lotteries are growing in popularity in Myanmar, fuelled by a sense of hopelessness and exacerbating the widespread economic hardship, say aid workers.
On the streets of Yangon, the former capital, the so-called "two digits" illegal lottery is so popular that development workers call it one of the most serious problems facing the children of poor families. It is especially popular among the poorest, who can least afford to lose their daily wages of US$1-$3.
Agents willing to take bets are everywhere - in cities, market towns and rural areas across Southeast Asia's second-largest nation of 58 million. But there is no social safety net, nothing to stop a family from going under when the betting losses add up.
"They bet because they think they'll get a big win, and then their troubles will be over," said a Burmese community worker, who runs self-help groups for poor women living in temporary shelters around Yangon.
"When they've lost everything they must give up their house, take their children out of school and send them to work. Often they will end up begging."
Economic burden
Myanmar's citizens are no better off now than 20 years ago, and most subsist on an average annual income of less than $200 per capita, the US State Department reports.
According to a 2005 UN Development Programme (UNDP) household survey, one-third of Myanmar's population lives below the poverty line.
Inflation is adding to the economic burden, with the price of rice, for example, up by 30 percent over the past year alone.
In an extensive survey by an international NGO, Myanmar children cited gambling as one of their biggest problems.
"Children said gambling happens everywhere, at home, at school, in the village. They also said everyone gambles: fathers, mothers, aunts, uncles, grandparents," said a child protection expert at the NGO, who did not want to be identified because illegal gambling is a sensitive political issue.
"The children said the gambling drained the family economy, created an unhappy household and led to domestic violence."
Paying with child labour
Children also said they could be used in negotiations over debt - parents often sell their children's labour in return for credit.
"In Mandalay, some teashop owners told us that children who came to work in their restaurants usually came from families who had lost their assets betting on the two digits and three digits lottery," the child protection worker told IRIN.
It is common for gambling addicts to lose their homes, or be forced to mortgage their houses to the government, burdening them with a monthly debt, aid workers say.
The two digits lottery is an illegal scheme based on the last two digits of the closing price of the Bangkok stock exchange, unpredictable numbers that appear each day on the Thai television news, beamed into Myanmar by satellite.
The higher-risk, and higher-reward, "three digits" lottery is based on numbers from Thailand's own national lottery.
Kyaw Kyaw, 35, is a typical gambler. He lives in the rundown Yangon township of Daubon, repairing small motors and generators on the ground floor of his small brick house. He bets about a third of his daily income of some $3. Like all Myanmar's small-time betters, he usually loses.
But he does not see it that way: "Twice a day I have hope," he says.
Saleswomen for the betting agents come round to the house every day, collecting cash. They take a 10 percent cut and will often offer credit - pushing families dangerously into debt.
Awareness raising
The business is illegal, and anyone caught gambling or taking bets could receive a prison sentence of between three months and two years.
But gamblers say a bribe will get rid of most policemen, who will also expect a cut if someone in the neighbourhood has had a big win.
NGOs say they want to start to tackle the problem at community level, by raising awareness in education, child protection or micro-finance programmes. This would give community members an opportunity to share experiences and to recognize how gambling affects their lives.
"Only the bookmakers get rich," said the community worker. "But if they could see what we see, how it ruins people's lives, then I hope they would stop."
YANGON, 20 July 2009 (IRIN) - Illegal lotteries are growing in popularity in Myanmar, fuelled by a sense of hopelessness and exacerbating the widespread economic hardship, say aid workers.
On the streets of Yangon, the former capital, the so-called "two digits" illegal lottery is so popular that development workers call it one of the most serious problems facing the children of poor families. It is especially popular among the poorest, who can least afford to lose their daily wages of US$1-$3.
Agents willing to take bets are everywhere - in cities, market towns and rural areas across Southeast Asia's second-largest nation of 58 million. But there is no social safety net, nothing to stop a family from going under when the betting losses add up.
"They bet because they think they'll get a big win, and then their troubles will be over," said a Burmese community worker, who runs self-help groups for poor women living in temporary shelters around Yangon.
"When they've lost everything they must give up their house, take their children out of school and send them to work. Often they will end up begging."
Economic burden
Myanmar's citizens are no better off now than 20 years ago, and most subsist on an average annual income of less than $200 per capita, the US State Department reports.
According to a 2005 UN Development Programme (UNDP) household survey, one-third of Myanmar's population lives below the poverty line.
Inflation is adding to the economic burden, with the price of rice, for example, up by 30 percent over the past year alone.
In an extensive survey by an international NGO, Myanmar children cited gambling as one of their biggest problems.
"Children said gambling happens everywhere, at home, at school, in the village. They also said everyone gambles: fathers, mothers, aunts, uncles, grandparents," said a child protection expert at the NGO, who did not want to be identified because illegal gambling is a sensitive political issue.
"The children said the gambling drained the family economy, created an unhappy household and led to domestic violence."
Paying with child labour
Children also said they could be used in negotiations over debt - parents often sell their children's labour in return for credit.
"In Mandalay, some teashop owners told us that children who came to work in their restaurants usually came from families who had lost their assets betting on the two digits and three digits lottery," the child protection worker told IRIN.
It is common for gambling addicts to lose their homes, or be forced to mortgage their houses to the government, burdening them with a monthly debt, aid workers say.
The two digits lottery is an illegal scheme based on the last two digits of the closing price of the Bangkok stock exchange, unpredictable numbers that appear each day on the Thai television news, beamed into Myanmar by satellite.
The higher-risk, and higher-reward, "three digits" lottery is based on numbers from Thailand's own national lottery.
Kyaw Kyaw, 35, is a typical gambler. He lives in the rundown Yangon township of Daubon, repairing small motors and generators on the ground floor of his small brick house. He bets about a third of his daily income of some $3. Like all Myanmar's small-time betters, he usually loses.
But he does not see it that way: "Twice a day I have hope," he says.
Saleswomen for the betting agents come round to the house every day, collecting cash. They take a 10 percent cut and will often offer credit - pushing families dangerously into debt.
Awareness raising
The business is illegal, and anyone caught gambling or taking bets could receive a prison sentence of between three months and two years.
But gamblers say a bribe will get rid of most policemen, who will also expect a cut if someone in the neighbourhood has had a big win.
NGOs say they want to start to tackle the problem at community level, by raising awareness in education, child protection or micro-finance programmes. This would give community members an opportunity to share experiences and to recognize how gambling affects their lives.
"Only the bookmakers get rich," said the community worker. "But if they could see what we see, how it ruins people's lives, then I hope they would stop."
*****************************************************
July 20, 2009 13:33 PM
ASEAN Not In Favour Of Sanction On Myanmar
By D.Arul Rajoo
PHUKET, July 20 (Bernama) -- Despite world condemnation of the human rights abuses and clampdown on pro-democracy movements in Myanmar, Asean has ruled out sanctioning or further alienating its widely-criticised member.
Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, the current chairman of the 10-member regional grouping, said Asean still had exchanges at all levels with the Myanmar Government.
"We learn their point of view, what they are doing and we take note of concerns raised by international communities. This approach is more productive than sanctions or alienating them further," he told a news conference after opening the 42nd Asean Foreign Ministers' Meeting here.
In fact, Myanmar briefed Asean Leaders during the 14th Asean Summit last February where they showed commitment to release a number of political prisoners, he said, adding that Asean would continue to assess and review the situation there.
"Whether the progress is satisfactory to any country is another matter. We will continue to talk. Even UN Secretary-General (Ban Kim Moon) adopted this (approach)...although he was disappointed with a number of things," Abhisit said, referring to Ban's visit to Myanmar this month where he was denied access to democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi.
Asked what Asean would do if Suu Kii was found guilty at her ongoing trial for "harbouring" an American while under house arrest, Abhisit said it was too early to speculate on the outcome.
"We can't speculate about the trial, clearly the Myanmar government has insisted it's a court matter. But we will look at legal possibilities, we can't interfere in the internal process. But we will see other options," he said.
On the Asean Inter-Govermental Commission on Human Rights, Abhisit said it was a good start although many critics considered it as toothless without any provision on protection or sanction of abuses.
"We want to make a start, with three principles -- credibility, realistic and evolutionary. Better make a start than no progress at all."
When asked how Asean expected such a body to be effective when members like Myanmar could ignore the United Nations, he said he believed that there would be more responses in the future and the country was ready to achieve goals set up by the road map, including having a general election next year.
He also said that Thailand, which is facing insurgency in the southern provinces where more than 3,500 people have died in the past five years, was ready to have a regional human rights commission investigating any alleged human rights abuses.
"First of all, we have an independent human rights commission, we are a very open country and there are right groups working in Thailand. They monitor human rights and submit reports which we take seriously," he said.
ASEAN Not In Favour Of Sanction On Myanmar
By D.Arul Rajoo
PHUKET, July 20 (Bernama) -- Despite world condemnation of the human rights abuses and clampdown on pro-democracy movements in Myanmar, Asean has ruled out sanctioning or further alienating its widely-criticised member.
Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, the current chairman of the 10-member regional grouping, said Asean still had exchanges at all levels with the Myanmar Government.
"We learn their point of view, what they are doing and we take note of concerns raised by international communities. This approach is more productive than sanctions or alienating them further," he told a news conference after opening the 42nd Asean Foreign Ministers' Meeting here.
In fact, Myanmar briefed Asean Leaders during the 14th Asean Summit last February where they showed commitment to release a number of political prisoners, he said, adding that Asean would continue to assess and review the situation there.
"Whether the progress is satisfactory to any country is another matter. We will continue to talk. Even UN Secretary-General (Ban Kim Moon) adopted this (approach)...although he was disappointed with a number of things," Abhisit said, referring to Ban's visit to Myanmar this month where he was denied access to democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi.
Asked what Asean would do if Suu Kii was found guilty at her ongoing trial for "harbouring" an American while under house arrest, Abhisit said it was too early to speculate on the outcome.
"We can't speculate about the trial, clearly the Myanmar government has insisted it's a court matter. But we will look at legal possibilities, we can't interfere in the internal process. But we will see other options," he said.
On the Asean Inter-Govermental Commission on Human Rights, Abhisit said it was a good start although many critics considered it as toothless without any provision on protection or sanction of abuses.
"We want to make a start, with three principles -- credibility, realistic and evolutionary. Better make a start than no progress at all."
When asked how Asean expected such a body to be effective when members like Myanmar could ignore the United Nations, he said he believed that there would be more responses in the future and the country was ready to achieve goals set up by the road map, including having a general election next year.
He also said that Thailand, which is facing insurgency in the southern provinces where more than 3,500 people have died in the past five years, was ready to have a regional human rights commission investigating any alleged human rights abuses.
"First of all, we have an independent human rights commission, we are a very open country and there are right groups working in Thailand. They monitor human rights and submit reports which we take seriously," he said.
*****************************************************
July 20, 2009 22:11 PM
No Truth In Indonesia Abandoning Asean - Thai FM
PHUKET, July 20 (Bernama) -- Indonesia, one of the founding members of Asean, has no plans to abandon or reduce its role in the regional grouping over fears that other member countries were not doing enough to enhance the grouping, especially in terms of human rights.
Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya said it was not true that Indonesia was very disappointed with the final outcome of the Terms of Reference (TOR) for the proposed Asean Inter-Governmental Commission on Human Rights.
"Indonesia has been very much a pillar of Asean cooperation. There was no disappointment on their part...in fact, we got positive contribution from the Indonesian delegation..everyone was happy at the end of the meeting," he told a press conference after chairing the Asean Ministerial Meeting here.
Kasit said, although Indonesia's proposal to include protection in the TOR was not achieved, foreign ministers agreed to draft a political declaration on the matter for approval at the 15th Asean Summit in Phuket in October, as a compromise.
"The leadership of Indonesia is very important...Indonesia is more than happy to lead Asean into the future. There is no doubt about their cooperation and the leading role of Indonesia," he said when asked if Indonesia had outgrown Asean and paid more attention to its role in G20.
Asean Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan said Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda had even promised to expand the country's contribution to the Jakarta-based Asean Secretariat, including sponsoring more meetings there.
"Internal discontenment is common in any phase of progress. We should turn that into a positive energy," he said.
The TOR, which was adopted by the foreign ministers today, was severely criticised by civil society groups and seen as being "toothless" without provisions on protection of human rights, including sanction on abuses or country visit.
Kasit, who was clearly upset with the range of questions posed during press conferences in the past few days, that condemned the commission, said everyone should give a chance for the body to be set up and progress accordingly.
"Why (do) you believe it would't be effective? All the countries have committed to the Asean Charter, especially on human rights body and they have obligations to do so.
"It's time for us to do more together, to resolve our own problems within our own family, without the international community telling us what to do. We are committed to our own destiny," he added.
No Truth In Indonesia Abandoning Asean - Thai FM
PHUKET, July 20 (Bernama) -- Indonesia, one of the founding members of Asean, has no plans to abandon or reduce its role in the regional grouping over fears that other member countries were not doing enough to enhance the grouping, especially in terms of human rights.
Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya said it was not true that Indonesia was very disappointed with the final outcome of the Terms of Reference (TOR) for the proposed Asean Inter-Governmental Commission on Human Rights.
"Indonesia has been very much a pillar of Asean cooperation. There was no disappointment on their part...in fact, we got positive contribution from the Indonesian delegation..everyone was happy at the end of the meeting," he told a press conference after chairing the Asean Ministerial Meeting here.
Kasit said, although Indonesia's proposal to include protection in the TOR was not achieved, foreign ministers agreed to draft a political declaration on the matter for approval at the 15th Asean Summit in Phuket in October, as a compromise.
"The leadership of Indonesia is very important...Indonesia is more than happy to lead Asean into the future. There is no doubt about their cooperation and the leading role of Indonesia," he said when asked if Indonesia had outgrown Asean and paid more attention to its role in G20.
Asean Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan said Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda had even promised to expand the country's contribution to the Jakarta-based Asean Secretariat, including sponsoring more meetings there.
"Internal discontenment is common in any phase of progress. We should turn that into a positive energy," he said.
The TOR, which was adopted by the foreign ministers today, was severely criticised by civil society groups and seen as being "toothless" without provisions on protection of human rights, including sanction on abuses or country visit.
Kasit, who was clearly upset with the range of questions posed during press conferences in the past few days, that condemned the commission, said everyone should give a chance for the body to be set up and progress accordingly.
"Why (do) you believe it would't be effective? All the countries have committed to the Asean Charter, especially on human rights body and they have obligations to do so.
"It's time for us to do more together, to resolve our own problems within our own family, without the international community telling us what to do. We are committed to our own destiny," he added.
*****************************************************
VOA News - ASEAN Foreign Ministers Discuss Regional Challenges, Burma's Human Rights
By Daniel Schearf - Phuket, Thailand
20 July 2009
Thailand's prime minister has defended the Association of Southeast Asian Nations' plans for a human rights body. Abhisit Vejjajiva made the comments at the opening of ASEAN's annual foreign ministers meeting.
Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva says the Association of Southeast Asian Nations needs to be a community of action.
"ASEAN must be able to act decisively and in a timely manner to address both internal and external threats and challenges to the security and welfare of its member states and peoples," he said. "Effective action must replace extended deliberation. We must show to the world that ASEAN is ready to meet any challenge and is well prepared to act decisively."
ASEAN has long been criticized as a talking shop because of its tradition of acting only on consensus.
But in May Thailand, the current chair, issued its strongest criticism yet of member state Burma for its prosecution of democracy and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and jailing of political prisoners.
The trial of Aung San Suu Kyi, on charges of violating the terms of her detention, and Burma's rights abuses are in focus as the ministers agreed on the terms of the region's first human rights body.
Full details of the body's functions have not yet been released, but officials say it will not have the power to investigate or punish human rights abusers such as Burma.
Mr. Abhisit told journalists Monday this does not mean that protection of human rights will be ignored. He says while the body will first focus on the promotion of human rights, protection will come later.
"But it's better to make a start than to leave this hanging with no progress at all," he said. "So, we recognize the concerns of people who work on this issue, we will take them on board and we will do what we can."
Foreign ministers from ASEAN's 10 members on Monday began four days of meetings on improving regional cooperation.
The ministers are expected to discuss challenges affecting the region, including terrorism, the economic crisis, influenza pandemic, and climate change, among other issues.
They meet later in the week with dialogue partners from 17 nations and groups of nations, including the European Union, the United States, and North Korea.
Thailand wants to arrange an informal meeting of the six nations involved in talks on ending North Korea's nuclear programs. But, in a sign that Pyongyang is not interested, the reclusive nation plans to send a lower-level official rather than a foreign minister.
By Daniel Schearf - Phuket, Thailand
20 July 2009
Thailand's prime minister has defended the Association of Southeast Asian Nations' plans for a human rights body. Abhisit Vejjajiva made the comments at the opening of ASEAN's annual foreign ministers meeting.
Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva says the Association of Southeast Asian Nations needs to be a community of action.
"ASEAN must be able to act decisively and in a timely manner to address both internal and external threats and challenges to the security and welfare of its member states and peoples," he said. "Effective action must replace extended deliberation. We must show to the world that ASEAN is ready to meet any challenge and is well prepared to act decisively."
ASEAN has long been criticized as a talking shop because of its tradition of acting only on consensus.
But in May Thailand, the current chair, issued its strongest criticism yet of member state Burma for its prosecution of democracy and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and jailing of political prisoners.
The trial of Aung San Suu Kyi, on charges of violating the terms of her detention, and Burma's rights abuses are in focus as the ministers agreed on the terms of the region's first human rights body.
Full details of the body's functions have not yet been released, but officials say it will not have the power to investigate or punish human rights abusers such as Burma.
Mr. Abhisit told journalists Monday this does not mean that protection of human rights will be ignored. He says while the body will first focus on the promotion of human rights, protection will come later.
"But it's better to make a start than to leave this hanging with no progress at all," he said. "So, we recognize the concerns of people who work on this issue, we will take them on board and we will do what we can."
Foreign ministers from ASEAN's 10 members on Monday began four days of meetings on improving regional cooperation.
The ministers are expected to discuss challenges affecting the region, including terrorism, the economic crisis, influenza pandemic, and climate change, among other issues.
They meet later in the week with dialogue partners from 17 nations and groups of nations, including the European Union, the United States, and North Korea.
Thailand wants to arrange an informal meeting of the six nations involved in talks on ending North Korea's nuclear programs. But, in a sign that Pyongyang is not interested, the reclusive nation plans to send a lower-level official rather than a foreign minister.
*****************************************************
Thaindian News - Krishna to represent India at India-ASEAN Ministerial meeting
July 20th, 2009 - 6:36 pm ICT by ANI
New Delhi July 20 (ANI): External Affairs Minister S.M.Krishna will represent India at the India-ASEAN Ministerial meeting to be held in Phuket, Thailand, on July 22.
Informed Ministry of External Affairs sources said the minister would use his visit to Thailand to project India’s “Look East” policy as it has been doing for more than a decade-and-a-half.
India became a founding member of the East Asia Summit (EAS) in 2005 along with China, Japan, South Korea, Australia New Zealand and the 10 ASEAN countries.
Sources said there has been steady progress in the India-ASEAN relationship since 1991. India became sectoral dialogue partners of ASEAN in 1992. In 1996, this was upgraded to full dialogue partnership.
Since 2002 India has been having annual summits with ASEAN - along with China, Japan and Republic of Korea. These political level interactions are further strengthened through the Senior Officials’ Meetings, as also specialised working groups in the various functional areas, opine the experts.
Besides issues related to Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with India and strengthen economic ties, ASEAN has already expressed a desirability to work together to fight terrorism and transnational crime, combating corruption and promoting good governance and the protection and promotion of human rights, as well as cooperation in forums such as ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) and the Mekong-Ganga Cooperation (MGC) initiative.
Krishna would return home on the evening of July 23. (ANI)
July 20th, 2009 - 6:36 pm ICT by ANI
New Delhi July 20 (ANI): External Affairs Minister S.M.Krishna will represent India at the India-ASEAN Ministerial meeting to be held in Phuket, Thailand, on July 22.
Informed Ministry of External Affairs sources said the minister would use his visit to Thailand to project India’s “Look East” policy as it has been doing for more than a decade-and-a-half.
India became a founding member of the East Asia Summit (EAS) in 2005 along with China, Japan, South Korea, Australia New Zealand and the 10 ASEAN countries.
Sources said there has been steady progress in the India-ASEAN relationship since 1991. India became sectoral dialogue partners of ASEAN in 1992. In 1996, this was upgraded to full dialogue partnership.
Since 2002 India has been having annual summits with ASEAN - along with China, Japan and Republic of Korea. These political level interactions are further strengthened through the Senior Officials’ Meetings, as also specialised working groups in the various functional areas, opine the experts.
Besides issues related to Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with India and strengthen economic ties, ASEAN has already expressed a desirability to work together to fight terrorism and transnational crime, combating corruption and promoting good governance and the protection and promotion of human rights, as well as cooperation in forums such as ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) and the Mekong-Ganga Cooperation (MGC) initiative.
Krishna would return home on the evening of July 23. (ANI)
*****************************************************
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
MINISTERS AGREE TO REINFORCE SANCTIONS VS. VIOLATORS
The Manila Times - Human rights Asean’s top priority
PHUKET, Thailand: Southeast Asian nations Monday defended the region’s first human rights watchdog against criticisms that it would be powerless to tackle rogue members such as military-ruled Myanmar.
Officials meeting in the Thai resort island of Phuket ahead of the continent’s main security forum later this week are also expected to discuss the hotel bombings in Jakarta and North Korea’s nuclear program.
But the main focus was on the new rights body which Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) foreign ministers were set to endorse later Monday, amid apparent divisions over its final form.
Rights groups condemned the proposed watchdog for lacking powers to punish violators and for only being able to insist that member nations provide an internal report on their rights situations.
Human rights have been a perennial challenge for Asean since it was founded as a bulwark against communism 42 years ago. Its members now include Myanmar and communist Vietnam and Laos, which have all been accused of rights abuses.
Thai Prime Minister and current Asean chairman Abhisit Vejjajiva said the rights body would develop “more teeth” after it was formally launched by leaders of the 10-member bloc at a summit in October.
“It’s better to make a start than to leave this hanging with no progress at all,” Abihsit told reporters, adding that the body would focus for now on “promotion and protection” of human rights.
“What we want to do is establish a body that begins with the issue of promotion, and then the next step obviously once that is put into place, is that there will be more teeth for the body in terms of protection,” he said.
However, Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda, led a strong last-minute push to give the body further powers at a meeting on Sunday, nearly scuttling its endorsement, officials said.
Wirajuda insisted that the bloc issue a political declaration in October noting Jakarta’s concerns over the current terms of reference, Indonesian diplomat Imron Cotan said.
A senior regional diplomat said on condition of anonymity that some of Indonesia’s proposals were “not acceptable” to countries such as Myanmar.
Myanmar caused fresh headaches for Asean after the ruling junta put democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi on trial over an incident in which an American man swam to her lakeside house in May. She faces up to five years in jail.
The country has been the group’s so-called problem child since it joined in 1997 because of its detention of thousands of political dissidents.
Rights groups said the new body’s remit fell short of international standards and sent a letter to Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya asking for a meeting.
“The human rights body is born, but it needs a lot of careful care so that it can become a mechanism with teeth and not become toothless,” Rafendi Djamin, of the regional group Solidarity for Asian People’s Advocacy, told Agence France-Presse.
Kasit on Sunday admitted that there had been compromises to ensure that Myanmar signed on for the rights body, but insisted it was still an important step for the region.
Asean Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan said endorsing the body would be a “good beginning.”
A draft of the rights panel’s terms of reference affirms Asean’s underlying principle of non-interference in domestic affairs, which has been used by some members to fend off criticism about rights abuses.
The annual Asean foreign ministers’ meeting on Monday comes ahead of the 27-member Asean regional forum later this week, which groups the bloc’s members along with the United States, the EU, China, Japan and other countries.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is due in Phuket on Wednesday for talks that are likely to include the standoff over North Korea’s nuclear program.
The twin suicide bombings at hotels in the Indonesian capital on Friday are also set for discussion, officials said.
MINISTERS AGREE TO REINFORCE SANCTIONS VS. VIOLATORS
The Manila Times - Human rights Asean’s top priority
PHUKET, Thailand: Southeast Asian nations Monday defended the region’s first human rights watchdog against criticisms that it would be powerless to tackle rogue members such as military-ruled Myanmar.
Officials meeting in the Thai resort island of Phuket ahead of the continent’s main security forum later this week are also expected to discuss the hotel bombings in Jakarta and North Korea’s nuclear program.
But the main focus was on the new rights body which Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) foreign ministers were set to endorse later Monday, amid apparent divisions over its final form.
Rights groups condemned the proposed watchdog for lacking powers to punish violators and for only being able to insist that member nations provide an internal report on their rights situations.
Human rights have been a perennial challenge for Asean since it was founded as a bulwark against communism 42 years ago. Its members now include Myanmar and communist Vietnam and Laos, which have all been accused of rights abuses.
Thai Prime Minister and current Asean chairman Abhisit Vejjajiva said the rights body would develop “more teeth” after it was formally launched by leaders of the 10-member bloc at a summit in October.
“It’s better to make a start than to leave this hanging with no progress at all,” Abihsit told reporters, adding that the body would focus for now on “promotion and protection” of human rights.
“What we want to do is establish a body that begins with the issue of promotion, and then the next step obviously once that is put into place, is that there will be more teeth for the body in terms of protection,” he said.
However, Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda, led a strong last-minute push to give the body further powers at a meeting on Sunday, nearly scuttling its endorsement, officials said.
Wirajuda insisted that the bloc issue a political declaration in October noting Jakarta’s concerns over the current terms of reference, Indonesian diplomat Imron Cotan said.
A senior regional diplomat said on condition of anonymity that some of Indonesia’s proposals were “not acceptable” to countries such as Myanmar.
Myanmar caused fresh headaches for Asean after the ruling junta put democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi on trial over an incident in which an American man swam to her lakeside house in May. She faces up to five years in jail.
The country has been the group’s so-called problem child since it joined in 1997 because of its detention of thousands of political dissidents.
Rights groups said the new body’s remit fell short of international standards and sent a letter to Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya asking for a meeting.
“The human rights body is born, but it needs a lot of careful care so that it can become a mechanism with teeth and not become toothless,” Rafendi Djamin, of the regional group Solidarity for Asian People’s Advocacy, told Agence France-Presse.
Kasit on Sunday admitted that there had been compromises to ensure that Myanmar signed on for the rights body, but insisted it was still an important step for the region.
Asean Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan said endorsing the body would be a “good beginning.”
A draft of the rights panel’s terms of reference affirms Asean’s underlying principle of non-interference in domestic affairs, which has been used by some members to fend off criticism about rights abuses.
The annual Asean foreign ministers’ meeting on Monday comes ahead of the 27-member Asean regional forum later this week, which groups the bloc’s members along with the United States, the EU, China, Japan and other countries.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is due in Phuket on Wednesday for talks that are likely to include the standoff over North Korea’s nuclear program.
The twin suicide bombings at hotels in the Indonesian capital on Friday are also set for discussion, officials said.
*****************************************************
Kyodo News - ASEAN renews pressure on N. Korea, Myanmar
PHUKET, Thailand, July 20 KYODO - Foreign ministers from Southeast Asia condemned anew Monday North Korea's nuclear tests and renewed pressure from the 10-member bloc for Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear ambitions.
The ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations reminded North Korea the recent underground nuclear test and subsequent missile launches ''constitute clear violations'' of the six-party agreement on North Korea's nuclear program and U.N. Security Council resolutions against the country.
''We urged (North Korea) to fully comply with its obligations and relevant UNSC resolutions,'' a joint communique released at the end of a day-long ASEAN foreign ministerial meeting in Thailand, said.
As in past statements, the ministers again urged North Korea and all the concerned parties to ''return to the six-party talks process as soon as possible,'' stressing the need to ''fully implement their commitments'' made in previous round of denuclearization talks.
The six countries in the process are North and South Korea, the United States, Japan, China and Russia.
''We encourage all concerned parties to actively pursue (peace and stability in the Korean Peninsula),'' the communique said.
On Myanmar, the ministers urged its ruling generals to hold ''free, fair and inclusive elections next year,'' saying this will ''lay down a good foundation for future social and economic development.''
And once again, the ministers urged Myanmar to free all political detainees, including Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.
This year Myanmar Foreign Minister Nyan Win briefed his colleagues on the recent visit of U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon to Myanmar.
During the briefing, Nyan Win told the ministers, ''Pressure from the outside and economic sanctions were hampering Myanmar's democratization and development efforts,'' the communique said.
The ministers said ASEAN remains ''constructively engaged'' with Myanmar, adding the country is confronted with ''many complex challenges.''
As in past ministerial meetings, the concerns about the Korean Peninsula and Myanmar's refusal to free political activists led by Suu Kyi have dominated the agenda.
The twin bombings in Jakarta last Friday prompted the ministers to include a paragraph that ''strongly condemned'' the blasts and offered ASEAN's resources ''to help bring the perpetrators, organizers, financiers and sponsors'' of the terror acts to justice.
In the past, the disputed Spratly Islands in the South China Sea has caused tension among some ASEAN claimants and China, but that issue has somewhat faded since a Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea was signed in 2002.
Still, the ministers again ''encouraged'' all claimant-countries to continue to exercise self-restraint and promote confidence-building measures in the area.
''We looked forward to the eventual conclusion of a Regional Code of Conduct in the (area),'' the ministers said.
The ministers also reviewed the implementation of the ASEAN Charter that entered into force in December and other issues that will cement the bloc's goal to evolve into an ASEAN community in six years or so.
They also appreciated Japan's support in building an ASEAN community and efforts to narrow the gap between ASEAN's rich and poor.
ASEAN, they added, should ''remain the primary driving force in our region.''
Earlier, they endorsed the terms of reference for the ASEAN human rights body -- the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights -- to be launched in October during the 15th ASEAN summit.
Responding to criticisms the human rights body is ''toothless,'' the ministers discussed a proposal to issue a political declaration at the October summit and agreed that during the five-year ''review period'' the terms of reference for the body will be strengthened.
The ASEAN members are Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
PHUKET, Thailand, July 20 KYODO - Foreign ministers from Southeast Asia condemned anew Monday North Korea's nuclear tests and renewed pressure from the 10-member bloc for Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear ambitions.
The ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations reminded North Korea the recent underground nuclear test and subsequent missile launches ''constitute clear violations'' of the six-party agreement on North Korea's nuclear program and U.N. Security Council resolutions against the country.
''We urged (North Korea) to fully comply with its obligations and relevant UNSC resolutions,'' a joint communique released at the end of a day-long ASEAN foreign ministerial meeting in Thailand, said.
As in past statements, the ministers again urged North Korea and all the concerned parties to ''return to the six-party talks process as soon as possible,'' stressing the need to ''fully implement their commitments'' made in previous round of denuclearization talks.
The six countries in the process are North and South Korea, the United States, Japan, China and Russia.
''We encourage all concerned parties to actively pursue (peace and stability in the Korean Peninsula),'' the communique said.
On Myanmar, the ministers urged its ruling generals to hold ''free, fair and inclusive elections next year,'' saying this will ''lay down a good foundation for future social and economic development.''
And once again, the ministers urged Myanmar to free all political detainees, including Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.
This year Myanmar Foreign Minister Nyan Win briefed his colleagues on the recent visit of U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon to Myanmar.
During the briefing, Nyan Win told the ministers, ''Pressure from the outside and economic sanctions were hampering Myanmar's democratization and development efforts,'' the communique said.
The ministers said ASEAN remains ''constructively engaged'' with Myanmar, adding the country is confronted with ''many complex challenges.''
As in past ministerial meetings, the concerns about the Korean Peninsula and Myanmar's refusal to free political activists led by Suu Kyi have dominated the agenda.
The twin bombings in Jakarta last Friday prompted the ministers to include a paragraph that ''strongly condemned'' the blasts and offered ASEAN's resources ''to help bring the perpetrators, organizers, financiers and sponsors'' of the terror acts to justice.
In the past, the disputed Spratly Islands in the South China Sea has caused tension among some ASEAN claimants and China, but that issue has somewhat faded since a Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea was signed in 2002.
Still, the ministers again ''encouraged'' all claimant-countries to continue to exercise self-restraint and promote confidence-building measures in the area.
''We looked forward to the eventual conclusion of a Regional Code of Conduct in the (area),'' the ministers said.
The ministers also reviewed the implementation of the ASEAN Charter that entered into force in December and other issues that will cement the bloc's goal to evolve into an ASEAN community in six years or so.
They also appreciated Japan's support in building an ASEAN community and efforts to narrow the gap between ASEAN's rich and poor.
ASEAN, they added, should ''remain the primary driving force in our region.''
Earlier, they endorsed the terms of reference for the ASEAN human rights body -- the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights -- to be launched in October during the 15th ASEAN summit.
Responding to criticisms the human rights body is ''toothless,'' the ministers discussed a proposal to issue a political declaration at the October summit and agreed that during the five-year ''review period'' the terms of reference for the body will be strengthened.
The ASEAN members are Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
*****************************************************
The Irrawaddy - Burmese FM: Ban’s Proposals Not Off the Table
By WAI MOE, Monday, July 20, 2009
PHUKET, Thailand—Burmese Foreign Minister Nyan Win told his counterparts from Southeast Asian nations on Sunday that issues including the release of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other political prisoners recommended by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon have not necessarily been ruled out.
After an informal working dinner on Sunday, Surin Pitsuwan, the secretary-general of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), told reporters: “We have been briefed [by Nyan Win] about the visit of the [UN] secretary-general, and we have been told some issues recommended by the secretary-general should not be taken as [having] not been accepted because [they have] not been responded to. It will take time.”
Nyan Win’s comment could be interpreted to mean that Ban’s call to release Suu Kyi and all political prisoners is under consideration by the military regime.
However, some analysts said the remark could also be a way for the ruling generals to buy time, in light of the strong international criticism they have received over the ongoing trial of Suu Kyi.
Ban called for the release of all political prisoners during his trip to Burma in early July. His request to see Suu Kyi was turned down by the military regime.
Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya said on Sunday that the Suu Kyi issue should be resolved through an inclusive political process that the international community and Asean have called for.
Kasit said the criticism over Burma’s arrest and trial of Suu Kyi was not interference in the country’s internal affairs.
“I think it is a part of the whole inclusive political process,” he said. “We do not disrupt or interfere in the internal affairs of Myanmar [Burma]. But Myanmar is a part of the Asean family.”
Responding to questions about a possible Asean role in monitoring Burma’s upcoming elections in 2010, Kasit said it was a possibility but no discussions have taken place.
With the foreign ministers’ approval of the Terms of Reference language for the new Asean Human Rights Body, Asean will now form a human rights commission comprised of representatives from member countries.
Kasit told reporters that ministers are generally supportive of the proposed name “Asean Inter-Governmental Commission on Human Rights.”
Other issues relating to Burma included a faster visa processing effort for members of the Tripartite Core Group, who work on the Cyclone Nargis relief effort.
Surin said the regime needs to play a more active role in granting visas for humanitarian workers.
“There have been some serious backward steps,” he said. “The TCG will have to be a part of the decision process [on visas for relief workers].
The TCG is comprised of Burmese officials, Asean and the UN. During the 14th Asean Summit in Cha-am in late February, the Burmese regime agreed to extend the mandate for TCG to work until July 2010, while Asean and the UN have called for a three-year recovery plan for the Cyclone Nargis relief effort.
Commenting on the human rights body at a press conference, Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said on Monday the rights body will operate under three principles: credibility, realism and evolution.
The first step will be the promotion of human rights for the 577 million Asean citizens, he said.
Protection, or enforcement, “of human rights will be an evolving process,” Abhisit said. “Better to make a start than no progress at all."
Some human rights groups in the region have expressed disappointment over Asean’s perceived lack of commitment and means to enforce human rights’ protection in the region.
"Without the protection mandate and the independent experts, the Asean human rights body will be a toothless tiger,” said Yap Swee Seng, the executive director of the Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development in a statement.
On Tuesday, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will meet with the Thai prime minister in Phuket. She will attend the full meeting of the Asean Regional Forum on Wednesday and Thursday.
Clinton is expected to address the issues of North Korea, the political situation in Burma and the recent terrorist bombing in Jakarta.
By WAI MOE, Monday, July 20, 2009
PHUKET, Thailand—Burmese Foreign Minister Nyan Win told his counterparts from Southeast Asian nations on Sunday that issues including the release of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other political prisoners recommended by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon have not necessarily been ruled out.
After an informal working dinner on Sunday, Surin Pitsuwan, the secretary-general of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), told reporters: “We have been briefed [by Nyan Win] about the visit of the [UN] secretary-general, and we have been told some issues recommended by the secretary-general should not be taken as [having] not been accepted because [they have] not been responded to. It will take time.”
Nyan Win’s comment could be interpreted to mean that Ban’s call to release Suu Kyi and all political prisoners is under consideration by the military regime.
However, some analysts said the remark could also be a way for the ruling generals to buy time, in light of the strong international criticism they have received over the ongoing trial of Suu Kyi.
Ban called for the release of all political prisoners during his trip to Burma in early July. His request to see Suu Kyi was turned down by the military regime.
Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya said on Sunday that the Suu Kyi issue should be resolved through an inclusive political process that the international community and Asean have called for.
Kasit said the criticism over Burma’s arrest and trial of Suu Kyi was not interference in the country’s internal affairs.
“I think it is a part of the whole inclusive political process,” he said. “We do not disrupt or interfere in the internal affairs of Myanmar [Burma]. But Myanmar is a part of the Asean family.”
Responding to questions about a possible Asean role in monitoring Burma’s upcoming elections in 2010, Kasit said it was a possibility but no discussions have taken place.
With the foreign ministers’ approval of the Terms of Reference language for the new Asean Human Rights Body, Asean will now form a human rights commission comprised of representatives from member countries.
Kasit told reporters that ministers are generally supportive of the proposed name “Asean Inter-Governmental Commission on Human Rights.”
Other issues relating to Burma included a faster visa processing effort for members of the Tripartite Core Group, who work on the Cyclone Nargis relief effort.
Surin said the regime needs to play a more active role in granting visas for humanitarian workers.
“There have been some serious backward steps,” he said. “The TCG will have to be a part of the decision process [on visas for relief workers].
The TCG is comprised of Burmese officials, Asean and the UN. During the 14th Asean Summit in Cha-am in late February, the Burmese regime agreed to extend the mandate for TCG to work until July 2010, while Asean and the UN have called for a three-year recovery plan for the Cyclone Nargis relief effort.
Commenting on the human rights body at a press conference, Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said on Monday the rights body will operate under three principles: credibility, realism and evolution.
The first step will be the promotion of human rights for the 577 million Asean citizens, he said.
Protection, or enforcement, “of human rights will be an evolving process,” Abhisit said. “Better to make a start than no progress at all."
Some human rights groups in the region have expressed disappointment over Asean’s perceived lack of commitment and means to enforce human rights’ protection in the region.
"Without the protection mandate and the independent experts, the Asean human rights body will be a toothless tiger,” said Yap Swee Seng, the executive director of the Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development in a statement.
On Tuesday, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will meet with the Thai prime minister in Phuket. She will attend the full meeting of the Asean Regional Forum on Wednesday and Thursday.
Clinton is expected to address the issues of North Korea, the political situation in Burma and the recent terrorist bombing in Jakarta.
*****************************************************
The Irrawaddy - Rangoon Electricity Cut to Six Hours a Day
By AUNG THET WINE, Monday, July 20, 2009
RANGOON — Residents in Rangoon have greeted with dismay an announcement by the state-own Myanmar Electric Power Enterprise (MEPE) saying electrical power will be rationed to six hours a day.
The power supply to Rangoon’s townships will be distributed on a rotation basis, said an MEPE announcement.
The MEPE, a state-owned utility, is responsible for electrical generation, transmission and distribution of electricity in Burma.
An official, who asked to remain anonymous, said the electricity supply to Rangoon has to be reduced because the pipeline carrying gas from the southern Andaman sea to Rangoon power generators––near Belin city in Mon State––has been damaged by flood water.
“Belin river was flooded by heavy rain, causing pipeline damage. Repairs could take time,” he said.
In Burma, electricity supplies are sporadic at the best of times, making many of Rangoon's 5 million residents reliant on diesel-powered generators.
Nai Kyaw, 60, who lives in Bahan Towship, said, “I am very disappointed with this government. They say that they are a government. But, they never think about the people.
They produce gas in the country, and they sell it to Thailand and China.”
The lack of electricity is disrupting livelihoods and affecting the economy, said Rangoon sources.
In Rangoon, the power supply is normally rotated from March to June, usually due to a lack of rainwater to power the Lawpita hydroelectric plant at full capacity. Lawpita, located 210 miles (350 kilometers) north of the capital, is one of the main sources of electricity for the capital.
Normally, in monsoon season the government can provide 24 hours of electrical power a day in Rangoon.
Rangoon’s 5 million residents need about 450 megawatts daily, according to the local journal Weekly Eleven.
The power shortage has affected everyone from noodle vendors to apartment block residents.
In many neighborhoods, brownouts occur frequently with the power as low as 150 volts, rendering most electronic appliances such as refrigerators and air conditioners inoperable without voltage regulators and other specialized equipment.
The power cuts aren't new. The military regime has been distributing electricity under a rationing system for the past eight years, unable to keep up with rising demand.
Total national output of electricity is 845 megawatts, less than the installed capacity of 1,200 megawatts and short of the country's electricity needs. The power crisis is exacerbated by the draining of foreign exchange reserves needed to buy fuel and spare parts for antiquated generators.
Among the only people benefiting are entrepreneurs who sell electric generators and candles.
But the use of candles among the poor who live in wood and thatched huts makes such neighborhoods particularly vulnerable to fires. Loudspeakers on vehicles warn residents to guard against fires in their homes.
Analysts say the military government keeps much of the country’s energy supply in reserve for military purposes and emergency situations.
Many Rangoon residents say that Burma’s new capital, Naypyidaw, gets power at Rangoon’s expense.
“Even people who live far from the highway, they can get 24 hours of power supply,” said a government worker in Rangoon.
Reporter Lawi Weng contributed to this article.
By AUNG THET WINE, Monday, July 20, 2009
RANGOON — Residents in Rangoon have greeted with dismay an announcement by the state-own Myanmar Electric Power Enterprise (MEPE) saying electrical power will be rationed to six hours a day.
The power supply to Rangoon’s townships will be distributed on a rotation basis, said an MEPE announcement.
The MEPE, a state-owned utility, is responsible for electrical generation, transmission and distribution of electricity in Burma.
An official, who asked to remain anonymous, said the electricity supply to Rangoon has to be reduced because the pipeline carrying gas from the southern Andaman sea to Rangoon power generators––near Belin city in Mon State––has been damaged by flood water.
“Belin river was flooded by heavy rain, causing pipeline damage. Repairs could take time,” he said.
In Burma, electricity supplies are sporadic at the best of times, making many of Rangoon's 5 million residents reliant on diesel-powered generators.
Nai Kyaw, 60, who lives in Bahan Towship, said, “I am very disappointed with this government. They say that they are a government. But, they never think about the people.
They produce gas in the country, and they sell it to Thailand and China.”
The lack of electricity is disrupting livelihoods and affecting the economy, said Rangoon sources.
In Rangoon, the power supply is normally rotated from March to June, usually due to a lack of rainwater to power the Lawpita hydroelectric plant at full capacity. Lawpita, located 210 miles (350 kilometers) north of the capital, is one of the main sources of electricity for the capital.
Normally, in monsoon season the government can provide 24 hours of electrical power a day in Rangoon.
Rangoon’s 5 million residents need about 450 megawatts daily, according to the local journal Weekly Eleven.
The power shortage has affected everyone from noodle vendors to apartment block residents.
In many neighborhoods, brownouts occur frequently with the power as low as 150 volts, rendering most electronic appliances such as refrigerators and air conditioners inoperable without voltage regulators and other specialized equipment.
The power cuts aren't new. The military regime has been distributing electricity under a rationing system for the past eight years, unable to keep up with rising demand.
Total national output of electricity is 845 megawatts, less than the installed capacity of 1,200 megawatts and short of the country's electricity needs. The power crisis is exacerbated by the draining of foreign exchange reserves needed to buy fuel and spare parts for antiquated generators.
Among the only people benefiting are entrepreneurs who sell electric generators and candles.
But the use of candles among the poor who live in wood and thatched huts makes such neighborhoods particularly vulnerable to fires. Loudspeakers on vehicles warn residents to guard against fires in their homes.
Analysts say the military government keeps much of the country’s energy supply in reserve for military purposes and emergency situations.
Many Rangoon residents say that Burma’s new capital, Naypyidaw, gets power at Rangoon’s expense.
“Even people who live far from the highway, they can get 24 hours of power supply,” said a government worker in Rangoon.
Reporter Lawi Weng contributed to this article.
*****************************************************
The Irrawaddy - NLD’s Win Tin Unwell
By SAW YAN NAING, Monday, July 20, 2009
Win Tin, a Burmese prominent veteran journalist and leader of the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD), is not well. He is resting under medication.
Win Tin, who is 79, has not been at his office after suffering from an abnormal heartbeat since Thursday last week. He received a medical check-up this weekend, which included an x-ray check.
He told The Irrawaddy on Monday, “I have not been able to go to the office since Thursday because I felt very tired if I worked. My heartbeat was around 46-48 times per minute compared to a normal heartbeat of around 70 or 80 times.”
Win Tin spent 19 years in prison without proper meals and medical treatment. He was released from the infamous Insein Prison in September 2008
He has suffered from poor health several times since he was released from prison. His illnesses have included asthma, low blood pressure and heart disease.
During his time in prison, he also suffered from heart and prostate problems. Prison authorities regularly refused to provide him with proper medical care.
Moe Zaw Oo, the secretary of the NLD-LA’s Foreign Affairs Department, who also spent time with Win Tin in prison said, “He [Win Tin] was often sick in prison. The food was poor and not nutritious, and medicine was insufficient. We worried that we would never see him released.”
Win Tin is respected by Burmese people inside and outside Burma. He is an active opposition leader who dares speak out publicly about the current political crisis in Burma. He is an outspoken and media friendly opposition leader.
After release from prison, he suffered from asthma in November 2008 and rested for several days, and he was hospitalized suffering low blood pressure in December 2008.
Win Tin, who was a senior adviser to detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, was arrested in 1989 on a series of charges ranging from publishing anti-government propaganda to instigation of civil disobedience.
By SAW YAN NAING, Monday, July 20, 2009
Win Tin, a Burmese prominent veteran journalist and leader of the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD), is not well. He is resting under medication.
Win Tin, who is 79, has not been at his office after suffering from an abnormal heartbeat since Thursday last week. He received a medical check-up this weekend, which included an x-ray check.
He told The Irrawaddy on Monday, “I have not been able to go to the office since Thursday because I felt very tired if I worked. My heartbeat was around 46-48 times per minute compared to a normal heartbeat of around 70 or 80 times.”
Win Tin spent 19 years in prison without proper meals and medical treatment. He was released from the infamous Insein Prison in September 2008
He has suffered from poor health several times since he was released from prison. His illnesses have included asthma, low blood pressure and heart disease.
During his time in prison, he also suffered from heart and prostate problems. Prison authorities regularly refused to provide him with proper medical care.
Moe Zaw Oo, the secretary of the NLD-LA’s Foreign Affairs Department, who also spent time with Win Tin in prison said, “He [Win Tin] was often sick in prison. The food was poor and not nutritious, and medicine was insufficient. We worried that we would never see him released.”
Win Tin is respected by Burmese people inside and outside Burma. He is an active opposition leader who dares speak out publicly about the current political crisis in Burma. He is an outspoken and media friendly opposition leader.
After release from prison, he suffered from asthma in November 2008 and rested for several days, and he was hospitalized suffering low blood pressure in December 2008.
Win Tin, who was a senior adviser to detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, was arrested in 1989 on a series of charges ranging from publishing anti-government propaganda to instigation of civil disobedience.
*****************************************************
Mizzima News - Tornado injures three in Rangoon
Monday, 20 July 2009 19:07
Rangoon (Mizzima) - At least three people were injured, and the roofs of several houses blown away, by a tornado which tore through Rangoon's Thaketha Township at about 2:30 p.m. (local time) today.
According to eyewitnesses, the tornado came roaring in from the Rangoon River, crossing the Five Star shipyard and tearing into Thaketha Township.
But fortunately, since most of the structures along the tornado's path were large industry buildings, only a few residences and roadside shops were destroyed.
“The wind began beating the shipyard and hit the nearby Yuzana Industry. Following that the wind blew toward a building in Ward 14 before going upwards without further entering the ward. If the wind would have blown inside the ward, it would have damaged the whole ward,” a resident of the six-storey Viewpoint Apartments in Thaketha, who witnessed the event, told Mizzima on Monday.
The tornado destroyed roofs and reportedly injured a woman and a child from Ward 14 along with a worker on the premises of the Thetlan Construction Company.
While there was commotion inside the Five Star shipyard and Yuzana Industry, the extent of any damage is still unconfirmed as entrance to the areas has been restricted.
Eyewitness said, even an hour after the tornado touched down, no officials or authorities had been seen at the site.
Monday, 20 July 2009 19:07
Rangoon (Mizzima) - At least three people were injured, and the roofs of several houses blown away, by a tornado which tore through Rangoon's Thaketha Township at about 2:30 p.m. (local time) today.
According to eyewitnesses, the tornado came roaring in from the Rangoon River, crossing the Five Star shipyard and tearing into Thaketha Township.
But fortunately, since most of the structures along the tornado's path were large industry buildings, only a few residences and roadside shops were destroyed.
“The wind began beating the shipyard and hit the nearby Yuzana Industry. Following that the wind blew toward a building in Ward 14 before going upwards without further entering the ward. If the wind would have blown inside the ward, it would have damaged the whole ward,” a resident of the six-storey Viewpoint Apartments in Thaketha, who witnessed the event, told Mizzima on Monday.
The tornado destroyed roofs and reportedly injured a woman and a child from Ward 14 along with a worker on the premises of the Thetlan Construction Company.
While there was commotion inside the Five Star shipyard and Yuzana Industry, the extent of any damage is still unconfirmed as entrance to the areas has been restricted.
Eyewitness said, even an hour after the tornado touched down, no officials or authorities had been seen at the site.
*****************************************************
Mizzima News - Junta beefs up military presence in Kachin State
by Myo Gyi
Monday, 20 July 2009 21:08
Ruili (Mizzima) - In what could be preparation for a fresh military campaign, the Burmese army was recently seen transporting more troops toward the country’s north, where ethnic insurgents including the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) are based.
Eyewitnesses said on July 17th, over 100 soldiers along with several officers were seen offloading military equipment, believed to include heavy weapons, from a ship operating between Mandalay and Bamo on the Irrawaddy River.
An eyewitness who talked to some of the soldiers told Mizzima that he saw over 100 soldiers along with several officers unloading weapons from a ship anchored at Bamo’s Myoma port at about 9 p.m. (local time) on Friday.
Bamo, in Southeastern Kachin State, is connected to Burma’s second largest city of Mandalay by the Irrawaddy River.
“Some of them told me that an artillery detachment is being transferred. I don’t know what kind of weapons and artillery they carried because it was covered,” the eyewitness told Mizzima.
Another local, who also saw the soldiers, said there were more officers than privates among the troops offloading weapons and other military accessories from the vessel.
“As I heard news of soldiers arriving at the port, I rushed to take a look. I saw about a hundred soldiers, more officers than privates. There were also a number of officers inside vehicles that came to pick-up the soldiers,” the eyewitness said.
The fresh arrival of soldiers and weapons comes after the Kachin Independence Organisation (KIO) rejected the ruling junta’s proposal to transform its armed wing, the KIA, into a Border Guard Force (BGF), which would function as a border security force under the control and administration of the junta.
During a recent meeting on July 8th, representatives of the KIO, the only ceasefire group in Kachin state rejecting the junta’s proposal, told Major General Soe Win of the Northern Command that it prefers to change its name to the “Kachin Regional Guard Force” and maintain its army until a democratically elected government is installed.
Military observers said the refusal by several ethnic armed ceasefire groups including the KIO, United Wa State Army (UWSA) and others has ignited fresh tension between the groups and the junta.
After1988, the junta, under the leadership of the since purged military intelligence chief Lieutenant General Khin Nyunt, was able to negotiate ceasefire deals with 17 ethnic armed groups.
Now, the junta is pressuring ceasefire groups to transform into a Border Guard Force in accordance with its new constitution, approved in a rigged referendum last year.
Bamo, a strategic location in Northern Burma bordering China, has about 10 army battalions controlled by the No. 21 Military Operation Command based in the town.
It is, however, unknown where the newly arrived soldiers are heading and will be posted.
Prior to the KIO’s ceasefire deal with the junta in 1994, several parts of Kachin State were largely controlled by the KIO. But following the ceasefire pact, the junta has deployed several army battalions in various parts of the state.
Sources said in early July a convoy of army trucks loaded with arms and ammunition was also seen moving into Bamo.
The KIO, one of Burma’s longest running insurgent groups, has its headquarters in the Sino-Burmese border town of Laiza, about 40 miles north of Bamo.
by Myo Gyi
Monday, 20 July 2009 21:08
Ruili (Mizzima) - In what could be preparation for a fresh military campaign, the Burmese army was recently seen transporting more troops toward the country’s north, where ethnic insurgents including the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) are based.
Eyewitnesses said on July 17th, over 100 soldiers along with several officers were seen offloading military equipment, believed to include heavy weapons, from a ship operating between Mandalay and Bamo on the Irrawaddy River.
An eyewitness who talked to some of the soldiers told Mizzima that he saw over 100 soldiers along with several officers unloading weapons from a ship anchored at Bamo’s Myoma port at about 9 p.m. (local time) on Friday.
Bamo, in Southeastern Kachin State, is connected to Burma’s second largest city of Mandalay by the Irrawaddy River.
“Some of them told me that an artillery detachment is being transferred. I don’t know what kind of weapons and artillery they carried because it was covered,” the eyewitness told Mizzima.
Another local, who also saw the soldiers, said there were more officers than privates among the troops offloading weapons and other military accessories from the vessel.
“As I heard news of soldiers arriving at the port, I rushed to take a look. I saw about a hundred soldiers, more officers than privates. There were also a number of officers inside vehicles that came to pick-up the soldiers,” the eyewitness said.
The fresh arrival of soldiers and weapons comes after the Kachin Independence Organisation (KIO) rejected the ruling junta’s proposal to transform its armed wing, the KIA, into a Border Guard Force (BGF), which would function as a border security force under the control and administration of the junta.
During a recent meeting on July 8th, representatives of the KIO, the only ceasefire group in Kachin state rejecting the junta’s proposal, told Major General Soe Win of the Northern Command that it prefers to change its name to the “Kachin Regional Guard Force” and maintain its army until a democratically elected government is installed.
Military observers said the refusal by several ethnic armed ceasefire groups including the KIO, United Wa State Army (UWSA) and others has ignited fresh tension between the groups and the junta.
After1988, the junta, under the leadership of the since purged military intelligence chief Lieutenant General Khin Nyunt, was able to negotiate ceasefire deals with 17 ethnic armed groups.
Now, the junta is pressuring ceasefire groups to transform into a Border Guard Force in accordance with its new constitution, approved in a rigged referendum last year.
Bamo, a strategic location in Northern Burma bordering China, has about 10 army battalions controlled by the No. 21 Military Operation Command based in the town.
It is, however, unknown where the newly arrived soldiers are heading and will be posted.
Prior to the KIO’s ceasefire deal with the junta in 1994, several parts of Kachin State were largely controlled by the KIO. But following the ceasefire pact, the junta has deployed several army battalions in various parts of the state.
Sources said in early July a convoy of army trucks loaded with arms and ammunition was also seen moving into Bamo.
The KIO, one of Burma’s longest running insurgent groups, has its headquarters in the Sino-Burmese border town of Laiza, about 40 miles north of Bamo.
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Mizzima News - Now or never - the UN must act on Burma
by Mungpi
Saturday, 18 July 2009 15:28
New Delhi (mizzima) - As members of the United Nations Security Council debate UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s latest visit to Burma, the country’s opposition leader and democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi awaits her fate in a secluded corner of the notorious Insein prison in Burma.
In the wake of Ban’s briefing the Security Council on his visit to Burma, on Monday, members including veto wielding nations United Kingdom, United States and France deplored the Burmese junta’s stance in refusing to allow the UN chief to meet the opposition leader.
But, another veto wielding country, China, came to the defence of the Burmese Generals, stating it was an understandable situation for the regime to refuse Ban a meeting with the opposition leader and urged the West not to ‘pick’ on Burma and to treat matters as “internal affairs” of the country.
On July 24, the final arguments from lawyers of both sides will be presented in the special court in Insein prison, following which, a verdict is expected. Aung San Suu Kyi could face up to five years in prison, if found guilty.
While some are speculating about the possibility of her being declared innocent, the popular understanding is that the junta is holding the trial as a pretext to continue detaining her, and it would come as no surprise if the court sentences her to a prison term.
What will happen if she is sentenced and sent to prison?
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been the fountain head of the Burmese struggle for democracy and who has fired the aspirations of the Burmese people through her personal sacrifices and integrity, has been under detention for most of the past 19 years.
But Win Tin, a senior member of her party – the National League for Democracy – and a veteran journalist predicts that if she is sentenced it may provoke the people and could lead to yet another mass uprising, as she is the sole hope for the millions of Burmese people that want changes to come to the impoverished Southeast Asian nation.
“Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is in the hearts of the people, and people will be very angry if she is sentenced to a prison term,” the veteran journalist told Mizzima earlier in an interview.
But given the instances of the Burmese Army brutally cracking down on any anti-government activities, including the 2007 monk-led protests and the popular 1988 student-protests, some doubt whether the people would have the courage to come out on the streets in protest.
Thakhin Chan Tun, a veteran politician in Rangoon said, he does not believe there would be any kind of anti-government protests even if the Nobel Peace Laureate is imprisoned because the regime has revealed its brutality in cracking down on any kind of dissidence.
“The government has already arrested all activists and those who escaped the dragnet have gone into exile and are campaigning outside the country. So, it is quite impossible for any kind of mass activities happening,” he said.
He said it is clear that the junta has cooked up this plan in order to charge, put on trial and imprison Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. He is afraid that no amount of pressure will stop the junta from doing what it has planned.
But a veteran ethnic politician, Aye Thar Aung, who is also Secretary of the Committee Representing Peoples Parliament (CRPP), the only over-ground political alliance in Rangoon, said they are having discussions on what to do next if the pro-democracy leader is sentenced.
“We cannot definitely say what will happen if Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is sentenced. But there is a plan that we, political organisations, have been discussing,” Aye Thar Aung told Mizzima.
He said while the junta had masterminded the whole incident to sentence Aung San Suu Kyi, they had not anticipated the kind of response that may follow.
He went on to say that if Aung San Suu Kyi is sentenced, it will clearly expose the junta’s intention of continuing in power and its unwillingness to engage in any form of political reforms, which will mean blatantly ignoring the concerns of the international community.
Ban after his briefing at the Security Council on Monday told reporters that without the release of Aung San Suu Kyi, Burma’s general election in 2010 will not be credible.
Ban’s statement has been the strongest, ever since the junta announced its proposed elections to be held in 2010 as the fifth step of its seven-step roadmap to democracy.
But the junta, in order to smoothly carry out its roadmap, which will legitimize and entrench military rule, understands that keeping the Burmese Nobel Peace Laureate out of the public arena is vital.
But with increasing international pressure, the junta seems to have been taken by surprise and is into dilatory tactics.
Win Tin said the junta does not seem to have anticipated such international and domestic reaction but now that it has experienced it, the regime is slowing down and is rethinking its strategy.
“With the kind of reaction in both the domestic and international community, the junta is likely to prolong the trial,” said Win Tin, adding that initially the junta was expected to hand out a verdict within weeks since the trial began on May 18.
In yet another ploy, characteristic of the junta, it is toying with the international community, for the junta’s Ambassador to the UN, Than Swe, following Ban Ki-moon’s briefing to the Security Council said his government has been contemplating releasing prisoners to enable them to contest the forthcoming election.
Immediately, the National League for Democracy, responded saying it doubts the junta’s intention as it might merely be another ploy to ease growing pressure on it.
Nyan Win, spokesperson of the NLD, said “We are not really hopeful of the government’s amnesty plans as it has repeatedly released a few political prisoners along with other criminals.”
Similarly, Benjamin Zawacki of the Amnesty International on Thursday told Mizzima that the junta’s announcement is yet another tactic to ease mounting pressure and that only if the regime turns its words into action, it should be applauded.
While many observers and Burma interest groups have been critical, the junta’s announcement does prove the regime’s desperation to come out of being the centre of interest.
And it also reflects that the junta does yield to pressure.
But if these pressures are not kept up, the junta, with the help of its allies including China and Russia, could once again get away with its plan and make a fool of the UN. And the Secretary General’s visit to Burma would prove meaningless and be a failure.
While activities inside Burma cannot be predicted due to the stranglehold on the country by the junta, Ban Ki-moon is the best hope for Burma at this juncture.
It is the right time for the UN chief to further increase pressure and pool in all resources to achieve what he has called for, as the process has taken-off with his visit to the country.
But if he fails to increase diplomatic pressure, the UN, which is often called a ‘Toothless Tiger”, would be yet another play-thing for the junta and would only be a tool in legitimizing its rule.
Prospects of change
However, inside Burma, there are several rumours ranging from a power struggle among the top generals in which Senior General Than Shwe is being forced to retire to rumours of negotiations between General Khin Nyunt, former head of the once-powerful Military Intelligence but now under house arrest, and the top leadership of the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) over critical issues the regime is facing. But, Senior General Than Shwe, being an expert in psychological warfare, is also known to spread rumours to divert public attention or whenever there is any crisis within the junta.
The facts are clear. Senior General Than Shwe does not want to talk or negotiate with pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, especially when it comes to the interests of the military, which he likes to think are "national interests". He personally dislikes Aung San Suu Kyi and does not accept the liberal concept of democracy.
He strongly believes that western countries are targeting him and his regime and thus are against the nation. He is determined to thwart this as long as he is in power or is alive. And fortunately, he has the backing of countries like China and Russia, both veto wielding nations at the Security Council.
Another fact remains Aung San Suu Kyi and the democratic forces as well as ethnic nationalities will find it difficult to accept the junta’s "Seven Step Roadmap", especially the already approved [by the regime] 2008 constitution and the way the elections are planned to be held in 2010. They will not accept any cosmetic changes that the regime may resort to, to ease international and internal pressures.
They want clear and concrete action from the regime to reflect democratic changes in the near future. They want political questions of the country to be dealt with politically and democratically. And by and large, the western democracies are likely to continue supporting Aung San Suu Kyi and the democratic movement in Burma, at least morally, if not anything else.
At this crucial juncture, the only possible meeting point is a sincere compromise. Both sides need to define each other’s positions clearly and keep aside everything else, including positions and ideologies, while solely looking at national interests. Burma's long term interests lie in sovereignty, democracy, development, equality and unity. Maybe keeping in mind these interests, both the Than Shwe-led Burmese military and Aung San Suu Kyi-led democratic movement can meet to begin negotiations.
But it must be reckoned that even if both sides agree to sit-down for negotiations, Burma has a long way to go to reach those objectives. After all, these objectives had been laid down by General Aung San, the father of the Burmese military, the father and architect of the nation’s independence and the father of Aung San Suu Kyi. He was assassinated on 19 July 1947. Sixty two years have passed since then and Burma still finds itself nowhere near reaching these national objectives.
But the irony is, it can still take another 62 years if all stake holders do not compromise to find a meeting point.
by Mungpi
Saturday, 18 July 2009 15:28
New Delhi (mizzima) - As members of the United Nations Security Council debate UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s latest visit to Burma, the country’s opposition leader and democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi awaits her fate in a secluded corner of the notorious Insein prison in Burma.
In the wake of Ban’s briefing the Security Council on his visit to Burma, on Monday, members including veto wielding nations United Kingdom, United States and France deplored the Burmese junta’s stance in refusing to allow the UN chief to meet the opposition leader.
But, another veto wielding country, China, came to the defence of the Burmese Generals, stating it was an understandable situation for the regime to refuse Ban a meeting with the opposition leader and urged the West not to ‘pick’ on Burma and to treat matters as “internal affairs” of the country.
On July 24, the final arguments from lawyers of both sides will be presented in the special court in Insein prison, following which, a verdict is expected. Aung San Suu Kyi could face up to five years in prison, if found guilty.
While some are speculating about the possibility of her being declared innocent, the popular understanding is that the junta is holding the trial as a pretext to continue detaining her, and it would come as no surprise if the court sentences her to a prison term.
What will happen if she is sentenced and sent to prison?
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been the fountain head of the Burmese struggle for democracy and who has fired the aspirations of the Burmese people through her personal sacrifices and integrity, has been under detention for most of the past 19 years.
But Win Tin, a senior member of her party – the National League for Democracy – and a veteran journalist predicts that if she is sentenced it may provoke the people and could lead to yet another mass uprising, as she is the sole hope for the millions of Burmese people that want changes to come to the impoverished Southeast Asian nation.
“Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is in the hearts of the people, and people will be very angry if she is sentenced to a prison term,” the veteran journalist told Mizzima earlier in an interview.
But given the instances of the Burmese Army brutally cracking down on any anti-government activities, including the 2007 monk-led protests and the popular 1988 student-protests, some doubt whether the people would have the courage to come out on the streets in protest.
Thakhin Chan Tun, a veteran politician in Rangoon said, he does not believe there would be any kind of anti-government protests even if the Nobel Peace Laureate is imprisoned because the regime has revealed its brutality in cracking down on any kind of dissidence.
“The government has already arrested all activists and those who escaped the dragnet have gone into exile and are campaigning outside the country. So, it is quite impossible for any kind of mass activities happening,” he said.
He said it is clear that the junta has cooked up this plan in order to charge, put on trial and imprison Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. He is afraid that no amount of pressure will stop the junta from doing what it has planned.
But a veteran ethnic politician, Aye Thar Aung, who is also Secretary of the Committee Representing Peoples Parliament (CRPP), the only over-ground political alliance in Rangoon, said they are having discussions on what to do next if the pro-democracy leader is sentenced.
“We cannot definitely say what will happen if Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is sentenced. But there is a plan that we, political organisations, have been discussing,” Aye Thar Aung told Mizzima.
He said while the junta had masterminded the whole incident to sentence Aung San Suu Kyi, they had not anticipated the kind of response that may follow.
He went on to say that if Aung San Suu Kyi is sentenced, it will clearly expose the junta’s intention of continuing in power and its unwillingness to engage in any form of political reforms, which will mean blatantly ignoring the concerns of the international community.
Ban after his briefing at the Security Council on Monday told reporters that without the release of Aung San Suu Kyi, Burma’s general election in 2010 will not be credible.
Ban’s statement has been the strongest, ever since the junta announced its proposed elections to be held in 2010 as the fifth step of its seven-step roadmap to democracy.
But the junta, in order to smoothly carry out its roadmap, which will legitimize and entrench military rule, understands that keeping the Burmese Nobel Peace Laureate out of the public arena is vital.
But with increasing international pressure, the junta seems to have been taken by surprise and is into dilatory tactics.
Win Tin said the junta does not seem to have anticipated such international and domestic reaction but now that it has experienced it, the regime is slowing down and is rethinking its strategy.
“With the kind of reaction in both the domestic and international community, the junta is likely to prolong the trial,” said Win Tin, adding that initially the junta was expected to hand out a verdict within weeks since the trial began on May 18.
In yet another ploy, characteristic of the junta, it is toying with the international community, for the junta’s Ambassador to the UN, Than Swe, following Ban Ki-moon’s briefing to the Security Council said his government has been contemplating releasing prisoners to enable them to contest the forthcoming election.
Immediately, the National League for Democracy, responded saying it doubts the junta’s intention as it might merely be another ploy to ease growing pressure on it.
Nyan Win, spokesperson of the NLD, said “We are not really hopeful of the government’s amnesty plans as it has repeatedly released a few political prisoners along with other criminals.”
Similarly, Benjamin Zawacki of the Amnesty International on Thursday told Mizzima that the junta’s announcement is yet another tactic to ease mounting pressure and that only if the regime turns its words into action, it should be applauded.
While many observers and Burma interest groups have been critical, the junta’s announcement does prove the regime’s desperation to come out of being the centre of interest.
And it also reflects that the junta does yield to pressure.
But if these pressures are not kept up, the junta, with the help of its allies including China and Russia, could once again get away with its plan and make a fool of the UN. And the Secretary General’s visit to Burma would prove meaningless and be a failure.
While activities inside Burma cannot be predicted due to the stranglehold on the country by the junta, Ban Ki-moon is the best hope for Burma at this juncture.
It is the right time for the UN chief to further increase pressure and pool in all resources to achieve what he has called for, as the process has taken-off with his visit to the country.
But if he fails to increase diplomatic pressure, the UN, which is often called a ‘Toothless Tiger”, would be yet another play-thing for the junta and would only be a tool in legitimizing its rule.
Prospects of change
However, inside Burma, there are several rumours ranging from a power struggle among the top generals in which Senior General Than Shwe is being forced to retire to rumours of negotiations between General Khin Nyunt, former head of the once-powerful Military Intelligence but now under house arrest, and the top leadership of the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) over critical issues the regime is facing. But, Senior General Than Shwe, being an expert in psychological warfare, is also known to spread rumours to divert public attention or whenever there is any crisis within the junta.
The facts are clear. Senior General Than Shwe does not want to talk or negotiate with pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, especially when it comes to the interests of the military, which he likes to think are "national interests". He personally dislikes Aung San Suu Kyi and does not accept the liberal concept of democracy.
He strongly believes that western countries are targeting him and his regime and thus are against the nation. He is determined to thwart this as long as he is in power or is alive. And fortunately, he has the backing of countries like China and Russia, both veto wielding nations at the Security Council.
Another fact remains Aung San Suu Kyi and the democratic forces as well as ethnic nationalities will find it difficult to accept the junta’s "Seven Step Roadmap", especially the already approved [by the regime] 2008 constitution and the way the elections are planned to be held in 2010. They will not accept any cosmetic changes that the regime may resort to, to ease international and internal pressures.
They want clear and concrete action from the regime to reflect democratic changes in the near future. They want political questions of the country to be dealt with politically and democratically. And by and large, the western democracies are likely to continue supporting Aung San Suu Kyi and the democratic movement in Burma, at least morally, if not anything else.
At this crucial juncture, the only possible meeting point is a sincere compromise. Both sides need to define each other’s positions clearly and keep aside everything else, including positions and ideologies, while solely looking at national interests. Burma's long term interests lie in sovereignty, democracy, development, equality and unity. Maybe keeping in mind these interests, both the Than Shwe-led Burmese military and Aung San Suu Kyi-led democratic movement can meet to begin negotiations.
But it must be reckoned that even if both sides agree to sit-down for negotiations, Burma has a long way to go to reach those objectives. After all, these objectives had been laid down by General Aung San, the father of the Burmese military, the father and architect of the nation’s independence and the father of Aung San Suu Kyi. He was assassinated on 19 July 1947. Sixty two years have passed since then and Burma still finds itself nowhere near reaching these national objectives.
But the irony is, it can still take another 62 years if all stake holders do not compromise to find a meeting point.
*****************************************************
DVB News - An enduring byproduct of war
Daniela Nayu
July 20, 2009 (DVB)–For half a century, Burma’s jungles and mountains have hosted a conflict where conventional weaponry has been traded for tactics designed to forever scar the ethnic population of the country.
The byproducts of the world’s longest running internal conflict, grossly underreported, have been so severe that international lawyers and rights groups believe that the ruling junta in Burma could warrant investigation for war crimes. Perhaps most chillingly, young girls have been subject to appalling sexual violence at the hands of a military bent on creating a means of intimidation that will far outlast the brandishing of a gun.
System of Impunity, a 2004 report by the Women’s League of Burma (WLB), describes the case of a 13-year-old Shan girl, Nang Ung, who was detained by Burmese troops on false charges of being a rebel. “She was tied up in a tent and raped every day for 10 days [by five to six troops each day]. The injuries she sustained from the repeated rapes were so severe that she never recovered. She died a few weeks after her release.”
Naang Ung’s story has been echoed in every ethnic region of Burma for generations. Burmese rights organisations suggest that military rape of ethnic women has been rife in the country for the last five decades since the consolidation of military rule, and shows no signs of abating.
“It can happen in homes, in the villages, in the forests, in the paddy fields, whether the woman is working alone or whether they are going to their villages,” said Cheery Zahau, an activist from the India-based Women’s League of Chinland (WLC). “In some circumstances they just rape the women in front of the men.”
Sexual torture and violence often accompanies such acts. Testimonies from victims show cases of both old women and young girls being gang-raped by up to 20 men, while others report that women who have endured days of rape are then shot in the vagina or have their breasts cut off. Crimes in Burma, a report released in May by the Harvard Law School, said that on many occasions there had been “no attempt to conceal the bodies of dead women who were raped and subjected to other acts of violence.”
Such descriptions are perhaps indicative of a military which has been partially brutalized by debasement, poverty and high levels of institutionalized corruption. Yet this cannot account for all cases. During an interview, Cheery relayed an account of a woman from Chin state whose son had just been killed by the military. After she was gang-raped, the mother was strung up on a wooden cross: “She was hanging outside of the camp the whole night in the freezing winter weather,” said Cheery. “Why would they make the cross to hang the women? The cross is the symbol of Christianity in Chin state; it’s one of the mockeries against their beliefs.”
Religious persecution adds weight to a belief common among ethnic groups that the generals are attempting an ethnic cleansing campaign to strip non-Burmans of their identity. The regime’s suspected policy of ‘Burmanisation’, as referred to in a number of official reports including one by Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), could also help to explain such widespread attempts to impregnate non-Burmese women. While some are convinced on ‘Burmanisation’, the UN’s torture rapporteur for Burma in 2006 reported that state-sanctioned violence against women was used as a control mechanism, and as “punishment” for allegedly supporting ethnic armed groups and “a means of terrorizing and subjugating the population”.
According to Ben Rogers, the Southeast Asia advocacy officer for CSW, it is important to note that “these incidents documented are not simply isolated acts by individual, badly behaved frontline soldiers”. Reports have shown that a high percentage of rapes committed by the Burmese military have been orchestrated by officers. Furthermore, an alarming number have been gang rapes. Moan Kaein, from the Thailand-based Shan Women’s Associated Network (SWAN), stated that 83 percent of the rapes SWAN had documented in Shan state were committed by officers, while 61 percent of all military rapes were gang rapes. Furthermore, there have been reports of officers ordering their men to rape ethnic women on threat of death. “Those who refuse to rape will be shot and killed,” Captain Ye Htut from Pah Klaw Hta army camp was quoted as telling his men in the Karen Women’s Organisation (KWO) report, Shattering Silences.
“When we document all these cases, none of the perpetrators are punished,” says Cheery, referring to WLC’s 2007 Unsafe State report. Despite international publications of reports that specifically name high-ranking officials and officers involved, no actions have been taken by the Burmese government to punish perpetrators even though such crimes are illegal under Burmese law. “This impunity suggests it is a deliberate policy, and is condoned by the regime,” says Rogers.
While the consequences of rape can be horrific – they include unwanted pregnancy, contraction of HIV, and psychological damage for both victim and family – support for victims is virtually non-existent. Even women who manage to flee to the borders have no real hope of any professional psychological assistance, given that they are often not officially recognised by their country of arrival. While some women have been pushed to suicide, others are forced to keep their rape a secret in order to avoid social stigmas.
“The only solution for them is silence, and often they get rejected by their communities,” says Cheery, while Moan Kaein claims that “some husbands will not accept their wives after they have been raped”. Some women also get accused of “sleeping with” Burmese troops and are told to leave their villages.
There is also the real chance of retaliation from troops and government officials. Rape victims and their families have been the most severely punished when such sexual crimes have been reported. According to press releases from the Women’s League of Burma (WLB), four girls aged 14 to16 from a village in northern Kachin state were arrested and jailed after they relayed to independent Burmese media about having been gang-raped by three army officers and four soldiers from a local military base.
Reports of state-sanctioned rape have been consistently met with a tide of public smears within Burma, as well as mass intimidation and deliberate distraction by the military. The problem has been further aggravated by callous retorts from the Burmese government, including the release of a report, License to Lie, attacking authors of License to Rape.
Perhaps more worrying are threats of violence and even death against those who report such cases. System of Impunity describes how the local military officers threatened to “cut out the tongues and slit the throats” of villagers who had dared speak out to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) during their visit to Shan State in January 2003. On 1 June this year, Kachin News Group reported that Kachin youths had been “brutally assaulted” for having prevented the gang-rape of a Kachin girl by four soldiers.
Inaction following international condemnation has also served to dampen hope that ethnic women and campaigners will see change in their lifetimes. On the 24 June, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said that “If we ignore sexual crimes, we trample on the principles of accountability, reconciliation and peace. We fail not just women but all people." The statement coincided with the one-year anniversary of the Security Council’s adoption of resolution 1820 (2008), which notes that “rape and other forms of sexual violence in conflict zones can constitute war crimes, crimes against humanity or a constitutive act with respect to genocide”.
The irony of Ban’s proclamation is that sexual crimes in Burma were ignored on his recent visit to Burma earlier this month, just as they are ignored by countries like China and Russia who supply weapons to the junta and by neighboring countries which provide no support for the raped women pouring over the borders. “We call and call,” says Blooming Night, joint secretary of Karen Women’s Organisation, “but nothing happens”.
Increased militarization in many ethnic regions in lieu of the 2010 elections has led to increasing concern for the safety of women living there. “When we documented Unsafe State [in 2007], there were about 33 army camps. Now there are 55 camps, so they’re spreading” says Cheery, adding that “as long as [Burmese] troops are there, there will be sexual violence”. Burma shows no sign of abating its aggressive expansion of the military. If, as it would seem, rape of ethnic women is a byproduct of this, perhaps we should expect the stories of Naang Ung and the thousands of other women and children to continue echoing throughout Burma.
Daniela Nayu
July 20, 2009 (DVB)–For half a century, Burma’s jungles and mountains have hosted a conflict where conventional weaponry has been traded for tactics designed to forever scar the ethnic population of the country.
The byproducts of the world’s longest running internal conflict, grossly underreported, have been so severe that international lawyers and rights groups believe that the ruling junta in Burma could warrant investigation for war crimes. Perhaps most chillingly, young girls have been subject to appalling sexual violence at the hands of a military bent on creating a means of intimidation that will far outlast the brandishing of a gun.
System of Impunity, a 2004 report by the Women’s League of Burma (WLB), describes the case of a 13-year-old Shan girl, Nang Ung, who was detained by Burmese troops on false charges of being a rebel. “She was tied up in a tent and raped every day for 10 days [by five to six troops each day]. The injuries she sustained from the repeated rapes were so severe that she never recovered. She died a few weeks after her release.”
Naang Ung’s story has been echoed in every ethnic region of Burma for generations. Burmese rights organisations suggest that military rape of ethnic women has been rife in the country for the last five decades since the consolidation of military rule, and shows no signs of abating.
“It can happen in homes, in the villages, in the forests, in the paddy fields, whether the woman is working alone or whether they are going to their villages,” said Cheery Zahau, an activist from the India-based Women’s League of Chinland (WLC). “In some circumstances they just rape the women in front of the men.”
Sexual torture and violence often accompanies such acts. Testimonies from victims show cases of both old women and young girls being gang-raped by up to 20 men, while others report that women who have endured days of rape are then shot in the vagina or have their breasts cut off. Crimes in Burma, a report released in May by the Harvard Law School, said that on many occasions there had been “no attempt to conceal the bodies of dead women who were raped and subjected to other acts of violence.”
Such descriptions are perhaps indicative of a military which has been partially brutalized by debasement, poverty and high levels of institutionalized corruption. Yet this cannot account for all cases. During an interview, Cheery relayed an account of a woman from Chin state whose son had just been killed by the military. After she was gang-raped, the mother was strung up on a wooden cross: “She was hanging outside of the camp the whole night in the freezing winter weather,” said Cheery. “Why would they make the cross to hang the women? The cross is the symbol of Christianity in Chin state; it’s one of the mockeries against their beliefs.”
Religious persecution adds weight to a belief common among ethnic groups that the generals are attempting an ethnic cleansing campaign to strip non-Burmans of their identity. The regime’s suspected policy of ‘Burmanisation’, as referred to in a number of official reports including one by Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), could also help to explain such widespread attempts to impregnate non-Burmese women. While some are convinced on ‘Burmanisation’, the UN’s torture rapporteur for Burma in 2006 reported that state-sanctioned violence against women was used as a control mechanism, and as “punishment” for allegedly supporting ethnic armed groups and “a means of terrorizing and subjugating the population”.
According to Ben Rogers, the Southeast Asia advocacy officer for CSW, it is important to note that “these incidents documented are not simply isolated acts by individual, badly behaved frontline soldiers”. Reports have shown that a high percentage of rapes committed by the Burmese military have been orchestrated by officers. Furthermore, an alarming number have been gang rapes. Moan Kaein, from the Thailand-based Shan Women’s Associated Network (SWAN), stated that 83 percent of the rapes SWAN had documented in Shan state were committed by officers, while 61 percent of all military rapes were gang rapes. Furthermore, there have been reports of officers ordering their men to rape ethnic women on threat of death. “Those who refuse to rape will be shot and killed,” Captain Ye Htut from Pah Klaw Hta army camp was quoted as telling his men in the Karen Women’s Organisation (KWO) report, Shattering Silences.
“When we document all these cases, none of the perpetrators are punished,” says Cheery, referring to WLC’s 2007 Unsafe State report. Despite international publications of reports that specifically name high-ranking officials and officers involved, no actions have been taken by the Burmese government to punish perpetrators even though such crimes are illegal under Burmese law. “This impunity suggests it is a deliberate policy, and is condoned by the regime,” says Rogers.
While the consequences of rape can be horrific – they include unwanted pregnancy, contraction of HIV, and psychological damage for both victim and family – support for victims is virtually non-existent. Even women who manage to flee to the borders have no real hope of any professional psychological assistance, given that they are often not officially recognised by their country of arrival. While some women have been pushed to suicide, others are forced to keep their rape a secret in order to avoid social stigmas.
“The only solution for them is silence, and often they get rejected by their communities,” says Cheery, while Moan Kaein claims that “some husbands will not accept their wives after they have been raped”. Some women also get accused of “sleeping with” Burmese troops and are told to leave their villages.
There is also the real chance of retaliation from troops and government officials. Rape victims and their families have been the most severely punished when such sexual crimes have been reported. According to press releases from the Women’s League of Burma (WLB), four girls aged 14 to16 from a village in northern Kachin state were arrested and jailed after they relayed to independent Burmese media about having been gang-raped by three army officers and four soldiers from a local military base.
Reports of state-sanctioned rape have been consistently met with a tide of public smears within Burma, as well as mass intimidation and deliberate distraction by the military. The problem has been further aggravated by callous retorts from the Burmese government, including the release of a report, License to Lie, attacking authors of License to Rape.
Perhaps more worrying are threats of violence and even death against those who report such cases. System of Impunity describes how the local military officers threatened to “cut out the tongues and slit the throats” of villagers who had dared speak out to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) during their visit to Shan State in January 2003. On 1 June this year, Kachin News Group reported that Kachin youths had been “brutally assaulted” for having prevented the gang-rape of a Kachin girl by four soldiers.
Inaction following international condemnation has also served to dampen hope that ethnic women and campaigners will see change in their lifetimes. On the 24 June, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said that “If we ignore sexual crimes, we trample on the principles of accountability, reconciliation and peace. We fail not just women but all people." The statement coincided with the one-year anniversary of the Security Council’s adoption of resolution 1820 (2008), which notes that “rape and other forms of sexual violence in conflict zones can constitute war crimes, crimes against humanity or a constitutive act with respect to genocide”.
The irony of Ban’s proclamation is that sexual crimes in Burma were ignored on his recent visit to Burma earlier this month, just as they are ignored by countries like China and Russia who supply weapons to the junta and by neighboring countries which provide no support for the raped women pouring over the borders. “We call and call,” says Blooming Night, joint secretary of Karen Women’s Organisation, “but nothing happens”.
Increased militarization in many ethnic regions in lieu of the 2010 elections has led to increasing concern for the safety of women living there. “When we documented Unsafe State [in 2007], there were about 33 army camps. Now there are 55 camps, so they’re spreading” says Cheery, adding that “as long as [Burmese] troops are there, there will be sexual violence”. Burma shows no sign of abating its aggressive expansion of the military. If, as it would seem, rape of ethnic women is a byproduct of this, perhaps we should expect the stories of Naang Ung and the thousands of other women and children to continue echoing throughout Burma.
*****************************************************
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